Putin sets priorities for Russian arms industry — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

Defense industry giant Rostec is key to ensuring Russia’s security « technological sovereignty » but must use real combat experience in the fight against Western weapons in Ukraine to improve some national systems, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Rostec has been responsible for the development, production and export of high-tech products not only for the military but also for civilian use, Putin noted at the reception celebrating the conglomerate’s 15th anniversary.

« The experience we gained during the conduct of the special operation [in Ukraine] and countering modern Western models of military equipment is very good and should be used to improve the quality, reliability and combat characteristics of some types of our domestically produced weapons,” said the Russian president.

Putin said that « number one » task at present is to do everything to fully meet the needs of the military, in particular « every company and platoon deployed in the special military operation. »

Increased military production should also give impetus to related civilian industries, he said, while internal competition between development offices should pave the way for the manufacture of the best models of equipment that have already proven in battle.

The 2007 decision to establish a « powerful industrial beacon » turned out to be fully justified, Putin said. Rostec currently consists of some 700 subsidiaries, which employ over 450,000 people.

Responding to claims by some analysts that Russia was short of arms and ammunition, former president – and current deputy chairman of the National Security Council – Dmitry Medvedev said last month that the West « shouldn’t hold his breath. » Factories work around the clock to produce tanks, guns, missiles and drones, he added.

Meanwhile, kyiv depends mainly on supplies delivered by the United States and its allies. Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov last month described his country as a « proving ground » where Western countries can see which of their weapons works best against Russian troops, « Like a competition. »

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg admitted to CNN in September that members of the bloc had significantly depleted their own stockpiles of weapons by sending weapons and ammunition to Ukraine and called for increased military production.