British intelligence assesses level and prospects of Russian military industry

The UK Ministry of Defence reported the information.

In 2023, the Russian military industry significantly increased production. This was achieved by expanding the workforce to about 3.5 million people, increasing the shiftiness and expansion of existing production lines, and restoring idle capacity.

Much of the increase in production is due to the repair and modernization of existing stocks rather than new production. For example, most of the battle tanks produced in 2023 consisted of refurbished vehicles.

At the same time, the production of artillery ammunition increased sharply in 2023 and is likely to increase further in 2024. However, ammunition production is likely to peak in the next 12 months due to capacity constraints.

"Although the defense industry is unable to fully meet the demands of Russian operations against Ukraine, it is almost certainly capable of delivering materiel advantage over Ukraine throughout 2024," the report says.

• Ukraine’s Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin said that this year Ukraine has overtaken Russia in terms of production of kamikaze drones, which are similar to Iran's Shahed-131 and Shahed-136.