Ukraine defense industry development is a necessary condition for winning (NOT losing) the war

Why don’t we have enough Western military support, and why is developing Ukraine defense industry is a necessary condition for winning (NOT losing) the war?

According to various estimates, Russia has increased its arms production by at least a third. Putin said that “the production of the main types of weapons has increased 2.7 times over the year, and in the most demanded areas – 10 times.” A lot of enterprises of the Russian military industry have switched to working in two and three shifts.

Russia produces up to 200 new tanks a year and modernizes up to 50 old ones a month. In total – up to 800 tanks a year, while Ukraine has received only 200-300 heavy armored vehicles from its partners and has no tank production of its own. Moreover, Russian tanks are a lot cheaper than Leopards and Abrams.

The same is true about other types of weapons. Russia produces and restores up to 1,000 large-caliber artillery systems, Ukraine receives dozens of self-propelled and towed guns from its partners. Russia produces about 40 modern combat aircraft a year; Ukraine does not produce aircraft and gets some old Soviet machines from former Eastern bloc countries. The Russian Federation produces up to 100 long-range ballistic and cruise missiles monthly, Ukraine produces just a few Neptunes and modernizes some Soviet S-200s into a surface-to-surface version.

Both sides are running low on ammunition. But while Western stockpiles of 155-mm shells have already been thoroughly emptied, and the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip has really depleted them, Russia receives shells from North Korea and increases the production of its own, 152-mm caliber, which, although they lose in power, accuracy and range shooting to the Western 155-mm standard, are simpler and cheaper to manufacture: a 155-mm round costs about $6,000, and a 152-mm round is only $600.

In terms of the number of air defense systems, we are seriously lagging behind our enemy. The USSR military doctrine envisaged a powerful ground-based air defense system, while the Western concept was based on the use of fighter jets to protect the sky. Therefore, the West simply does not have any ‘extra’ air defense systems. And Russia has a hell lot of them. We won’t be given fighter jets soon. And again – the war has changed; now we have to protect fighter jets on airfields from massive drone attacks. We need air defense again, which is nowhere to be found…

Today, there’s some parity in the production of battlefield FPV drones and short- and medium-range aircraft-type reconnaissance drones. However, Russia is far ahead in long-range attack drones of the Shahed type and medium-range attack drones of the Lancet type. It has launched more than 2,000 Shaheds at targets deep inside Ukraine and increased the number of launches to 520 per month. A huge factory is being built in Yelabuga to produce Shaheds, and large shopping centers in Izhevsk are being converted to produce Lancets.

Here are two conclusions:

1. Money cannot buy everything, no matter how much money there is. The civilized world simply has not enough weapons we need.

2. We are doomed to build our military factories. Be it underground, in rocks, in garages, in apartments – anywhere.

General (true) mobilization and total military training, construction of defense fortifications and development (creation!) of our own defense industry must become a military policy priority today.

Yes, and we must hit the hinterland. We need hundreds and thousands of long-range strike drones to destroy the enemy’s military-industrial potential.

The plan is simple.

Ukraine Front Lines

Tags: russia ukraine war Ukraine