The industrial production of tanks for the Russian army does not allow to compensate for the losses in Ukraine, writes The Economist. According to a Western official, tanks in Russia are being produced ten times slower than the army is losing them.
Today, only one company, Uralvagonzavod, is engaged in tank production in Russia. According to The Economist, financial turmoil and huge debts have slowed down the plant's modernization; its workers joke that they assemble tanks by hand, and 20 combat vehicles are produced per month.
To meet demand, Russia has increased the pace of refurbishing old tanks, thousands of which are sitting in warehouses. "Uralvagonzavod restores eight old tanks per month, and three other plants repair 17 tanks per month. Two more similar enterprises are to start operating in the coming months, Russian media reported.
In this case, The Economist notes, Russia will be able to produce 20 new tanks per month and restore 90 old ones.
However, even this may not be enough to cover the losses: according to analysts from Oryx, which keeps lists of equipment lost by Russia from published photos and videos, the Russian army loses an average of 150 tanks a month.
Another problem is the shortage of parts, especially semiconductors and computer chips, needed to control modern tanks.
Some recently repaired tanks sent to Ukraine contain a "mishmash" of equipment from different models and lack high-tech equipment such as wind speed sensors that allow for accurate firing, The Economist writes.
In the future, Russia is likely to face a further decline in both the quality and quantity of tanks, and production will not be able to make up for the losses, the magazine concludes.
The Economist notes that Ukraine and Western countries may face similar problems. Ukraine's only tank factory near Kharkiv was destroyed at the beginning of the war. The US has one plant that produces 15 tanks a month.
Background. According to Oryx, Russia has lost at least 1782 tanks since the beginning of the war. According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, more than 3,250 Russian tanks have been destroyed.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies reported that the Russian army lost about half of the T-72s that were in service before the war and made up the bulk of Russia's tank forces.