<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/15/rate-of-russian-military-production-worries-european-war-planners>
"As Ukraine has scrambled to source ammunition, arms and equipment for its
defence, Russia has presided over a massive ramping up of industrial production
over the last two years that has outstripped what many western defence planners
expected when Vladimir Putin launched his invasion.
Total defence spending has risen to an estimated 7.5% of Russia’s GDP, supply
chains have been redesigned to secure many key inputs and evade sanctions, and
factories producing ammunition, vehicles and equipment are running around the
clock, often on mandatory 12-hour shifts with double overtime, in order to
sustain the Russian war machine for the foreseeable future.
The transformation has put defence at the centre of Russia’s economy. Putin
claimed this month that 520,000 new jobs had been created in the
military-industrial complex, which now employs an estimated 3.5 million
Russians, or 2.5% of the population. Machinists and welders in Russian
factories producing war equipment are now making more money than many
white-collar managers and lawyers, according to a
Moscow Times analysis of
Russian labour data in November.
Putin on Thursday visited Uralvagonzavod, the country’s largest producer of
main battle tanks, where workers boasted that it had been among the first to
establish round the clock production. The Russian leader promised funding to
help train an additional 1,500 qualified employees for the plant.
As Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its third year, the massive Russian
investment in the military, projected this year to be the largest as a share of
GDP since the Soviet Union, has worried European war planners, who have said
Nato underestimated Russia’s ability to sustain a long-term war.
“We still haven’t seen where is Russia’s breaking point,” said Mark Riisik, a
deputy director in the policy planning department of Estonia’s defence
ministry. “Basically one-third of their national budget is going on military
production and on the war in Ukraine … But we don’t know when it will actually
impact on society. So it’s a little bit challenging to say when will this
stop.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
