MOSCOW: Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday (Apr 19) that the country was ramping up manufacturing of tanks and heavy flamethrower systems, but more work was needed to increase production of tank protection equipment.
Shoigu’s ministry published video showing him touring a tank factory in the Siberian city of Omsk and meeting workers, whom he praised for exceeding production targets.
“The Omsk plant is fulfilling the programme – I can say it is even over-fulfilling the programme,” Shoigu was shown telling officials. “The issues and tasks that we decided on during our last visit have almost all been resolved.”
Building new tanks is a necessity for Russia because of heavy equipment losses in the first two years of the war in Ukraine. The International Institute for Strategic Studies said in February that Russia had lost more than 3,000 tanks there, the equivalent of its entire active inventory before the war, and was having to pull old ones out of storage to replace them.
Shoigu ordered factory heads to increase production of tank protection equipment and said beefing up supplies to tank repair brigades was a key area of focus.
“Now we need to significantly increase the additional kits that we need to put on those vehicles that are in combat,” he said.
