British intelligence: Russia shows off advanced weapons but doesn’t produce enough of them

Despite the fact that Russia is conducting military operations in Ukraine, Russian defense enterprises continue to participate in international exhibitions and demonstrate the latest weapons. British intelligence draws attention to this in its report on Friday, quoted by the Russian service of the BBC.

So, at one of the last international exhibitions, Russia presented the Arena-E tank active protection system. The manufacturer claims that the active protection complex is able to destroy anti-tank ammunition flying at the tank from any direction at a speed of up to 1000 m / stherefore providing reliable protection for armored vehicles.

However, according to London there is no reliable evidence that the Arena-E complexes were installed on Russian tanks participating in the hostilities in Ukraine. British intelligence recalls that Russia lost more than 5,000 armored vehicles during the invasion of Ukraine.

The absence of Arena-E complexes in Russian tanks may mean that the Russian military industry is failing to produce the amount of high-tech output that Russia needs now, the report said. The problem is further exacerbated by international sanctions imposed on Russia, according to British intelligence.

We recall that three months ago, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the Russian armed forces should use new modern weapon systems in the conflict in Ukraine, Reuters quoted him as saying.

“It is necessary to continue the modernization and creation of prospective systems with their subsequent use during the special military operation,” Sergei Shoigu said at the time at a meeting of senior generals at the Ministry of Defense.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously announced that his country will increase the Defense Department budget by 150% in 2023. This was announced by the line minister, Sergei Shoigu.

During a meeting of the ministry, he noted that such an increase should allow 97% of military personnel’s weapons and equipment to be ready for use at all times.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the situation in the military, stressing that combating Western-made weapons escaping Ukraine would help the country improve its own capabilities.

At the end of October Putin set a task to speed up the meeting of the needs of the Russian armed forces. The government was ordered to assess the actual needs of its armed forces against the background of the special operation and to expand its capacity for such production.