Who will give the Russian army armor
Recently, Mr. Medvedev got everyone a little overexcited when, in his usual manner, he announced that this year the army would receive 1 new tanks. From the questions "from what?" the internet has gone haywire. The Commander-in-Chief had to intervene, and Vladimir Vladimirovich clarified that the army would receive 1 new and modernized tanks.
As the saying goes, feel the difference.
The question is, who and where will make these 1 tanks? As they say, the question is not that of Everest, but Elbrus for sure.
During the Great Patriotic War, tanks and self-propelled guns (somehow we didn’t have any other armored vehicles, except for the Komsomolets tractor) were produced by the following enterprises:
– Plant No. 183 in Nizhny Tagil (evacuated from Kharkov);
– Nizhny Tagil Carriage Works;
- Kirov Plant (Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant, created on the basis of an evacuated plant from Leningrad);
- Plant No. 112 "Krasnoye Sormovo" in the city of Gorky;
– Ural plant of heavy engineering, Sverdlovsk;
- Plant No. 174 Omsk;
- Stalingrad Tractor Plant.
Plus, factories that produced armored vehicles, of which more than 13 thousand were manufactured:
- Plant No. 177, Vyksa, Gorky Region;
- GAZ in the city of Gorky;
- Izhora plant in Leningrad;
- Plant No. 189, Leningrad.
In total, over 116 tanks and self-propelled guns (33 types) and 13 armored vehicles (6 types) were produced in three shifts by workers and engineers from 11 enterprises.
Probably everyone is wondering what is in Russia today?
Today, 52 different models of armored vehicles (tanks, self-propelled guns, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, engineering and auxiliary equipment), which are in service with the Russian Army, are produced at 7 factories.
1. JSC Research and Production Corporation Uralvagonzavod named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky. Belongs to the corporation "Rostec".
Today it is really a full-fledged corporation, which includes several enterprises. Uralvagonzavod itself today produces the following types of armored vehicles:
- Tank T-90 and its modifications, export version of T-90S;
- Tank T-72B3;
- Combat recovery vehicle BREM-1, BREM-1M;
- IMR-3M obstacle engineering vehicle;
- Tank bridge layer MTU-72;
– Tank bulldozer-snow plow TBS-86.
In addition, theoretically, the plant can produce the T-14 tank, BMP T-15, BMOP "Terminator-2". Here the word “may” should be interpreted in such a way that, under certain conditions, the release of this technique is theoretically possible. In practice, while the manual assembly of single copies.
It is difficult to assess the capabilities of UVZ in terms of tank production, the data is closed, it is necessary to calculate through the total revenue, which is very inaccurate. But there are two numbers: the first is the minimum, from pessimists - 250 pieces per year. The second is from the optimists, but even they can't reach Medvedev - 1 tanks. If we just take the middle as the truth, then it turns out that UVZ can produce from 300 to 500 tanks, but this is a very optimistic figure in reality. UVZ does not have enough workers at its disposal to enable the plant to plow in three shifts. Moreover, teams of specialists from UVZ work both in the border zone on the territory of Russia and directly in the combat zone, repairing tanks.
At the height of its power, in 1985, UVZ produced 1 T-559 tanks. In post-Soviet times, the maximum output was 72 cars per year.
In general, UVZ is actually working at the limit of its capabilities, simultaneously releasing new tanks, repairing damaged ones and modernizing museum exhibits such as the T-62 and T-54.
2. Rubtsovsky Machine-Building Plant. Branch of Uralvagonzavod.
A small plant in the Altai Territory produced parts and assemblies for the BMP-1, subsequently the plant launched the production of tracked vehicles:
- Combat reconnaissance vehicle BRM-3K "Lynx";
– Mobile reconnaissance point PRP-4MU(A);
- Repair tracked vehicle RM-G "Desna";
– Caterpillar transporter-tractor GT-TM;
– Caterpillar transporter MT-LB.
In general, the plant has a certain prospect in terms of the production of light armored vehicles of the BMP / BMD type and can definitely become a kind of reserve for the production of armored vehicles.
3. Ural Transport Engineering Plant (Uraltransmash).
The tram production center of Russia, among other things, is engaged in the production of self-propelled artillery mounts:
- "Msta-S";
- "Acacia" 2S3M2;
- modernization of the 2S7 "Pion" installation in 2S7M "Malka";
- maintenance of 240-mm self-propelled mortars "Tulip".
It is worth noting the small amount of work performed by the plant as part of the state defense order. It is possible that there are also opportunities at UTM to increase the production of self-propelled guns, although the use of old T-62 tanks as self-propelled guns in the SVO suggests just the opposite.
4. Omsk plant of transport engineering.
The plant worked very closely on the topic of T-64 / T-80, but today it produces tanks and several other types of equipment:
- Heavy flamethrower system TOS-1A "Solntsepek";
- Transport-loading vehicle TZM-T for TOS-1A;
- Landing ferry, RAP (Product 561P);
– Caterpillar conveyor PTS-4;
- Tank bridge layer MTU-2020;
- Heavy mechanized bridge TMM-6.
In addition, according to reports, the plant retained equipment for the production of T-80 tanks, which in general gives some hope for the resumption of production of these vehicles in decent quantities.
5. Kurgan machine-building plant.
An enterprise producing lightly armored tracked vehicles:
- BMP-2M;
- BMP-3;
- BTR-MDM "Shell";
- Self-propelled anti-tank gun "Octopus-SD";
- BREM-L;
- BMD-4M.
KMZ is one of the few dynamically developing (as far as possible) enterprises of the military complex in Russia. State defense orders are fulfilled on time, there are no complaints about the equipment.
6. Volgograd Tractor Plant.
What is in the picture is the checkpoint and the plant management building - all that remains of the giant of the tractor industry.
The northern civilian part has been demolished, the southern, military, is working. Basically - in the interests of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation, for which it makes equipment:
- BMD-4;
- BTR-D;
- "Octopus-SDM".
Fortunately, the Volgograd Machine-Building Company VgTZ, which was engaged in the production of military equipment, was withdrawn from the Volgograd Tractor Plant, which was declared bankrupt, and today the company is a branch of the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant, which can be seen from the range of manufactured equipment.
In principle, KMZ and VgTZ are a decent-sized association for the production of lightly armored vehicles.
7. Arzamas engineering plant.
The only company on our list that is not part of Rostec. The plant is managed by Military Industrial Company LLC.
AMZ is wheels. All army armor on wheels is here:
- BTR-80A;
- BTR-82A;
- BMM, a medical transporter based on the BTR-90, which did not go into the series;
- BREM-K.
Some factories (for example, in Tula) make specialized vehicles of the RHM-6 type for the RHBZ or KSHM troops on the basis of already manufactured chassis, but this is already a secondary production.
8. Motovilikha Plants.
At the very beginning of the article, it was said about seven enterprises. Indeed, everything is so: seven enterprises are producing, the fate of the eighth is unclear and vague, because PJSC Motovilikhinskiye Zavody has been in a state of bankruptcy since 2017 and, at best, they will be destined for the fate of the Volgograd plant, that is, not all will be destroyed.
But today, among other weapons, on our topic in Perm they are still producing:
- Self-propelled gun 2S9 "Nona-S";
- Self-propelled gun 2S23 "Nona-SVK";
- Self-propelled gun 2S31 "Vienna";
- Self-propelled mortar 2S4 "Tulip".
In addition, 1V13, 1V14, 1V15 and 1V16 vehicles are produced within the walls of Motovilikha (and only there), which are part of the 1V12 "Machine-S" self-propelled artillery fire control automation system.
In the end, what do we have?
Frankly sad in terms of tanks. One plant for the entire army is a minuscule amount. In wartime, even more so. I agree with the figure of 400-500 new tanks per year (this is if there are no ambushes with components from subcontractors), but this is frankly not enough to compensate for losses. Experiments with museum exhibits of the T-62 and T-54 will not lead to good, but the one who arranges dances around these tanks, saying that the T-62 is cooler than the Abrams today, he, of course, will never sit down at its levers and will not burn in this "ultra-modern" tank. Unfortunately.
With tanks, we really are not very good. UVZ is a monster, but even such a huge plant cannot solve all the problems of today. Therefore, the question of connecting in full as a backup enterprise of OmskTransMasha is being drawn here, where they still know how to build tanks and modernize them.
T-80 is not T-90, but not T-62 either. We must understand.
If, nevertheless, the bankruptcy and dispersal of Motovilikha, which will continue to supply the army with mortars, and, moreover, self-propelled ones, are stopped, if Omsk is involved in the construction of new tanks ...
You know, something like the former football championships. It was the same there, if the Russian team plays a draw with the Czechs, and the Portuguese lose to the Italians with a difference of two goals, and the Bulgarians beat the British, then ours will definitely be in the final.
That's just something tells us that in our case it will be the same as it used to be with our team - that is, everything that is possible will be “merged”. UVZ will choke and will not pull out, because in reality the scope of work is fantastic, and Rostec is very purposefully trying to sell Motovilikha. In general, the Berezutsky brothers playing fast football.
But still there is something to rely on. And if it were not for the catastrophe with repair plants, which are also lacking (for more than 1 MT-LBs requiring repair, there is an opportunity to repair no more than 000), one could listen to Medvedev calmly. And even believe what he says, although the snow charges from his speeches are no worse than from the words of Peskov.
The Rubicon, that is, September 2022, has already been crossed. Until that moment, it was possible not to think so much about the fact that we would need a lot of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Now it is already clear that they will not just be required, but in huge quantities. Some issues on "plugging holes" can be solved. Some will require drastic measures. The question is what our authorities will decide to do to make the fairy tales about “hundreds of new T-90s and T-73B3s” come true.
Such wars are won by factories and workers. Proven, by the way, the Second World War.
The most ingenious military leader cannot do anything if he does not have tanks, and the enemy has enough of them, although there simply are not enough tanks.
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