The war in Ukraine has brought to light the challenges it is facing. Since the start of the conflict, the Russian army has sustained significant losses in terms of equipment, revealing the poor condition of much of its arsenal.
According to several OSINT sources, Russia has lost more than 20,000 items of equipment since the start of the offensive in February 2022. This equipment has either been destroyed or seriously damaged. This represents a significant share of Russia’s pre-war deployable forces, particularly among its most modern assets. Sanctions imposed by Western countries have also put pressure on Russian companies, which are facing shortages of skilled labor and rising production costs.
The Russian defense industry is therefore in a delicate situation . Not only must it replace equipment lost on the battlefield, it must also modernize its arsenal to keep up with the technological advances of Western countries and other major military powers.
Russian weaponry: obvious limitations
While the quantity of Russian weaponry is impressive, its reliability and effectiveness are questionable. Much of the equipment used by the Russian army dates from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, or even earlier. For example, the T-62 and T-72 tanks, which have been widely deployed in Ukraine, were designed in the 1950s and 1970s respectively. While these vehicles are robust, they lack modern protection, firing accuracy, and electronic systems.
Russian weapons also suffer from maintenance and repair issues. Dependence on imported components, which are often difficult to obtain due to sanctions, makes it more challenging for Russian engineers to keep this equipment in working order. Furthermore, the rapid wear and tear of parts due to intensive battlefield use adds to these difficulties.
Another striking example is air defense systems, while the S-300 dates from the Soviet era, the S-400 is a post-Soviet system built on that legacy. Their effectiveness is being called into question in the face of modern drones and Western combat aircraft, which benefit from advanced stealth and electronic countermeasure technologies.
Use of obsolete technologies
To compensate for the loss of modern equipment, the Russian army is using older technologies that are still operational. For example, armored personnel carriers (APCs) and T-55 tanks dating from the post-war period (1955–1958) have been deployed on the Ukrainian front. Although these vehicles are less powerful, they are being used to maintain a presence on the ground.
Despite efforts to modernize its equipment and diversify its sources of supply, Russia faces structural limitations that compromise its ability to sustain a prolonged war effort in Ukraine.
Armament solutions are often uncertain
Faced with these challenges, the Russian army has had to find ways to continue fighting despite the limitations of its arsenal. Several strategies have been implemented to compensate for the shortcomings of its ageing equipment. Russia has increased its production of new weapons and modernization of existing ones. The T-90M, an upgraded version of the T-90 tank, is one of the models still in production. However, production of this model was insufficient to offset battlefield losses.
At the same time, Russia began importing military equipment from allied and neutral countries. North Korea and Iran became key suppliers for Moscow. According to the United States, Iran supplied Russia with several Fath-360 ballistic missiles in late summer 2024. However, the quality of this equipment is often considered mediocre. Reuters reports that Iran is expected to deliver Fath-360 launchers to the Russian army this year, in addition to the missiles sent last year.
Rosoboronexport, Russia’s arms export center, predicts an increase in technological partnership projects for the design of military equipment, even if forecasts of a 40% share of the global arms market are highly optimistic and probably unrealistic.
They estimate that these partnerships could account for up to 40% of the global arms market by 2030.
Imports of defective military equipment
According to the UN and the governments of Ukraine and the United States, North Korea has supplied Russia with several million shells. Although there are many of them, many have turned out to be in poor condition or even defective. Reports indicate that many of them explode before being fired. South Korean intelligence services claim that the shells date back to the 1970s. The Times, citing Western intelligence sources, reports that by 2024, half of the shells used by the Russian army (estimated at nearly 3,000,000 per year) will be of North Korean origin. The authors argue that these imports demonstrate the Kremlin’s reliance on its allies for ammunition supplies. The future of the Russian defense industry depends on its ability to innovate and overcome the obstacles posed by international sanctions. The future of the Russian defense industry depends on its ability to innovate and overcome the obstacles posed by international sanctions. However, the sustainability of this industrial effort remains uncertain, given the constant adjustments to Western sanctions and concerns about the risks of excessive reliance on the military sector.
