Page 45 - RusRPTJul23

● Weapons
The EU does not have enough materials to expand ammunition production and is forced to import them, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on June 20. "Today I can tell you that in order to increase the capacity of producing warfare, ammunitions, we lack critical materials that are no longer available inside Europe and have to be imported. This weakens our strategic autonomy, it poses economic risks and threatens our security," he said when presenting the first EU Economic Security Strategy.
Nato weapons and ammunition stockpiles are depleted and must be replenished as soon as possible, Nato Secretary General said, speaking at the Day of German Industry economic conference in Berlin on June 20. "We also need a more robust defence industry, and some of you are present here today. Our weapons and ammunition stocks are depleted and need to be replenished, not just in Germany, but in many countries across NATO," Stoltenberg told German industry representatives.
Ukraine’s concerns grow as Russia ostensibly continues to use Western chips in its missiles. In the beginning of this year, the Ministry of defence of Ukraine published
The Kyiv
Independent reports
figures estimating that Russia was down to 19% of its
pre-invasion long-range strategic missile capabilities. These estimates,
however, were recently re-evaluated by the Ukrainian authorities following
Russia’s continuous attacks on Ukrainian cities in May and June.
that now, Kyiv foresees Russia doubling its production of
long-range high-precision missiles in 2023, with a projected total of 1,061
missiles—enough to fire almost 90 per month for the next year.
The list includes a number of American-based companies, such as Texas
Instruments, AMD and its subsidiary XILINX, Integrated Device Technology,
Altera (a subsidiary of Intel), and Cypress Technologies (a subsidiary of
Infineon). Companies from other Western countries are on the list as well,
including Dutch semiconductor company Nexperia and Swiss manufacturer
Numonyx. according to The Kyiv Independent’s source, Ukrainian officials are
certain that the missiles include components shipped to Russia in early 2023.
Despite sanctions, Russia is buying American sniper rounds and other ammunition from the EU, and electronics used in Russian missiles are produced in the US. As Politico writes, Russian-sanctioned companies Promtechnologiya, which manufactures Orsis T-5000 rifles, and Tetis purchased hundreds of thousands of cartridges manufactured by the American company Hornady. The bullets were highlighted in a video by the Wagnerites, where the sniper praises the Orsis T-5000 rifle and notes that it uses Western
45 RUSSIA Country Report July 2023 www.intellinews.com