FT: Russia Relies on Western Equipment to Manufacture Oreshnik

28 December, 2024 A German machine at the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant. Photo from the company's website Russia relies on Western equipment to produce the Oreshnik medium-range missile system.

This is stated in the Financial Times article. The American publication investigated the machines of the companies used by the aggressor country to produce the weapons that have already been fired at Ukraine. Two leading Russian arms development institutes were looking for employees, and among the requirements was the ability to work on metalworking machines from German and Japanese companies.

"This dependence is especially noticeable in the field of metalworking on computer numerical control (CNC) machines, a technology vital to Oreshnik's production that allows factories to quickly produce parts with high precision," the article states. The publication found that the 2024 announcements of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, which develops and manufactures ballistic missiles of various ranges, the leading institution for the development of Russian solid-fuel ballistic missiles, stated that "we use Fanuc, Siemens, Haidenhein systems."

MZKT-79221 chassis at Titan-Barricades. Photo credits: newsskolkovo.rf

Fanuc is a Japanese company, and the other two are German, all of which develop and manufacture control systems for high-precision CNC machines.

Another Russian concern, Sozvezdiya, which develops and manufactures communications and electronics, is also looking for metal-cutting machine operators with "knowledge of CNC systems - Fanuc, Siemens, Haidenhain." A video released earlier this year by Titan-Barricades, a company that manufactures self-propelled launchers for missile systems, shows a worker standing in front of a Fanuc-manufactured control device.

The operator of a metal-cutting machine with a Fanuc control system at Titan-Barricades. Photo credits: Financial Times

Even with the purchase of high-precision metalworking machines made in China, they continue to rely on Japanese and German-made controllers.

Similarly, Russian metal-cutting machines use Western equipment in the design of their machines. For example, Stan, a leading Russian machine tool company, uses Heidenhain equipment. Thus, an analysis of Russian customs declarations shows that since the beginning of 2024, Russia has received supplies worth at least £3 million, including Heidenhain components.

Some of their customers are deeply involved in military production.