In 2024, the Russian Federation increased imports of Chinese machine tools for the defense industry, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported on Wednesday, UNN writes.
Details
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published data on 37 units of foreign equipment used by the enemy military-industrial complex, in particular, the "Almaz-Antey" enterprise, which manufactures anti-aircraft weapons, and the largest Russian manufacturer of tanks and armored vehicles – "Uralvagonzavod".
"Among the published equipment are Chinese machine tools purchased by "Uralvagonzavod" in 2023-2024", the Main Intelligence Directorate noted.
"The military industry of the aggressor state remains dependent on foreign equipment, in particular machine tools with numerical program control (CNC). In 2024, after the strengthening of sanctions, the supply of Western machine tools became more difficult, so the Russians are increasing imports of equipment from China. Calculations are mainly carried out through VTB Bank and its branch in Shanghai, payments are made in Chinese yuan," the Main Intelligence Directorate said.
According to the intelligence service, "Chinese machine tools are equipped with German and Japanese numerical program control systems – Siemens, Heidenhain, Fanuc." "The main reason is that Muscovites have experience working with Western systems, and most programs for designing parts are created for them," the report says.
"According to available data, the Russian Federation is actively continuing to train new specialists in working with Siemens, Heidenhain and Fanuc systems, so a transition to others is unlikely for the time being," the Main Intelligence Directorate noted.
As indicated, "Uralvagonzavod" and "Almaz-Antey" also use equipment manufactured by Emco (Austria), Grindex (Serbia), Hermle (Germany), Tos Celakovice (Czech Republic), etc., purchased before the start of the full-scale invasion.
The publication of such data, the intelligence service stressed, is important for controlling the restriction of supplies of spare parts, technical fluids and other consumables, without which these machines will not be able to operate.
"In general, the section "War Tools" already contains data on 1,158 pieces of equipment at 169 factories of the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. About 20% of the published equipment contains unique serial numbers, which can be used to track supply chains," the Main Intelligence Directorate noted.
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