Russia's missile production and stockpiling tactics revealed

Even over 170 ballistic and long-range cruise missiles—that’s how many the Russian Federation can produce in a month, reports the Ukrainian agency Unian, citing a Forbes publication. Current production allows Russia to employ a tactic of stockpiling weapons and conducting mass bombardments at longer intervals.

Western sanctions undoubtedly impact the economy of the Russian Federation. Not only does the defense industry feel it, but also the Russian space agency Roskosmos, which faces significant financial losses.

Challenges are also evident in the defence sector, particularly in rebuilding losses in aviation and armoured land vehicles. Despite the sanctions, however, the Russian Federation can still produce many ballistic and long-range cruise missiles.

According to Forbes, citing a source within one of the intelligence agencies, the current missile production rate in Russia is between 42 to 56 ballistic missiles and 90 to 115 long-range cruise missiles. This means that on a monthly scale, Russians can produce over 170 missiles, which they can use in mass bombardments on Ukraine.

The mentioned production rate remains significant in the context of Russian tactics. The strategy involves stockpiling missiles for about 2-3 months and using the entire stockpile in a single strike.

While this tactic means that Ukrainians are attacked with minimal missile numbers for a long period, making it easier to defend, during a mass strike, shooting down hundreds of missiles launched in a short time is much more difficult for Ukrainian air defence. Stockpiling weapons give Russians an advantage during rare but very intense attacks.

Forbes also details the exact missiles held in the Russian military’s stockpile. As of September 17, 2024, the aggressor’s arsenal includes 130 Iskander-M missiles, 55 Kinzhal missiles (produced at a rate of 2-6 per month), 350 Kalibr missiles, and 190 Kh-101 missiles.

Among all the missiles listed by Forbes, the Iskanders and Kalibrs deserve the most attention. The former comes in several variants, the most common being the Iskander-M, which weighs about 11,000 lbs. The range of this missile is approximately 311 miles during bombardment. An important indicator of the efficacy of this weapon is its maximum speed, which makes the Iskander difficult to shoot down. After launch, the missile reaches a speed of Mach 7, or about 5,343 mph. The ammunition, over 23 ft long, hits the target with high precision—accuracy, measured in CEP, is 98 ft.

Kalibrs also come in several versions. One of the more popular ones is the 3M14 model, which has a range of 1,553 miles and is designed for attacks on land targets. There's also the 3M54 model, which can reach almost 435 miles from the launch site. The latter is specially designed for attacking naval units.