New report reveals Putin’s only tank factory can’t replace his losses

Russia's demand for new tanks is outstripping its production capabilities according to a report from the liberal Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta. 

In November 2022, Novaya Gazeta’s Gregory Aleksandrov reported on Russia’s fledgling supply situation and revealed that the country’s single-tank manufacturing facility in Nizhny Tagil was having trouble meeting its production order. 

“It is obvious that Russia’s army is in catastrophically short supply of almost all types of equipment,” an unnamed Rostec employee told Aleksandrov.

“This is why the government orders… are so urgent. It seems as if the new priority now is all about quantity, not quality,” the source added. 

“In simpler words,” the source continued, “it’s unimportant which tanks are being sent to the frontlines: the newest T-90M models or the recommissioned T-62 ones.”

Photo by Twitter @UAWeapons

Aleksandrov’s Rostec source told the Russian journalist that the state-owned UralVagonZavod machine-building company received an order for 400 after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, but has struggled to meet the order.

“Everyone was unprepared for a war,” Aleksandrov’s Rostec source explained.  “Launching any sort of production requires time. First and foremost, all suppliers, selectors, and allied manufacturers should be dealt with.”

“Producing tanks requires metal, guns, engines, electronics, communication devices, and all sorts of other complex mechanisms and integral units,” the source added. 

“All those things were purchased based on the actual contracts and cannot be acquired in a snap of a finger,” the source continued. “There were no stocks.”

UralVagonZavod, according to Fortune’s Christiaan Hetzner, is not only Russia’s largest tank manufacturer but also the largest in the world with roughly 30,000 employees operating a production facility out of Nizhny Tagil. 

Photo by Twitter @TheDeadDistrict

After the war began, UralVagonZavod could barely produce tanks according to Aleksnadrov and one source working with the state-owned company told Novaya Gazeta that the production facility could only make about 200-250 tanks a year. 

Photo by Twitter @TheDeadDistrict

The Economist picked up Alexsandrov’s story in February 2023 and published their own findings on the situation late last month, revealing that Russia was indeed suffering. 

Photo by Twitter @TheDeadDistrict

"In an attempt to meet the demand, Russia has increased the rate at which it restores old tanks, of which it has thousands in storage,” wrote The Economist. 

Photo by Twitter @RALee85

“UralVagonZavod rebuilds about eight tanks a month,” The Economist added, “and three other armoured-vehicle repair plants each refurbish around 17, according to Russian media,” though they did not elaborate on their sources. 

Photo by Twitter @TheDeadDistrict

The Economist added that Russia had two more large production facilities coming online within a few months and noted that while the country was only producing 20 tanks a month “it may soon be able to resurrect 90 or so a month from its boneyards.”

Ninety refurbished tanks a month would still be a far cry from the number needed, however, since the open source intelligence website Oryx has pegged Russia’s monthly tank losses at about 150 a month according to reporting from Business Insider’s Joshua Zitser. 

As of March 11th, Oryx recorded Russian tank losses to have reached 1825 vehicles destroyed, damaged, captured, or abandoned based on the organization’s unique photographic and video evidence observations.