Russia receives 200 main weapon systems during first half of 2021

The Russian Armed Forces received some 200 main weapon systems in the first half of 2021, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced during a joint military hardware acceptance day on 10 August.

Shoigu said this included MiG-35S multirole combat aircraft, Mi-8MTPR-1 and Ka-52 helicopters, 12 radars, a Bastion mobile coastal defence missile battery, and nine naval vessels, including the Project 885M nuclear-powered guided missile submarine Kazan and the Project 21631 corvette Grayvoron.

Deputy Defence Minister Alexey Krivoruchko added that Russian Ground Forces and Airborne Troops received 68 new and 70 overhauled land weapon systems, 163 new and 156 overhauled vehicles, 56 artillery and rocket systems, and 100,000 man-portable weapons and pieces of equipment. CEOs of defence industry enterprises said 26 T-90M Proryv tanks, 60 BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, and seven 2S19M2 Msta-S 152 mm self-propelled howitzers were delivered to the troops in 2021.

Krivoruchko expected 20 T-14 Armata and 65 T-90M tanks, a brigade of Iskander-M mobile tactical ballistic missile systems, and 18 unmanned aerial vehicles to be handed over to the military before the end of the year.

Russian Aerospace Forces received two new and three overhauled fixed-wing aircraft, eight new and 14 overhauled helicopters, two Forpost-R unmanned aerial systems, and more than 32,000 air-launched weapons in the first half of 2021. The service is set to receive four Su-57 multirole combat aircraft this year, Krivoruchko said.

Three nuclear-powered submarines, a diesel-electric submarine, and six surface vessels are to be handed over to the Russian Navy in 2021.