Ukraine

Russia’s ability to acquire foreign machine tools despite Western sanctions is reportedly allowing Russia to increase its production of tank and artillery barrels- a key constraining factor on Russia’s defense industrial base (DIB). Ukrainian open source intelligence outlet Frontelligence Insight reported on February 9, citing internal Russian procurement documents that Russia is modernizing the Uralmash Plant No. 9, which manufactures barrels for the Koalitsiya and Msta self-propelled howitzers and for various Russian tanks, including the T-14 Armata, T-90, and modernized T-62 and T-72.[19]

Frontelligence Insight reported that Russia has been modernizing the Uralmash Plant No. 9 since 2016 and that the plant has acquired at least 22 of machine tools manufactured by companies in Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy for its production efforts. Frontelligence Insight noted that Russia determined it cannot compensate for its dependency on foreign machine tools for its defense industrial base (DIB) and that the planning documents indicate that Russia feels confident about its ability to acquire these machine tools despite Western sanctions.