“The driver of the entire economy”: Korotchenko assessed the growth rate of the defense industry

Innovation is flowing from the military to the civilian segment of the industry

On April 3, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced high growth rates in the defense industry. According to him, in 2023, hundreds of additional enterprises were involved in the interests of producing products for the troops. The production of cars and armored vehicles tripled last year, weapons of destruction – 7 times, communications equipment, electronic warfare and reconnaissance – 9 times. The editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, Igor Korotchenko, commented to MK on this explosive growth.

“As part of providing everything necessary for a special military operation,” the expert says, “the government has made significant efforts to scale up the production by enterprises of the military-industrial complex, as well as by private businesses, of the range of weapons that are needed in the Northern Military District zone. These are drones of various classes and purposes, equipment, personal protective equipment and much more.

In general, large-scale work coordinated by the government allowed us to significantly (if we compare the situation with the beginnings of the Northern Military District) increase, often by multiples, the supply of the entire range of the most modern weapons. And this has a positive effect, including in the combat zone.

This was done under conditions of sanctions, in a situation where we are actually opposed by the collective West with its military-industrial complex. At the same time, over these two years, we were able to adjust the work of the defense industry at the right pace, ensure supplies of the necessary weapons, in particular, eliminate the shortage of shells, increase the supply of drones, quadcopters, equipment, and vehicles. Today, on many issues, we look very good.

– Can the defense industry serve as a growth driver for the entire industry?

– Of course. In general, it is now incorrect to speak separately about the “civil sector” or the “military sector” of the economy. The modern economy is actually a single complex. There, as if through communicating vessels, certain innovations flow from one sphere to another.

The defense-industrial complex can introduce its achievements not only into the production of weapons and military equipment, but also into the civilian sphere. This applies, for example, to optoelectronics, artificial intelligence, and electronic components. Of course, the defense industry is a driver of growth, and not only of the economy. For example, state defense orders create a need for highly qualified workers and engineers. Today, large-scale training of such specialists is underway. Enterprises need workers with good heads and skillful hands.

Or take the issues of introducing artificial intelligence technologies. I recently visited defense industry enterprises and I can say that, for example, assembly production is carried out at the most modern level. Welding of complex technological structures is performed by robots. Moreover, the software is Russian, adapted to our needs. In this regard, all innovations are transferred to related industrial sectors.