Russia is producing artillery shells around three times faster than Ukraine’s Western allies and for about a quarter of the cost
https://news.sky.com/story/russia-is-producing-artillery-shells-around-three-times-faster-than-ukraines-western-allies-and-for-about-a-quarter-of-the-cost-13143224
by greedeer
27 comments
and 1/5 of precision and quality
That’s the reality.
10000$ spent on American shells = 2 workers’ monthly salary
10000$ spent on russian shells = 30 workers’ monthly salary
Sounds expensive for russia in the Long term. Its cheaper, but the products are not on par are they.
The Pentagon gets gouged by American defence firms. The American military-industrial complex has become so concentrated nothing is made cheaply or cost-effective.
As an example, Boeing charged the Pentagon 1,678.61$ for a spare part for Apache and Chinook helicopters that the Pentagon already had in its warehouse which cost 7.71$. An oil switch NASA paid 328$ for the Pengaton pays 10,000$. There are hundreds of examples like this.
There is also an obvious moral hazard in which the defence firms will not design cheap cost-effective weapons simply because it makes less profit. There is little profit in making hundreds of thousands of 152 mm shells.
…but the thing that scares me the most are the tracked garden sheds.
Considering the high taxes, good salaries/benefits and all the extra costs companies need to pay for employees there is no way EU countries can compete cost wise with Russia’s war economy.
Russia’s manufacturing industry never did manage to progress into the 21st century, so it’s no wonder that they are able to so easily mass produce something like shells.
Yeah and what’s the dud rate compared to western manufacturers?
I would go work in a factory for free if it meant helping produce more shells for Ukraine.
Wages/materials are much cheaper in Russia
European leaders are bankers and won’t do anything that will disturb the markets.
Capitalism at it’s finest. That’s why you can’t compare the GPD and military budget of different countries. $1B is totally different value in the USA, Western EU, Eastern EU, Russia, China South America, etc. The $800B defense budget of the US is impressive and basically larger than the rest of the world combined, but if the cost of production and wages are 5-10 times of let’s say China, we are misleading ourselves.
Everything is cheaper in Russia – includng wages and material used.
Well EU partners also havent switched to a wartime economy running on fumes either….
Can someone please explain why you can’t precisely and swiftly gauge where the grenate came from and dump precision counter artillery or himars (within a minute or so) on those guns … before they have moved out
When you are using literal slaves you can do that yea.
Is this another one of those articles with bad math comparing apples to oranges like the one(s) that appear every other month?
The cost part is a non-issue. It’s a dumb comparison, the US economy alone is 10x the size of Russia’s. Obviously everything is cheaper in Russia than in the West, but the West has much more money.
The real problem is the number of shells produced and how much time does it take.
Rule 1, on page I of the book of war, is: “Do not march on Moscow”
Sir Bernhard Law Montgomery
Of course Bain would say this, they want the Western MIC to get even more funds
Sure , that’s why they are begging korea and proxy’s for deliveries of dud shells
>””Often, with just one, two or three shells, we can completely destroy a target,” said Senior Lieutenant Kostiantin, an artillery battery commander with the 57th Brigade, which is fighting against a new Russian invasion into the Kharkiv region, in the northeast of Ukraine.”
The price and production rate is one reason why that’s possible. The shells we used back when I did my military service were incredibly consistent, and as long as the artillery piece you’re using has the same precision you’re frequently able to place a shell with a 25m circular error waaay out.
Meanwhile Russian ammo has not just a higher dud-rate, but with wider tolerances the inconsistency in shells (construction/weight) and propellant (weight/composition leading to fuzzier explosive profiles) means that Russia simply don’t have the same precision. A lack of precision that’s even more exaggerated since Russia just doesn’t have the tech to manufacture something equivalent to the Excalibur or it’s cheaper sibling the PGK.
That said. The defence contracts of western nations have been flawed, and this war shows it. Not enough stockpiles. Not large enough contracts that specify a readiness to scale up production in the future. Not enough focus on weapons that can support our allies with cheaper and readily usable weapons. No cost-effective counters against drones (which are rapidly becoming the second most cost-effective weapon in use, with only mines being cheaper)
Overall, we’ve just not been ready for a situation where the NATO air force can’t just roll in, and not really ready for this new era of drone weaponry either.
Only way out is NATO intervention. Massive air campaign at a minimum.
I only see this happening if Biden wins 2024.
If Trump wins he hands Ukraine to Putin, along with american influence in Europe wayning.
But what about the shareholder value?
that would be concerning if it was Russia vs Western allies.
Fortunately, the western aid is __on top__ of what Ukraine already produces for themselves.
That tends to happen when your weapon factories are nationalized. The cost of producing is lower versus other countries like USA that wants to make huge profits.
Service economies don’t win wars.