MOSCOW, RUSSIA — The development and production of new weapons in Russia do not stop. This is despite committing a large part of the defense budget to the war. This is happening despite the international economic sanctions imposed because of the invasion of Ukraine.
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15 new weapons and systems complete the catalog of RosOboronExport. Tested and produced in 2022, they have already received an export license. From 2023, the Russian export company will offer them on international markets.
RosOboronExport published a press release describing the more interesting new weapons filling the company’s product portfolio. Among them are a new sniper rifle, air defense, countermeasures, drones, controllable modules, etc.
Drone Orlan-30
Orlan-30 is a modified version of the older Orlan-10. The drone is designed for reconnaissance and targeting artillery fire. Orlan-30 can detect and recognize people and objects in the visible and infrared range. The maximum flying speed is 170 km/h.
However, its predecessor, the Orlan-10, has not fared very well in military operations over the past two years. At least 13 have been shot down over Donbas alone, and dozens more over the rest of Ukraine. Four were shot down over Syria and one ISIS drone in Mali. Separately, there are reports of damage and downed drones of this modification in Russia and Belarus.
Ballista combat module
Ballista is a completely new remote control turret for armored personnel carriers. A 30mm automatic cannon ensures long-range combat. For close combat, the Russians have integrated a 7.62mm machine gun. The combat module has a combined sight and two anti-tank guided missiles as well.
The Russian army has already started receiving upgraded BTR-82A and BTR-82AM armored personnel carriers with this combat module. The ballista is equipped with a combined sight, thermal imaging camera, laser rangefinder, and laser sight.
BTR-3 armored personnel carrier
The new BTR-3 armored personnel carrier is a modernized version of the older ones. RosOboronExport offers it in its catalog because of the complete modernization that they have implemented in the production workshops.
As with the Ballista combat module, the BTR-3 has a 30mm automatic cannon and a 7.62mm machine gun. The additional thing is that the Russians have integrated a 100mm gun as the main weapon. In this way, RosObornExport slightly changes the functionality of the vehicle. In addition to transporting personnel and non-human payloads, the BTR-3 is capable of countering light armored vehicles, bunkers, and other targets with increased protection. According to BulgarianMilitary.com, this modernization is a consequence of an assessment of the APCs in the war with Ukraine.
Chukavin sniper rifle
Bulgarianmilitary.com reported last September that Russian army special forces were testing the Chukavin sniper rifle in Ukraine. Already licensed for production and export, Chukavin is present as part of the product portfolio of the state-owned arms export company.
Concern Kalashnikov stated that the Chukavin rifle is superior in characteristics to all products previously accepted by the Ministry of Defense. The rifles were tested with a 7.62x54mm caliber cartridge. This is a Russian standard. Chukavin SVCh can be adapted to fire NATO standard – 7.62x51mm. According to the requirements, the Chukavin SVCh should fire the first round, hitting a target at a distance of 1 km. The sniper rifle weighs up to 4.5 kg with a magazine capacity of 10 rounds in total. Chukavin SVCh is 1.15 meters long.
Simplified export procedures
Despite the war and imposed sanctions, RosOboronExport will be able to export its new products almost all over the world – Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In fact, this is the main market even before the Western restrictions on Russia.
However, Moscow has decided to make future arms exports even easier. The regulatory framework in the field of military-technical cooperation was changed. The legislation was changed to simplify licensing procedures for introducing new products to global markets.
In the middle of last year, the Licensing Commission of the Russian Federation changed the work processes, including the preparation of export documentation.
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