Alexander Mikheev, Chief Executive Officer of JSC “Rosoboronexport” (which is a division of Rostec State Corporation) and Deputy Chairman of the Union of Machine Builders of Russia, took part in a meeting that was held jointly by the Bureau of the Union of Machine Builders and the Association “League for the Support of Defence Enterprises” on October 18, 2023.
During the discussion, they discussed the present issues faced by the Russian defense-industrial complex and the defense-technical cooperation system, as well as new concepts, forms, and instruments to solve such challenges. The modernisation of the Russian defence-technical cooperation system in light of the current situation was one of the topics that Rosoboronexport shed light on for its clients.
The growing interest in technological collaborations worldwide is one of the most important developments in contemporary defence-technical cooperation. Alexander Mikheev, the company’s CEO, predicted that the share of such projects would double by 2030, accounting for 40% of the global arms industry. These projections were based on the company’s assessments. Rosoboronexport is an industry leader in the organisation of licenced production, joint ventures, and cooperative research and development projects with international clients. He stated that the company has an amazing portfolio of projects that have been finished and projects that are now being worked on for all branches of the armed services.
Since the company’s foundation, Rosoboronexport has been working to satisfy contracts with international clients that involve technological cooperation. The key agreement between the company and the Indian corporation HAL for the licenced manufacturing of Su-30MKI aircraft in India was signed by the company in the year 2000. The next year saw the signing of a second contract between India and Russia for the licenced production of Russian tanks. In addition, Rosoboronexport has enabled the manufacturing of Russian BMP-2 armoured vehicles and the “Mango” and “Invar” munitions in India.
In addition to managing licensed manufacturing on the client’s territory, Rosoboronexport is actively involved in forming and managing joint ventures for producing Russian military equipment in countries that are partners with Russia.
The joint venture between Russia and India that is now producing AK-203 rifles in India with a final localisation rate of one hundred per cent and the joint venture responsible for the modernisation and technical maintenance of Su-30MKM aircraft are two prominent instances of this type of collaboration.
Rosoboronexport supports designing and constructing specialised facilities in other countries as part of its commitment to the technological cooperation programme.
Russian design bureaus and production businesses have a substantial scientific and technological background and a wealth of experience developing one-of-a-kind pieces of military hardware. Consequently, there has been a significant uptick in demand among international markets for collaboration between Russia and other countries to create cutting-edge new weapons and military technologies.
According to Mikhee, technological partnership projects with countries from other parts of the world benefit both parties. On the one hand, the specialised skills that Russian arms manufacturers possess are in high demand in other countries. In the meantime, Russian businesses can concentrate on making and selling products for the Russian army, which is currently a key priority. On the other hand, partner countries can build their industrial base and set up production facilities capable of large-scale operations on their territory, as Alexander Mikheev pointed out.
