RUSI: Russia is Unable to Replenish Stockpiles of Anti-Aircraft Missiles Due to Massive Attacks by Ukraine

The Russian industry is unable to timely replenish stocks of anti-aircraft missiles due to Ukraine’s massive use of cheap drones against Russia’s military and energy infrastructure.

A study was published by the Royal United Services Institute for Defense Research (RUSI).

According to the analysis, Russian air defense systems, despite their multilayered nature, high integration, and ability to significantly reduce the effectiveness of both NATO aircraft and Ukrainian long-range weapons, remain among the most dangerous in the world. At the same time, these systems have critical weaknesses: a shortage of missiles and radars, as well as difficulties in recovering from losses.

First of all, it is about the shortage of microelectronics, dependence on imported components, vulnerable logistics nodes, and a limited number of enterprises without which Russia cannot scale up the production of air defense systems.

RUSI analysts point out that the situation may deteriorate due to the actions of both Ukraine and Western partners – from targeted sanctions and export bans to strikes on the critical elements of the Russian military-industrial complex.

The report also notes that all the necessary levers of influence are already in place – all that is missing is the political determination to apply sanctions without exception and to close the loopholes through which Russian companies obtain critical components. Effectively blocking these channels will not only weaken Russia’s air defense, but will also hit its export potential, undermining confidence in Russian weapons on world markets.

In addition, there have already been examples of Russia’s export contracts for the supply of anti-aircraft systems being delayed, particularly to India. Earlier, Militarnyi reported that Russia had postponed the transfer of the last two batteries of the S-400 air defense system to India for the second time because of the war in Ukraine. During a bilateral meeting between Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, the parties discussed new deadlines for the transfer of S-400 air defense systems – 2026-2027.