Today we are releasing our first OSINT collection "Roscosmos". As the only producer of intercontinental ballistic missiles in Russia, Roscosmos plays a central role in maintaining the Russian WMD delivery capabilities.
Let's have a look at how they produce missiles.
It is two companies within Roscosmos that are primarily responsible for the missile production. The Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology (MITT) makes solid-propellant missiles, Makeyev Design Bureau – liquid propellant ones.
Our investigation is covering both.
Our sample includes both primary ICBM/SLBM producers in Russia: Votkinsk and Krasnoyarsk, a major producer of launchers Titan-Barrikady, as well as smaller, less important plants of Zlatoust and Miass.
It is a nearly exhaustive sample of ICBM producing facilities in Russia.
We have five OSINT materials, one per each plant. To access our materials, you can either:
a) Click on a respective plant in the diagram
b) Choose it from the list below
Each includes an eclectic collection of sources, ranging from the TV propaganda to public tenders, and from the HR listings to academic dissertations. Combined altogether, they provide a holistic picture of the Russian ICBM production base that no single type of source can.
Some takeaways:
a) The Russian ICBM production base is a mix of modern CNC equipment by the leading Western producers & the remnants of Soviet machinery
b) There is almost nothing "Russian" out there
b) And, perhaps more interestingly, almost nothing Chinese
Our findings suggest that the Russian missile industry used to enforce a systematic policy of Chinese exclusion, which was abruptly reversed with the start of the Special Operation.
For more details, consult our report How Does Russia Make Missiles?
Long range cruise missiles play a major role in the Russian war in Ukraine. They serve as a means of nuclear blackmail, of conventional strikes and of terror against the civilian infrastructure
Let's revise what one needs to produce them
The Rostec-associated "ODK Saturn" makes engines for all the longest range cruise missiles in Russia including Kh-101, Kh-555 and the Kalibr family. This is one of the most strategically important and technologically advanced weaponry producers in Russia
Despite being a secretive military producer, Saturn produces lots of informative documentation. And much of it is available online. Consider their "Technological policy" (2017)
It has a *full list of manufacturing equipment* mentioned in their internal technical documentation
Titan-Barrikady is the Russian producer of Iskander launchers. In 2021, its Chief Technologist Ingemansson A.R. defended a doctoral dissertation on "securing consistency of the machining processes"
It were the HAAS milling and turning machines that his research was based upon
"Turning was conducted on the SL-40L CNC lathe, milling - on the horizontal drilling-milling-boring EC-1600 machining center (all production of "Haas Automation", USA)"
"Machining operations have been carried out on the existing production site, under the regular conditions"
On Monday, we presented selected visuals on the Votkinsk, the Roscosmos enterprise producing ballistic missiles for the "Iskander" complex. Today, we will do the Titan-Barrikady that is producing the "Iskander" missile launchers
Let us take an excursion to their factory floor🧵
We will start with this video broadcasted on the regional TV channel AhtubaTV: "Governor Bozhenov met with the workers of the Central Design Bureau "Titan" (2012).
0:14 On this photo of a Titan-Barrikady workshop you can see at least two HAAS machines
The Russian military doctrine is missile-centric. Serving as the principal means of WMD delivery, long range missiles secure Russian capacity to execute nuclear blackmail. Their production ongoing despite the sanctions regime implies that the targeting of sanctions is incorrect🧵
With this investigation, we propose a new look into the Russian missile industry’s chokepoints, specifically in its industrial equipment and processes. As Russia lost the Soviet machinery sector, its military producers have outsourced production of industrial equipment abroad
The power of OSINT is underestimated. Operating under the regime of secrecy, strategic missile industry appears to be impenetrable. And yet, we have built a representative picture of its manufacturing base, with its chokepoints, based exclusively on the publicly available sources