All enterprises of the military-industrial complex make up a complex system that ensures the defense capability of a huge country. The complex includes all institutions, organizations and industries engaged in various stages of production of the final product - from the development and production of special raw materials to the assembly of equipment and machines.
Russian defense industry enterprises after the USSR
The country inherited from the USSR a huge military-industrial complex, including hundreds of manufacturing enterprises and research institutes. Taking into account family members, until recently, almost one in ten citizens of the Russian Federation was associated with enterprises of the military-industrial complex. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most important task facing the complex was conversion.
For more than two decades, defense industry enterprises have striven to re-qualify for the production of civilian products, but only a few succeeded. Many enterprises were closed, some began to produce dual-use products, and some were able to successfully overcome the protracted crisis and reach a new level of development and production of military products.
Geographical features of the complex
The system of enterprises of the military-industrial complex that has developed in the Union has covered all the major cities of the country. This made it possible to include defense enterprises and special closed research institutes in the production chain of civilian products.
However, there was one feature in the Soviet military-industrial complex - closed cities, which appeared as a result of an obsession with power by the regime of secrecy. Such cities, as a rule, specialized in the production or development of a single type of defense product.
Vivid examples of such cities can serve as closed formations of the Chelyabinsk region, formed around nuclear industry enterprises. The production association Mayak, located in the city of Ozersk, specializes in the production of weapons-grade plutonium. In the same area, but in the city formation of Trekhgorny, there is an instrument-making factory specializing in the construction of atomic bombs. A special access control regime in these cities continues to persist even after the collapse of the USSR.
Placement principle
An important feature of the deployment of defense industry enterprises is that many of them duplicate each other. This legacy of the Soviet Union was formed due to the need to launch the production of necessary products in case the enemy destroyed the main enterprise. However, in modern conditions, such duplication has become redundant and has led to additional costs in the restructuring of the entire defense complex.
In addition to the principle of duplication, the security principle is also important, according to which enterprises were located at the maximum distance from state borders. Hence the choice of the Urals and Siberia as important centers for the location of defense industry enterprises.
The third factor in choosing the location for creating important enterprises was international treaties, according to which Russia has the right to create missile defense around Moscow. It was the opportunity to ensure the security of strategic institutions that led to the creation of a large number of defense industry enterprises in Moscow. Most enterprises in Moscow and the region are engaged in the development of high-tech systems and complexes, whether it is electronics and automation, optics and control systems.
Aviation industry on a map of Russia
The space industry and aircraft industry for many decades have been the basis of the country's defense, prestige and competitiveness with other world powers.
Such an industry requires a large number of highly qualified personnel interested in high wages and a decent quality of life. Consequently, the vast majority of aircraft manufacturing enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Russia are concentrated in large cities - scientific and educational centers.
The main part of the research enterprises involved in the development of aviation technology is located in the Moscow region, and the Volga region is famous for its production facilities operating in Samara and Nizhny Novgorod. The world famous Black Shark helicopter is manufactured in the Primorsky Territory, in the city of Arsenyev, where a large helicopter plant has been located for many decades.
Cosmodromes and MCC
As for the enterprises of the space industry, the most important of them is the Baikonur cosmodrome, located in Kazakhstan. Russia uses it on a rental basis. The way the defense industry enterprises are located throughout Russia is determined by the legacy of the Soviet era, that is, in fact, is the result of the Cold War between the two political systems.
The control center for all space flights with human participation is located in the Queen of Moscow Region. However, there are two cosmodromes in the country, the most important of which is today Plesetsk.
Fuel and chemical industry
Efficiency and combat readiness of the army is unthinkable without a stable supply of consumables, ammunition and fuel. To meet these army needs, numerous enterprises have been created that provide for the production of fuels and lubricants.
It is in this segment that the defense complex is as close as possible to enterprises of ordinary industry, as engine fuel and lubricants are widely in demand in everyday life.
However, for the production of rocket fuel, which is required in large quantities for both the space industry and the missile forces, special enterprises are needed. During the nineties, important elements of rocket fuel were purchased in Germany, but in 2016, a new enterprise specializing in the production of hydrazine was built in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Thus, the list of defense industry enterprises was replenished with another strategically important production.
List of defense enterprises
The most important companies ensuring the security of Russia are: Rostec, Oboronprom, Uralvagonzavod, Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, Motovilikhinsky Factories, Nizhny Novgorod Machine-Building Plant.
Such concerns as Sukhoi, Almaz-Antey, and Severnaya Verf have earned wide popularity even among people who are not related to the defense industry .
Summarizing, it is worth saying that the geography of the defense industry enterprises is extremely wide and includes almost all the major cities of the country, as well as numerous closed city formations. In addition, various research institutes, ammunition plants and fuel complexes are among the enterprises of the defense complex. Numerous enterprises have dual-use status.
Thus, the way in which the defense industry enterprises are located throughout Russia is determined not only by geography or economic and logistical expediency, but also by the historical context of the Cold War.