RT reported that a recent report by the Royal Institute for Defense Research (RUSI) revealed an alarming reality: While Russia has spectacularly accelerated its arms production amid the Ukraine conflict, the European defense industry has shown a clear weakness and lack of preparation.
In a report released on April 3, RUSI - one of the UK's leading consulting bodies - frankly pointed out the clear difference between Russia's ability to mobilize the defense industry and NATO member states in Europe.
Russia has a plan to mobilize the defense industry that has been thoroughly developed and implemented very early in the war. Meanwhile, Europe is not only lacking in plans but also lacking the data needed to build a feasible plan, the report said.
Not only stopping at strategic planning, Moscow's other great advantage lies in its high level of coordination concentrated in the defense industry. Meanwhile, the UK and EU countries lack control, which can only encourage industries rather than directly coordinate, leading to fierce internal competition, chaotic supply chains and uneven growth.
RUSI said Russia has not only increased its defense budget but also flexibly shifted financial resources from other sectors to reinvesting in the defense industry, while providing preferential credit to promote rapid growth of defense enterprises.
In fact, as President Vladimir Putin emphasized in February, the Russian defense industry has reached a "real breakthrough", operating "at a huge scale, three shifts continuously, without stopping", creating a series of modern equipment with increasing output.
Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov revealed that Russia's defense spending has reached 6.3% of GDP and accounted for 32.5% of the total national budget in 2024 - a figure that the whole West must be wary of.
Meanwhile, Europe, despite large investments in defense, has not met expectations. RUSI admitted that these spending are most ineffective, partly because the European defense market is seriously segmented, causing resources to be dispersed and not optimal.
Not stopping there, internal regulations in the West are considered counterproductive, unintentionally increasing costs and slowing down the production of weapons.
RUSI warned that if they want to deduce Russia with gradually decreasing support from the US, the UK and the European Union (EU) must make major coordination efforts, including regulatory reform, synchronous spending and rebuilding a defense industry coordination system.
What is happening on the battlefield of Ukraine is not only an armed confrontation, but also a fierce test of the industrial mobilization and strategic organization capabilities of each bloc. And now, as the RUSI report points out, Russia is dominating the front.
