It was built in the 1930s, but throughout its history, Uralvagonzavod has been making cutting-edge combat vehicles – from the legendary World War II T-34 tank, to the next-gen T-14 Armata. The machine building company is located in the heart of Russia’s industrial region near Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, and it is the largest main battle tank manufacturer in the world.
UVZ's legendary T-34 is known for its role in WWII, and 1990's T90 is about to be replaced by T-14 Armata. UVZ sells tanks to 77 countries. pic.twitter.com/1ramK251Vy
— Denis Bolotsky (@BolotskySputnik) 13 июля 2017 г.
Uralvagonzavod is one of the latest acquisitions for Russia’s Rostec Corporation. The state-owned technology conglomerate announced earlier this year that the merger is likely to precede a formation of an integrated armored vehicle business.
Both the arms business and civil sector are important for Rostec, and the corporation is actively working on its conversion plan: it’s expected that by 2030 it will increase the percentage of its civil products in its line to 50 percent.
The corporation’s executives say that the global arms market is currently close to stagnation, and therefore, according to Rostec’s Director for Special Commissions Vasiliy Brovko, there is big potential in producing civil products, such as computers, machinery, and health care and communications equipment:
"When the state weaponry program ends, there will be a significant decline in State Defense Orders, which in turn will mean less jobs for enterprises of the military-industrial complex. At the same time, the share of Russian machinery and equipment exports in the overall export structure increased from 3.7 percent in 2014 to 7.3 percent in 2016. Thereby, we intend to reorient enterprises of the military-industrial complex toward civil products manufacturing."
“Russian Helicopters” – also part of Rostec – is showing off its line of products at Innoprom – from the lighter “Ansat” chopper, to the updated version of the heavy Mil-26T2 – the largest transport helicopter in the world.
“At this exhibition we’re making an accent on the civilian use of our products,” says Andrey Shibitov, deputy CEO for production and innovations at Russian Helicopters. “You can also see our drones here. We are currently developing civilian models, which can be used to increase the efficiency of ice patrol missions, to guide ship caravans through the Northern Sea route, to perform ice reconnaissance near oil and gas rigs, which is important for their safety.”
Russian Helicopters showing off its VRT-300 drone at Innoprom. Rostec's subsidiary expects in-flight tests of the model in 2018. pic.twitter.com/RTGUA4vXOm
— Denis Bolotsky (@BolotskySputnik) 13 июля 2017 г.
Rostec was established in 2007 to facilitate the development, production and export of civilian and military products. It currently comprises more than 700 organizations, which are part of 11 holding companies.
