An explosive plant in Siberia is experiencing a large -scale expansion to produce high -power RDX explosive, Reuters Thorsday reported, citing acquisition records and sources close to the project.
According to the reports, the Oleum Biysk (BOZ) plant is building a new production line valued at 15.5 billion rubles ($ 189 million), with the completion initially scheduled by the end of 2025. A source told Reuters that the timeline was “little reluctant” and since then it has been.
The first Vice Prime Minister of Russia, Denis Manturov, who visited the site in August 2023 while working as Minister of Industry and Commerce, cited a similar figure of 15 billion rubles for the “integral reorganization” of the plant. According to the reports, the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, also addressed the delays in the construction at a meeting with the director of the plant earlier this year.
Located about 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) east of Moscow, Boz is far from the reach of the strikes of Ukrainian drones that have increasingly pointed to the military-industrial sector of Russia since the beginning of large-scale invasion.
The installation is owned by Y.M. The Sverdlov plant, which is low sanctions from the European Union as the “only Russian manufacturer” of high -power explosives RDX and HMX.
RDX is a key component in artillery shells, mortar rounds, missiles and air pumps. Experts say that it is favored by its stability and effectiveness, being less prone to accidental detonation. A white crystalline substance widely used in World War II, RDX is also used in explosion limits for civil applications.
Reuters estimated that the new installation could produce 6,000 metric tons of RDX annually, enough to fill approximately 1.28 million artillery layers of 152 mm.
The military intelligence of Ukraine has estimated that Russia produced around 2 million of 122 mm and 152 mm of artillery rounds last year, while importing an addition of 2.7 million North Korea.
Explosives experts told Reuters that Boz production could begin within six to 10 weeks or complete construction work.
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