Russian forces are increasing the production rate and modernization of their ballistic missiles and drones. Available information suggests that Russia’s monthly missile production surpasses the US’s monthly PAC-3 Patriot air defense interceptor missile production. Chief Researcher of the Ukrainian State Research Institute for Armament Testing and Certification Colonel Oleksandr Zaruba reported on June 13 that Russian forces are producing between 40 and 50 Kh-101 cruise missiles, between 60 and 70 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, and around 10 Iskander-K cruise missiles monthly as of Spring 2026.[1] Zaruba noted that Russian forces are integrating technical solutions from the North Korean KN-23 ballistic missile into the Iskander-M ballistic missile to increase production.[2] The United States currently produces around 600 PAC-3 Patriot interceptor missiles per year, or about 50 missiles per month according to the US Department of Defense (DoD) as of early 2026.[3]

Zaruba noted that Russian forces doubled the payload weight of Kh-101 warheads and modernized them to be harder for Ukrainian forces to detect and intercept.[4] Zaruba stated that Ukrainian forces observed Russian Kh-101 missiles with automatically activating thermal decoys and chaff that disrupt radar systems during the recent strikes on Kyiv City and noted that the missile has a terrain navigation system that scans terrain to increase strike accuracy. Zaruba stated that Russian Iskander-M ballistic missiles have updated countermeasures that imitate the missile’s signature to overload Ukrainian radars. Zaruba assessed that Russia is creating a new version of the Iskander-M called the Iskander-1000 with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. Zaruba noted that Russia is working to launch drones from tactical aviation to make it harder for Ukrainian air defenses to detect these drones during strikes up to 1,000 kilometers in depth.[5]

It really becomes clear how the Iran War played a crucial function for Trump and Putin when you look at these numbers, firing off all the missile interceptors in response to a country retaliating against the US carpet bombing them out of the blue was really the only way russia and Putin could have come out of this war with any leverage over Ukraine and Europe.

Trump made sure Putin was able to take that opportunity by clearing the interceptor stockpile so it became purely a calculation of production rate. In the end Putin and US missile interceptor companies win…