Entering the bakery where bread was baked... "The smell of freshly baked drone"

Full-scale Production of Core War Drones
Involving Even Civilian Businesses

The Russian government is making every effort to promote domestic 'drone production.' Scenes of assembling drones instead of freshly baked bread on local bakery production lines are emerging.

On the 5th (local time), the British media Financial Times (FT) focused on a bread factory inside the 'Tambov Bakery,' located about 400 km south of Moscow, Russia. This factory was once an ordinary bakery that baked bread, but recently a drone production line was installed. FT described it as "an icon showing the Kremlin's drive to involve civilian industries in weapons production as the war dominates the Russian economy."

Russian drones coming out on the conveyor belt along with bread [Image source=Russia1 capture]

Tambov Bakery has been producing a small drone called 'Bekas' since February last year, following an urgent request from the Russian military. This drone weighs 3.5 kg, flies at 65 km/h, and can operate for 15 minutes. It is manufactured using Chinese-made 3D printers, with a unit cost of $250 to $500 (approximately 330,000 to 660,000 KRW). About 250 Bekas drones are produced monthly on the production line installed inside Tambov Bakery.

Russian media have also detailed the production line inside the bakery. In October last year, the Russian state broadcaster Russia1 filmed footage of drones passing along the conveyor belt alongside bread in the bakery. At that time, the reporter said, "These drones smell like freshly baked bread."

As the war that began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago continues, drones have emerged as a cost-effective weapon for both Ukrainian and Russian forces. They are relatively inexpensive compared to shells, rockets, and missiles, and small drones are also difficult to shoot down.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has designated drone production as a national project to enable extensive use of drones in both military and civilian sectors. On the 6th, Andrey Belousov, Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister, told local media, "We have decided to invest 696 billion rubles (approximately 10 trillion KRW) to produce 32,500 drones annually by 2030."