MOSCOW. April 6 (Interfax) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has familiarized himself with new developments in the sphere of armored vehicles at the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
"Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu inspected the fulfilment of state defense contracts at the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant defense enterprise in the Nizhny Novgorod region," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a report.
Shoigu inspected the enterprise's production capacities, assembly lines and workshops where armored vehicles of various modifications and Tigr armored vehicles are produced, the military said.
"Sergei Shoigu was also informed about the projects to modernize military hardware and weapons used in the Russian army, which are being implemented. The Russian defense minister was shown the newest developments in the sphere of armored vehicles that provide additional protection for the crew and personnel," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"Sergei Shoigu ordered working on the production of special armored hardware in various modifications for placement on them of medical, communication modules and household purpose modules," the report said.
"Representatives of the enterprise's management also reported to the Russian defense minister on the enhancement of the protection properties of armor with regard for the current protection requirements and wishes of the personnel involved in the special military operation," the ministry said.
"The head of the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant said the new double armor of prospective equipment samples withstands explosions of two kilos of TNT, armor-piercing incendiary hits, protects the radiator, the hood and the wheel chassis, and also protects the personnel from various weapons, including small arms, shell fragments and mortar mines," the ministry said.
"Sergei Shoigu also spoke about the ergonomics of the interior of armored military hardware samples, which make it convenient for the crew and personnel to use armored vehicles and weapons in combat. In closing, the defense minister thanked the plant staff for speeding up production rates and set the task to consider signing long-term contracts that will help form a program for further production development," the report said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier on Thursday Shoigu had inspected the fulfilment of state defense contracts at defense enterprises in the Nizhny Novgorod region that manufacture munitions, including artillery and aviation.
"Representatives of the enterprises' management boards have reported to Shoigu that output of the full range of their products has been increased several times over in the past few months in order to provide the troops with ammunition," the ministry said.
The Defense Ministry reported on April 1 that Shoigu held a conference at the headquarters of the Russian combined forces involved in the special military operation in Ukraine.
"By expanding production capacities and increasing labor productivity, the number of products released by them to be supplied to our forces has considerably increased. This includes both conventional and precision-guided weapons. All this makes it possible to carry out the tasks set by the supreme commander-in-chief in accordance with the plan of the special military operation," Shoigu said at the meeting.
The Defense Ministry said earlier that Shoigu had inspected the implementation of the state defense order at defense industry enterprises in the Moscow region and in the Chelyabinsk and Kirov regions.