Document leaks: How many X-101 missiles Russia produces and which foreign parts uses

Despite facing huge economic issues, the Kremlin continues to invest billions in developing its defense industry to seize Ukrainian land and strike critical infrastructure. The entire nuclear state is focused on supplying the invading forces with equipment and ammunition, enabling the production of numerous missiles and attack drones used to terrorize Ukraine. Or, probably, the Russians aim to quickly regroup after the active phase of this war, with the goal of resuming their aggression.

At the same time, according to Western intelligence, the Kremlin is implementing reforms to reveal if the allies will eventually dare to resist an invasion of one or more of the Alliance's nations by force, exposing themselves to potential strikes with X-101, 3M14 Kalibr, cruise and ballistic missiles, etc.

While it is difficult to predict the exact timing of when Russia will begin attacking other countries, it is clear that the terrorist state is actively preparing for such actions. Hundreds of specialists are constantly researching and modernizing attack drones, building new factory buildings, improving missile performance, and scaling up production in every possible way. The Russians are constantly striving to increase the production capabilities for all modern tactical weapons. And they succeed in this. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian invaders have actually managed to find alternatives to many of the sanctioned components, find ways to smuggle in foreign-made parts, and streamline all the required processes. According to the Financial Times, Russia could produce no more than 56 X-101s annually in 2021, but now it can produce up to 50 of those missiles monthly.

The Channel 24's editorial team has received documents related to Moscow's production of cruise missiles from the private intelligence company Dallas, provided by an informant from the Russian TRV-Engineering holding. We have verified all the data and spoken with experts from the Ukrainian Defense Forces specialized in the study of Russian missiles.

This article provides an analysis of how Russians buy spare parts for altimeters for air-to-surface missiles, which companies work in conjunction with one of the largest procurement hubs of the aggressor country, and how many X-101 missiles the Russian aggressors plan to produce in 2025.

Putin's inner circle manages missile development

We investigated the activities of a huge company that purchases everything necessary for the functioning of a number of Russian defense giants. It is part of the Tactical Rocketry Corporation (KTRV), which is one of the largest players in the Russian defense industry. Understanding the ownership structure, as well as the involvement of individuals close to Putin, is critical in terms of bringing Russians to justice for war crimes. After all, the dictator's associates, and often their children, are involved in ensuring the operations of powerful military-industrial complex companies.

KTRV employees at work. Photo courtesy: private intelligence company Dallas

Legally, KTRV is 100% owned by the Federal Agency for State Property Management (the so-called Rosimushchestvo) and is one of the main suppliers of weapons and components for the Russian aviation industry.

See the infographic with a list of companies that are part of Tactical Missile Defense Corporation:

Almost all of the holding companies manufacture components for a huge number of weapons: 3M14 Kalibr, X-101, X-38, X-59, and X-69 cruise missiles, and other products.

Boris Gryzlov is the corporation's board of directors' chairman. He's also the head of the Supreme Council of United Russia, a close ally of the Russian dictator and the current ambassador of the terrorist country to Belarus. He's a very influential politician who has held many positions in the Russian government over the past 20 years. The “diplomat” was also Russia's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group, which further indicates his profound involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Boris Gryzlov at a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group | Photo from Darka Olifer's Facebook page

KTRV Director General, Boris Obnosov, is a former member of Russia's permanent mission to the United Nations and a confidant of Putin.

Boris Obnosov (on the left) is one of Russia's top weapons makers / Photo courtesy: private intelligence company Dallas

Obnosov's decree secured for TRV-Engineering, registered in Korolevo, the opportunity to ensure procurement for a huge defense holding, although it is actually a private company.

The TRV-Engineering office on Ordzhonikidze Street in Korolevo / Screenshot from Google Maps.

According to publicly available data, TRV-Engineering is 100% owned by the Taganrog-based company Zvezda-Strela. In turn, 49% of the latter company is owned by KTRV, and another 40% by Obnosov's company Teploservis, half of which is owned by Obnosov's daughter, 35-year-old makeup artist Olga Zorikova.

Makeup artist and rocket scientist Olga Zorikova / Photo from the criminal's Instagram account

Mikhail Kolesnikov is the CEO of TRV-Engineering. He was detained by Russian security forces late last year on suspicion of embezzling 40 million rubles.

Mikhail Kolesnikov being detained / Screenshot from a video by Russian security forces

However, the criminal case does not prevent him from pursuing his activities to secure Russian defense contracts. The very fact of the businessman's detention indicates that the Kremlin was dissatisfied with the results of the missile attacks on Ukraine. However, since the purchasing company serves Putin's entourage, he will escape any punishment. However, their involvement in the production of the deadly missiles that Russia uses to strike Ukraine makes Kolesnikov, Zorikova, and all other employees of TRV-Engineering not only legitimate targets for Ukraine's Defense Forces but also accomplices in Russia's war crimes.

KAB guided bombs, torpedoes, missiles: what does TRV-Engineering produce?

Within the KTRV holding, a private company is responsible for providing all of the corporation's plants with parts and components. Its employees are in charge of logistics, contracting, and organizing the sanctions circumvention to purchase foreign parts so that the Russian defense industry can continue to produce hundreds of deadly weapons.

To understand the role of this company in the war against Ukraine, one just needs to look at the non-public data from TRV-Engineering's financial reports. Thus, the value of products sold in 2022 and 2023 increased almost 7 times.

In 2024, TRV-Engineering sold spare parts to companies from the holding for a crazy amount of money / Photo courtesy: private intelligence company Dallas.

For example, when the Russians concluded that guided glide bombs (UMPB D30-SN as a separate munition, as well as FAB bombs with gliding and correction modules installed) could become the crucial weapons to enable the invaders' advance at the front, the Tactical Missile Arms Corporation began to manufacture UMPC modules to turn conventional bombs into guided glide bombs. Russian companies could mass-produce all the necessary parts for this, but they were unable to manufacture servo drives.

"TRV Engineering" was given the most difficult-to-procure part of the modules that opens the bomb's wings. In fact, these components became a weak point in the production of what are commonly called KAB bombs in Ukraine. The Chinese provided assistance to Moscow, using sophisticated schemes to conceal their involvement in the supply chain.

Using three sham companies, TRV-Engineering purchased devices that were crucial for bomb production, which ultimately facilitated the Russians' advance on the battlefield.

The country of origin is not Taiwan, but China / Photo courtesy: private intelligence company Dallas

In general, a huge number of Russian companies are involved in all the projects led by TRV-Engineering.

See the list of companies that manufacture and supply TRV-Engineering's orders to secure government contracts for companies that are part of the Tactical Missile Systems Corporation:

Electronic components are a weak point of the Russian military-industrial complex

Producing modules to convert a conventional bomb into a cruise missile is a much less complicated process than producing missiles. The medium-range cruise missiles the Russian terrorists are launching at Ukraine using tactical and strategic aviation are, to some extent, a piecemeal product that requires many technologically sophisticated components.

As he began to reform his armed forces, Putin attempted to find import substitution for critical parts for the military, but this process, at least until the full-scale invasion, was largely a sham. Defense industry manufacturers remained extremely dependent on supplies of electronic components from Western nations. Therefore, after February 24, 2022, the Russians were forced to significantly accelerate the transition to products from other manufacturers, as buying dual-use goods from the West became much more difficult. And this hit the missile industry hard, as the terrorist country's specialists had to create numerous schemes to circumvent sanctions.

However, the Kremlin's demand for missiles has significantly escalated after using a large number of them during the first three years of the all-out war. War criminals used aerial terror to force Ukraine's surrender, but it did not yield the desired effect and instead consumed a significant portion of their strategic stockpiles. The Russians failed in their attempt to leave Ukraine without electricity, and their missiles were not as efficient as they had been reported to the dictator. That is why the Russians switched to reliance on ballistic missiles, as well as on massive and hybrid air attacks using a large number of attack drones, UAV imitators, and missiles of various types.

To increase the missile production volume, the Russians had to switch their factories to three shifts, seek a large number of new suppliers, and replace those foreign-made parts that only they could produce themselves.

We can confidently say that Moscow has, to some extent, succeeded with the X-101, the most massive and scathing cruise missile for Ukraine's Air Force.

The number of parts used for the production of these munitions and made in Western countries has decreased significantly in recent years. At the same time, the need for components has grown exponentially. Russians have not been able to completely abandon the use of microcircuits/parts from the United States, Japan, and other civilized nations. However, in some areas, they have begun to destroy the identification labeling on the components.

See the photo of Western-made microcircuits/parts from X-101 missiles with erased labeling to prevent identification / Photo courtesy: The Ukrainian Defense Forces:

TRV-Engineering's involvement in cruise missile production may indicate Russia's plans and highlight issues with producing this class of ammunition. Thus, the purchasing company organizes the supplies of everything necessary for the altimeter manufacturer, the Ural Design Bureau "Dietal."

An altimeter is an important component of a missile control unit. Thanks to this piloting device, a cruise missile can navigate in space, bend around terrain, and understand when to go up or down to avoid obstacles or air defense systems. All of Russia's cruise missiles would be unable to conduct attacks without this technologically advanced component.

TRV-Engineering's internal documentation indicates that Russia and its allied nations practically localize the production of altimeters. That is, war criminals are able to manufacture them without using many foreign parts or contractors—suppliers succeed in passing off illegally imported products from Western factories as domestic counterparts.

In the case of the altimeters, the only components that are not documented to have been manufactured in Russia are chips produced by Integral OJSC, located at 121 Kazintsa Street in Minsk.

Order of Belarusian microcircuits for altimeters for cruise missiles / Photo courtesy: private intelligence company Dallas

The entire nomenclature of microcircuits marked “Belarus” can be found in the official catalog of the Integral company.

One of the microcircuits used to make the altimeters / Screenshot from the product catalog of the Belarusian Integral OJSC

The "Dietal" Design Bureau will use the purchased chips to assemble altimeters for the X-101 missile, according to state contract number 2225187923201412208226001. There are also other state contracts related to missile production that can be conditionally attributed to the X-101/X-555 family, but technically they are a different product with more advanced electronics.

This means that the Belarusian company is de facto a legitimate military target for Ukraine and that Belarus is to some extent involved in all Russia's missile attacks targeting Ukraine with these missiles.

There are quite a few companies involved in the altimeter production. And the failure of even one of them could be critical for the production of not only X-101s but all cruise missiles in general:

The usual scheme of assembling altimeters for various types of cruise missiles is as follows: "Dietal" sends TRV requests regarding the quantity of parts needed, after which the Korolevo-based company purchases the required products from various suppliers and sends them to the clients.

There are many complications in this process that can lead to a complete disruption of component supply to the plants and, as a result, leave Russia without critical missiles.

For instance, it could be Ukraine's drone or missile attack, which effectively disconnected NPO Strela from all supply chains for at least one month.

No supplies, no missiles / Photo courtesy: Private Intelligence Company Dallas

Or new payment issues between TRV-Engineering and Kazakh suppliers of tantalum products, which are used to make capacitors, prompted the Russians to urgently seek Chinese components.

Having issues with paying Kazakhstan for the raw materials to produce capacitors for missiles? The Chinese brothers will always help / Photo courtesy: Private Intelligence Company Dallas

Of course, neither drone attacks nor suppliers' refusals can disrupt altimeter production processes by 100%. However, each complication of the scheme makes it much more difficult for the Russians to achieve their goal of killing Ukrainians, whether it's the search for intermediaries or companies willing to participate directly or indirectly in the missiles' assembly. It is the electronic component in this type of munition that is the most sensitive for the Russians, as it is simply impossible to replace certain chips, capacitors, or matrices, and sometimes it can take months to replace suppliers.

Moreover, the overall situation with altimeter components is so bad that the Russians often have to make ammunition from spare parts that have not been tested for compatibility. Given the inability to disrupt state defense orders, Putin has to take immediate action. Manufacturers prioritize meeting their contractual obligations on time, regardless of whether the missile malfunctions or lands on people's heads in Belgorod.

Why do they need these inspections when it comes to cruise missiles? | Photo courtesy: private intelligence company Dallas

How many missiles does Russia plan to produce in 2025?

Based on the volume of orders for altimeter parts, we can roughly estimate Russia's plans for producing X-101 cruise missiles. Each of the requests from "Dietal" corresponds to a specific delivery, which suppliers must make within a defined time frame. The design of some batches allows for a relatively short time frame of 90 to 100 days.

Invoice for payment of microchips for the manufacture of 100 altimeters received by the Dietal Design Bureau between December 25, 2024, and January 4, 2025 / Photo courtesy: Private Intelligence Company Dallas

However, there are also those that are designed for two years in advance. For example, invoice No. 1811, dated August 29, 2024, indicates that the Dietal Design Bureau will receive a kit for its order to manufacture 50 altimeters in late February or early March 2026.

Invoice for Dietal's order for 50 altimeters for the X-101 / Photo courtesy: Dallas Private Intelligence Company

A general analysis of the entire list of documents available to the editorial team of Channel 24 and the Ukrainian Defense Forces shows that the Russians are crafting their global strategy for cruise missile production 2 years in advance. Thus, in 2023, TRV-Engineering was preparing to fulfill applications for state defense orders for 2024 and partially for 2025.

Schedule of deliveries of electronic components to the Dietal Design Bureau according to orders for October 2023 through 2025 | Photo courtesy: Private Intelligence Company Dallas

In 2024, buyers were engaged in deliveries for the next year and partially for 2026.

See photos of TRV-Engineering procurement documents for the Dietal Design Bureau / Photos provided by the Dallas Private Intelligence Company:

Therefore, as of today, the Russians have plans to produce 633 X-101s in 2025 (400 under the contract 2225187923201412208226001, and another 233 under additional contracts), as well as 223 missiles of this type in 2026 (this number is not final, as some orders will be placed during this year).

Of course, this does not mean that 633 cruise missiles will target Ukraine by the end of December 2025, as some of them will definitely be defective and fall after launch. Ukraine's attack on the Engels air base destroyed several dozen more cruise missiles. The war criminals may also not use a certain amount of ammunition but set it aside to build up stockpiles.

However, it's crucial that the whole scheme of cruise missile production has many sensitive aspects for Russia that, under certain conditions, could disrupt Moscow's state defense orders. Any tougher sanctions that would cut off the supply of raw materials to Russia or strikes (or repeated strikes) at the companies supplying "Dietal" or the X-101 manufacturer itself, JSC State Machine Building Design Bureau “Raduga” named after A.Y. Bereznyak could weaken the Kremlin's capability to conduct air strikes at Ukraine and would also significantly protect European nations in the event of a possible invasion by Russian troops. Moreover, from a financial perspective, it is much easier for Ukraine and its European allies to prevent Russia from producing missiles than to spend money on air defense missiles or on restoring infrastructure damaged by Russian air attacks.