Since 2014, despite repeated promises to prioritize “civilian hi-tech” development, Rostec has firmly shifted its focus to ramping up arms production. With the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the corporation entered full military mobilization mode: factories now operate around the clock, schoolchildren and students are drawn into production processes, and defense orders have taken absolute priority.
Unlike most companies in the Russia’s defense industry, the UEC oversees the entire production chain, from research and design to serial manufacturing, maintenance, and modernization. This vertical integration enables UEC to swiftly adapt to sanctions, import substitution policies, technological isolation, and evolving demands from the front lines. As access to foreign components became increasingly restricted in 2023–2024, the holding’s enterprises accelerated the development of domestic alternatives. Since November 2024, the corporation has been led by Alexander Grachev, who has 30 years of experience in Russia’s engine industry.
United Aircraft Corporation: keeping the war in the air
Strategic aviation plays a central role in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. In July 2024, the X-101 missile that struck the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital was launched from a Tu-95MS strategic bomber. The same aircraft model was used to fire X-22 missiles at a residential building in Dnipro in January 2023 and at the Amstor shopping center in Kremenchuk in the summer of 2022. For the four consecutive years, Russian fighter jets have launched strikes on Ukrainian cities from bases in the Saratov or Murmansk regions of the Russian Federation. These aircraft are manufactured and modified by the Tupolev Aircraft Company, part of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). UAC supplies the Kremlin with a range of combat, heavy transport, and strategic bomber aircraft, including the Su-34, Su-35 andMiG-29.
The UAC was established in 2006 at the direct initiative of Vladimir Putin, who sought to centralize and militarize Russia’s aviation industry. At that time, the corporation united the full aerospace legacy of the USSR, including design bureaus, manufacturing plants, test ranges, and research institutes. After the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the corporation turned into a “springboard” for attack and strategic aviation.
In November 2024, the UAC came under the leadership of Vadim Badekha, the former CEO of the Russian United Engine Corporation (UEC), a key player in Russia’s military-industrial expansion. As previously uncovered by Trap Aggressor investigators, Badekha was deeply involved in the development and delivery of Russian combat drones during his tenure as the head of the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA). These included models such as the Forpost-R, Altius, and Corsair. While leading UEC, Badekha also oversaw the establishment of a facility for turbojet engine production for UAVs, in partnership with Reynolds LLC, further strengthening Russia’s drone capabilities. Despite his long-standing and active role in advancing Russia’s war industry, Badekha was only added to the EU sanctions list in February 2025. As of now, he remains untouched by US sanctions. Meanwhile, his relatives have been expanding their international business footprint. His former father-in-law, banker Vladimir Frolov, owns Copernicus Gold – the blockchain-based payment system registered in Singapore and the Netherlands. Badekha’s former brother-in-law, Andrei Frolov, resides in Europe and operates a payment system business in both India and the United States.
The corporation includes Sukhoi’s Sturmoviks LLC, which services and modernizes Su-25 attack aircraft, which are most often used in the combat zone. The concern also includes the S.V. Ilyushin Aviation Complex, responsible for producing military transport aircraft such as the Il-76MD-90A, Il-78 and the Il-112V. Although Yakovlev primarily operates in the civilian aviation sector, it has effectively become part of the military-industrial complex through its active participation in military programs commissioned by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Today, UAC oversees more than 100 subsidiaries and operates over 30 full-fledged production sites across Russia. These facilities cover the entire spectrum of aircraft development – from final assembly to the manufacture of units, avionics, or components.
“High-Precision Complexes”: the foundation of tactical weapons
The Iskander-M is Russia’s premier tactical missile system, the same ballistic weapon responsible for devastating cluster strikes on the Odesa waterfront, the city center of Sumy, and a restaurant in Kryvyi Rih. Despite its frontline use, this system is assembled deep within Russia’s military-industrial complex.
“High-Precision Complexes” is a structural part of Rostec, responsible for equipping the Russian armed forces with anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft systems, and long-range precision strike weapons. Founded in 2009, the company unites more than 50 enterprises, including both design bureaus and manufacturing plants. Among its components are the Academician A.G. Shipunov Instrumentation Design Bureau, Kurgan Machine-Building Plant, and the Central Research Institute of Automation and Hydraulics.
The holding develops and produces a variety of tactical weapons that are actively used by the Russian military. Its enterprises manufacture a range of missile systems, including Pantsir-S1 air defense systems, Kornet, Khrizantema and Kontest anti-tank systems designed specifically to destroy armored vehicles. In addition, the holding is responsible for high-precision artillery systems like Krasnopol and Kitolov, as well as Berezhok and Bakhcha combat modules. It also produces protection systems, including Arena and Drozd. This wide arsenal shows that the holding’s central role in equipping the Russian armed forces with weaponry for warfare.
Not only weapons: the “civilian” structures of Rostec holdings
Rostec employs approximately 700,000 people, and that number has surged since 2022. In order to continually expand its labor force in support of the war effort, the corporation has built a whole system of incentives and social benefits. This effort begins with ideological indoctrination from early childhood, extending through education, employment and even leisure. Some companies of the holding recruit directly from youth programs, others organize recreation and medical treatment for current employees and their families. Many also manage the infrastructure and social environment surrounding military-industrial zones.
Among these “civilian” entities is UAC-Zdorovye, the UAC subsidiary officially registered in the occupied Crimea. It offers vacation vouchers to Rostec’s employees for stays at corporate recreation centers located in the Moscow region, on Lake Baikal and along the Black Sea coast, including two resorts in Crimea.
Other facilities within Rostec’s “civilian” ecosystem serve dual purposes, supporting both industry workers and the military apparatus. One example is the Samara sanatorium, owned by an enterprise that produces engines for Russian strategic bombers. The sanatorium promotes the “prolongation of active professional longevity”, offering rest and recovery to employees involved in the defense sector.
Another example is the Kedr Medical Center, owned by UAC and located in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Founded in 1945 to support the health of employees at the Gagarin Aviation Plant, originally, designed to maintain the health of those who “forged ‘victory’ on the labor front for 12 hours without leaving the machine.“ In addition to the plant’s employees, Kedr continues it legacy, providing medical treatment and recovery programs for Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine during the so-called “special military operation”. The center also offers holiday camps for their children.
The tradition of combining adult and children’s recreation continues at Ilyushin Aircraft Company, a UAC enterprise responsible for manufacturing Il-76MD-90A aircraft. The company operates the Druzhba children’s in the Moscow region, where some of its current employees once spent their childhood as Soviet pioneers. Even during the off-season, when the camp is empty of children, it remains active. Druzhba transforms into a “Personnel Training Center”, functioning as a formal branch of Ilyushin Aircraft Company.
These so-called “incentives” are also used to recruit young people. At Druzhba camp, youth gatherings are held to discuss projects in aircraft construction, promote sports and entertainment events, and develop the initiatives of young workers. In this way, the Russian Federation implements the youth policy of the Personnel Training Center.
In a bid to attract new talent to their enterprises or even to shape specialists from the ground up, Rostec holdings are developing special programs for students, forging partnerships with secondary and higher education institutions. For example, they create career guidance and certification centers that participate in the development of curricula, organize competitions for students’ professional self-determination. Moreover, Rostec is also a formal partner of Russian schools, where children as early as the 1st grade are invited to join a large military family. And in 2025, the corporation’s enterprises are set to invest over 1 billion rubles in the development of so-called “advanced engineering schools” based on technical higher education institutions across the country.
Graduates of school and college are offered what appears to be a dream opportunity – enrollment in Wings of Rostec, the corporation’s training course for future aircraft engineers. The program promises generous scholarships, free housing, and a direct pathway to internships and employment within one of the UIC’s enterprises.
The “Wings of Rostec” project directly partners at least 15 technical universities across Russia, including institutions in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Samara, Rybinsk, Kazan, Ulan-Ude, Perm, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Ulyanovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nizhny Novgorod, and Omsk. The most dedicated students are even given the opportunity to study artificial intelligence in China.
Today, more than 1,500 students are enrolled in the “Wings of Rostec” project. The corporation is actively training a new generation of specialists who are future employees of the Russian military industry.
