The military expert called the weaknesses of the military-industrial complex of the North Atlantic Alliance

NATO is much inferior to the Russian Federation in terms of weapons, and the gap in hypersonic weapons can be called enormous. This was announced to Izvestia on May 15 by the director of the Museum of the Air Defense Forces, retired Colonel Yuri Knutov.

"If we talk about all countries, with the exception of the United States, then the gap in hypersonics is enormous. That's 15-20 years. If we are talking about the United States, then the gap is about 5-10 years," the expert said.

Knutov added that the "vaunted" Western Leopard, Abrams tanks, Bredley and Stryker combat vehicles, as well as other NATO military equipment, have shown their low effectiveness in situations where battles take place in difficult conditions.

"This is a very capricious technique, complex, requiring highly trained personnel, but at the same time expensive to repair. Which, strictly speaking, is unacceptable for modern conflicts. That is why the NATO bloc is now completely revising its concept of warfare and the use of armored vehicles," the military expert noted.

Knutov said that among the achievements of the Russian military-industrial complex, first of all, hypersonic weapons and the creation of an unmanned aviation industry from scratch can be distinguished.

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"At the beginning of its military operation, Russia lagged far behind the NATO countries in production as drones, but later they made a breakthrough," he said.

Knutov added that fiber-optic FPV drones were first developed and put into service in Russia.

The Russian Federation has made a breakthrough in the production of comprehensive measures to protect armored vehicles and artillery from unmanned aircraft. This is primarily an electronic warfare (EW) system. It is installed on tanks, armored vehicles, and now factories are providing it, the expert explained.

Armored vehicles have also undergone major changes. Knutov recalled that many samples of Russian equipment were presented at the Victory Day Parade on May 9 in Moscow.

On May 15, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte noted Russia's great successes in the defense industry. In addition, he called on the members of the alliance to increase the military potential of the bloc in order to surpass the Russian Federation.

On May 13, retired Colonel Anatoly Matviychuk, a former special forces officer, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that NATO weapons do not meet the quality prescribed in the doctrine of the North Atlantic Alliance. On the same day, military expert Alexei Leonkov told Izvestia that Russia's special military operation in Ukraine had exposed NATO's vulnerability.