Published On 28/10/2025
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Last update: 08:58 (Mecca time)
A report published by the Italian website “Inside Over” shed light on Russia’s missile arsenal through leaked internal documents from the Ministry of Defense, some of which cost up to $12 million per missile.
The author of the report, Paolo Mauri, said that documents issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense related to military procurement contracts, obtained by the Ukrainian “Militarny” website, reveal for the first time a glimpse into the Russian missile arsenal in terms of cost and production.
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Wide arsenal
The writer explained that the Russian armed forces use a wide range of ballistic and winged missiles in the conflict with Ukraine, and this arsenal includes the short-range ballistic missile “Iskander-M”, the air-winged missile “Kha-101”, and the “Kha-47M2 Kinzhal” missile, which is a ballistic missile launched from the “MiG-31Ka” fighter.
The winged missile “9M728” (known in NATO classification as SSC-7) is also one of the long-range weapons used during the war. This missile is launched from a moving ground vehicle and the system is known as “Iskander-K”, which is the same platform capable of launching the longer-range winged missile “9M729” (or SSC-8), which has a range of about 2500 km. km.
The 9M729 is an advanced version of the 3M14 Caliber missile, with an operational range of 500 kilometers. Documents show that during the years 2024 and 2025, the Russian design office “Novator” received at least two orders to produce 303 missiles of this type, at an estimated cost of $1.5 million per missile.
In parallel, the Russian Ministry of Defense requested the first batch of updated versions of the 9M729 missiles, with 95 missiles of this type allocated in the 2025 budget, at an estimated cost of between $1.4 and $1.8 million per unit.
Top manufacturers
Maori stated that the “3M14 Caliber” missiles installed on Russian frigates and submarines have a range of more than 1,500 kilometers. Russia has signed two contracts to deliver 240 missiles during the period between 2022 and 2024, and to deliver an additional 450 missiles between 2025 and 2026, and the cost of each missile is estimated at about two million dollars.
In addition to the traditional version, the Novator office was commissioned to produce a batch of 56 3M14S missiles loaded with nuclear warheads. This batch will be delivered between 2024 and 2026, and the cost of the missile ranges between two million and $2.3 million.
The writer adds that the Kha-101 air-winged missile has a flight range exceeding 2,500 kilometers, and is launched from Tupolev Tu-95MS or Tu-160 bombers. It has limited stealth capabilities, but it is considered one of the most important offensive weapons in the Russian arsenal, and it forms part of the Russian nuclear triad.
According to the documents, the Russian Raduga Design Bureau obtained several contracts to produce 525 missiles of this type for the year 2024, and the cost of each missile was estimated at about two million dollars. The Russian Ministry of Defense also requested the production of 700 additional missiles for the year 2025, at a cost ranging between 2 and 2.4 million dollars per missile, in addition to 30 other missiles at the same cost allocated for the year 2026.
Mauri pointed out that the short-range ballistic missile “9M723 Iskander-M” is considered the most expensive and complex system in manufacturing, even though its range does not exceed 500 kilometers. Russia has requested to purchase 1,202 of this model for the period 2024-2025, with a price ranging between $3 million and $12.4 million.
High cost
The writer confirmed that the documents show the signing of contracts to produce a total of 589 ballistic missiles of various types until 2024, and an additional 643 missiles for the following year.
The contracts also included the production of 18 “9M 723-2” missiles, which may be related to the project to develop a long-range version of “Iskander-M” called “Iskander-1000.” The price of the missile is estimated at $2.5 million.
As for the air-to-air hypersonic missile “Kha-47M2 Kinzhal”, the Russian Ministry of Defense requested the production of 44 missiles in 2024, in addition to 144 units the following year, and the cost of each missile was about 4.5 million dollars.
According to Mauri, the significant difference in cost between the Kinjal and the 9M723 ballistic missile it is derived from is due to the different navigation system, the presence of structural elements capable of operating at hypersonic speeds, as well as a permeable warhead made entirely of titanium.
Regarding the 3M-22 Tsirkon hypersonic missile that can be launched from platforms on the surface or from deep-sea Russian submarines, which was used to a limited extent during the conflict with Ukraine, documents show that the Russian Ministry of Defense concluded contracts to deliver 80 units annually between 2024 and 2026, and the cost of each missile ranges between 5.2 and 5.6 million dollars.
New missile
The documents also include a contract with the Raduga office to produce 32 Kha-PD missiles, which Russian media reported as an alternative to the Kha-101 missile, during the period between 2024 and 2026, in both conventional and nuclear versions.
The cost of the missile is estimated at approximately $4.2 million, and it was developed for use with the future strategic bomber “Tupolev Pak Da”, which has not entered the production stage despite two decades having passed since its design. The missile is expected to be launched from Tu-160M bombers.
The writer emphasized that no additional information is currently available about the Kha-PD missile, but Russian sources claim that it has a range of up to 6,500 kilometers, and a navigation system based on Doppler radar.