Russia has gained an edge over its rivals in the serial production of modern, relatively inexpensive weapons, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper points to a new generation of Russian strike systems, including the compact Banderol cruise missile and Geran drones. According to the report, these weapons are equipped with advanced electronics that improve target acquisition and make interception more difficult.

WSJ views Russia’s ability to bring new weapons into production without sharply increasing their cost as evidence that the Russian Armed Forces have adapted to changing battlefield conditions and learned to introduce new technologies quickly.

The newspaper concludes that Moscow has moved ahead of its opponents in this area.

Ukraine is in a much weaker position. WSJ says Kiev lacks both the industrial capacity and the resources needed for long-term weapons production planning.

The United States and other NATO countries are also struggling to expand output of critical military systems. The report specifically points to interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems as one of the areas where production remains difficult to scale up rapidly.

Another challenge for Western countries is the gap between developing new military technologies and turning them into mass-produced weapons. According to WSJ, promising innovations are not always transferred into serial production quickly enough.