IRZ-Foton starts serial production of telecom electronics in Izhevsk

IRZ-Foton, part of the Izhevsk Radio Plant group, has started serial production of electronic modules for telecom equipment in Udmurtia. The project combines new assembly equipment with contract manufacturing for communications suppliers.

Investment and production equipment

The investment amounts to approximately 200 million rubles. The federal Industrial Development Fund supplied a preferential loan of 157 million rubles under its Development Projects programme. The funding supported equipment capable of producing up to 83,500 modules annually, according to the announcement reported by Interfax on 18 March 2026.

The fund describes a substantial increase in surface mounting speed: the lines can place 250,000 electronic components per hour, compared with 50,000 previously. These figures measure component placement, while the annual capacity measures finished modules. A module can contain many components, so the two indicators serve different production purposes.

Products for communications systems

The expanded range covers modules of different sizes, including boards measuring up to 510 × 460 millimetres. The announced applications include:

Base stations operating on 2G and 4G mobile standards.
Wi-Fi data transmission equipment.
Systems intended to extend coverage on roads, railways and in sparsely populated areas.
Navigation, security and radar-based photo and video recording equipment.

IRZ-Telecom is identified as the principal customer. The production facilities are also intended to fulfil orders from other manufacturers of telecom and electronic equipment. This gives the project both an internal group customer and a contract assembly role.

Quality control and market objectives

The fund says quality checks cover the manufacturing sequence from incoming components through final testing. Director Oleg Olin links the equipment purchase to the company's entry into a new product area and the localization of work previously placed abroad.

IRZ-Foton estimates that imported modules currently account for around 74% of the Russian market. The project is expected to help raise the domestic share from 26% to 29%. That is a stated market objective; the announcement does not present a completed market-share measurement following the launch. Similarly, the equipment rating of 83,500 modules represents potential annual production rather than reported deliveries for a full year.