Iron Laptops: Rostelecom’s Digital Fortress
Rostelecom is bringing secure Iron laptops with Russian software and the Neyroshlyuz (Neural Gateway) AI platform to market – an integrated system for government agencies, industry and critical information infrastructure.
At the fourth Arktika – Regiony (Arctic – Regions) Forum, Rostelecom, one of Russia’s leading telecommunications companies, showcased Iron laptops running Alt Linux and the Neyroshlyuz AI platform. Journalists and bloggers tested the device on everyday editorial tasks. But these products are primarily aimed at corporate, government and industrial users that need certified, reliable Russian technology.
The Iron trademark was registered in 2024, and just a year later, Rostelecom’s subsidiary Rostelecom Information Technologies in St. Petersburg began serial production of the laptops. By November of that year, Iron had evolved into a full-fledged hardware-software system. Joining forces with MyOffice, a Russian developer of secure office applications, Rostelecom IT brought ready-to-use systems with preinstalled software to market and announced plans to export them.
Turnkey Protection for Critical Infrastructure
Iron’s key advantage is its ability to create a fully controlled and secure IT environment. The risks associated with imported technology often lie in the combination of software and hardware. Iron runs Russian operating systems – Alt Linux, Astra Linux and RED OS – which guarantees the absence of hidden telemetry and the risk of remote shutdown, while its proprietary Iron BIOS firmware rules out the use of foreign microcode.
Russia’s Tsifrovaya ekonomika (Digital Economy) national project calls for state-owned companies and organizations with stringent information-security requirements to transition to Russian hardware and software. The Iron laptop meets these requirements: it has passed inspections by FSTEC and the FSB, features built-in protection against unauthorized access with ViPNet SafeBoot 3, and guarantees the absence of hidden vulnerabilities. That makes the device suitable for industrial control systems and critical information infrastructure, including defense, energy, and oil and gas facilities.
A Workstation on the Factory Floor
Iron’s hardware platform delivers the performance needed for resource-intensive workloads. It is built around 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processors, which are critical for CAD/CAE systems, 3D modeling and SCADA applications. Configurations support up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM and SSD storage of up to 2TB. The 14-inch Full HD IPS display offers accurate color reproduction. Weighing 1.3 to 1.4 kilograms, or about 2.9 to 3.1 pounds, the laptop comes with high-speed Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, USB 3.2 and HDMI ports, plus an optional fingerprint scanner – useful for mobile maintenance and repair crews and warehouse logistics. Service independence is backed by a five-year warranty and a domestic inventory of spare parts.
AI You Can Trust
Another important component is the Neyroshlyuz AI platform, unveiled in June 2026 at the 17th IT Forum of BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries. It is a secure corporate gateway that brings together more than 20 AI tools in a single workspace. The service can generate text, software code and images, automate meeting transcription, prepare minutes and create personalized digital assistants.
For industrial users, this is a practical tool: engineers and managers can use it to analyze large volumes of production data and prepare technical reports and illustrations. Integrating the platform into a company’s secure perimeter speeds up routine processes without exposing confidential information – the data never leaves the organization’s environment.
By mid-2026, more than 57,000 Rostelecom employees and customers across various industries were already using the platform, processing about 360,000 requests each month. Internal estimates suggest it can cut the time spent on routine operations by as much as 40%. Cross-platform support also makes the service easy to deploy: it is available on devices ranging from desktop computers to smartphones.
The Fight for Digital Sovereignty
Demand for digital sovereignty has become a global trend in recent years. Under its Xinchuang program, China is systematically replacing Western software and hardware in the public sector by 2027, while the German state of Schleswig-Holstein has already begun migrating 30,000 computers to Linux. Competing with Asian vendors on hardware specifications alone is difficult. Iron’s strength is that it comes as a ready-made hardware-software system. The combination of the device, operating system, office software, cryptographic protection and corporate AI is attractive to countries seeking to diversify their dependence on Western platforms. Against that backdrop, the partnership between Rostelecom IT and MyOffice to promote such systems abroad is becoming a full-fledged export strategy.
Next on the roadmap are broader Iron compatibility with other Russian operating systems and industry-specific software, as well as expanded deliveries of turnkey hardware-software systems to corporate and government customers. A priority is deeper integration between workplaces and generative AI. The ultimate goal is to create fully intelligent workplaces – secure, high-performance and ready for the demands of the digital economy.
