It is an evolution of the previous GLONASS-K third-generation satellites, adding CDMA signals, improving accuracy and increasing power.

[8] On a May 28, 2014, interview, Nikolay Testoyedov — president of ISS Reshetnev — stated that production of GLONASS-M would end in 2015, with GLONASS-K being exclusively produced after that final batch.

[9] In a December 14, 2014 interview with GPS World, he stated that while the original idea was to have just two GLONASS-K1 prototypes to be followed by the GLONASS-K2 production, the international sanctions limited the supply of radiation-resistant electronics.

[13][14] On May 21, 2015, during an interview with Izvestia, ISS Reshetnev CEO, Andrey Tyulina, stated that the new GLONASS-K2 were expected to use Russian radiation-hardened components.

Given the sanctions that banned the transfer of ITAR controlled parts, the Russian industry had been ordered to initiate an import substitution program.

They specifically worked out a plan with ISS Reshetnev on the provisioning of high-quality electronic components in compliance with the state-run import substitution programs.