Weapon destruction
Until now, passions over the recent claims of Russian Defense Minister A. Serdyukov to the rifle armsIn particular, to Kalashnikov assault rifles and SVD sniper rifles. The minister is sure that this weapon is morally obsolete. At the same time, after the decision was announced on the procurement of French Mistral, the Russian Federation may also purchase foreign weapons.
Thus, before 2015, the Russian military will have to get rid of the 4 of millions of small arms — rifles, pistols, machine guns, and machine guns, which were made before 1980. Most of them are Kalashnikovs. According to I. Korotchenko, director of the Center for International Arms Trade, this type of weapon accounts for approximately 70 percent of the total number of stocks, and it is impossible to sell them.
According to the latest data, there are currently about 17 million gun barrels in military warehouses, while about 7 millions have already used up their resources. And if you take into account other types of weapons, their total number will be several tens of millions of units. The Russian army numbers about 1 a million people.
According to the Deputy Director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies K. Makienko, there are not so many people in the country who could take more than 3 million trunks in their hands in the event of a war. In addition, modern scenarios for the conduct of hostilities no longer imply general mobilization, but the use of high-precision weapons and professional military.
It is planned that the old weapon will be sent for recycling to the enterprises where it was created. This will not only provide an opportunity to support them with orders (since most of the plants are practically idle), but also help to modernize them. For example, it is planned to create more 240 additional workplaces only at the Molot plant. The Izhmash plant, which is mainly engaged in the production of batteries, also disposes it, but for the given period of time all the work on recycling has been suspended. The reason for this was the scandal that broke out at the start of 2012. Then 80 weapons were removed from the factory territory. Later they were found by a local resident who bought old boxes for firewood. He bought them from the driver, who took them out from the territory of Izhmash and had to deliver them to the landfill for recycling, but decided to earn some money by selling boxes of 500 rubles each.
According to the plant, the incident occurred for the simple reason that the company has not installed a video surveillance system. Weapons disposal at the plant began in August, and video surveillance was installed only in October. How many weapons were destroyed during this time period is unknown. After the scandal, "Izhmash" suspended work on recycling, and when they begin, it is not reported.
The recycling process itself is not complicated - the weapon is cut with the help of machines or crushed under pressure, and then sent for remelting.
At the same time, the disposal of Mosin rifles, which were actively used at the beginning of the last century, was stopped. The corresponding instruction was given by the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia D.Rogozin, explaining his decision by the fact that this rifle is not just a weapon, but also a valuable museum exhibit and part of a military storieswhich is the subject of interest of many collectors.
There are many conflicting opinions on the decision of the Minister of Defense. For example, D. Shiryayev, a weapon designer who worked for many years at TsNIITochmash, notes that foreigners recognize the fact that domestic weapons are still the best in the world and that there will not be a single sample of foreign small arms that would make decent competition for Kalashnikov assault rifles in all respects. In addition, domestic weapons reliably.
And even if by some parameters something turns out to be better, this does not mean at all that you need to give up your weapon. When deciding on the purchase of foreign weapons, it is necessary to take into account the degree of their reliability. After all, it is no wonder that the tests carried out, for example, the same AK and M-4, proved that our machine gun is much more reliable.
Moreover, a big problem remains that the arms enterprises have a stable labor shortage due to low wages, and the purchase of foreign weapons may lead to the fact that most of these enterprises will stop working altogether.
According to S. Glussky, the former special forces soldier "Rosich", the Kalashnikov assault rifles, like the SVD, cannot be bad, as evidenced by the fact that the North Caucasus militants used it many times, although, having funding from the West, they could afford to buy something same French or American weapons. Moreover, he suggested to the Minister to clarify what weapons he considers the best domestic and conduct field testing.
S. Glussky also noted that the Minister is a non-military man, therefore he cannot know the merits or shortcomings of this or that type of weapon.
But the deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis A. Harchishin partially agrees with Serdyukov. He notes that according to certain parameters both the Kalashnikov machine gun and the SVD are a bit outdated, but this does not mean that it is necessary to buy weapons abroad.
According to Kharchishin, AK is very easy to use, but it does not have high enough accuracy and low accuracy. The SVD has one drawback - it is an optical sight instead of an electronic one, which would ensure greater accuracy of shooting. But why, instead of purchasing foreign weapons, not to distribute these funds and not to modernize their models?
It should be noted that in the post-Soviet space the issue of weapons disposal is not new. So, Ukraine also does not lag behind its northern neighbor. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a draft agreement with NATO, which provides for the disposal of small arms, light weapons, mines and ammunition. The agreement, which was signed last September in Brussels, provides for the disposal of 36 thousands of small arms and light weapons, 3 millions of anti-personnel mines and 76 thousands of tons of ammunition. At the end of November 2011, information appeared that the United States would provide Ukraine with financial assistance, the size of which would be about 126 million dollars, and part of which would be spent on the destruction of weapons.
It should be noted that this is the second agreement between Ukraine and the military bloc. The first was signed in 2005 year and was designed for 10 years. According to this document, the Ukrainian side had to dispose of 130 thousand tons of ammunition and weapons. This has been allocated 74 million euros.
In the European territory, disarmament issues are dealt with by the UN, which is trying to thwart attempts to distribute weapons, and also is carrying out their elimination. Within the UN, a large number of treaties were signed that prohibit the production, development and stockpiling of weapons. For example, in the 2005 year, the Ottawa Convention was signed, which the country’s 144 acceded to. This document prohibited the use of land mines. The organization also supports efforts to curb the illicit arms trade, which is the primary means of conducting hostilities in local conflicts.
In 2001, the United Nations declared International Day for the Destruction of Weapons, when all those who suffered from it, are engaged in their elimination. According to published statistics in the framework of the “Weapons - Under Control” campaign, for every tenth inhabitant of the Earth there is one barrel. Despite the fact that about 800 thousands of weapons are annually destroyed every year, the problem does not cease to be colossal, since for one destroyed unit there are 10 new ones.
There are other figures in the statistics: there are about 640 millions of weapons in the world; 8 millions of new weapons and 14 billions of ammunition are produced each year. The manufacture of small arms is engaged in more than 90 states of the world. Most of the countries instead of destroying old stocks are engaged in their resale.
Only three countries have a procedure for disposing of confiscated or surplus weapons.
The most striking example of the uncontrolled spread of weapons was Iraq, where in 2003, the US military seized more than 650 thousand tons of weapons and explosives, since military depots were abandoned without protection.
Thus, before 2015, the Russian military will have to get rid of the 4 of millions of small arms — rifles, pistols, machine guns, and machine guns, which were made before 1980. Most of them are Kalashnikovs. According to I. Korotchenko, director of the Center for International Arms Trade, this type of weapon accounts for approximately 70 percent of the total number of stocks, and it is impossible to sell them.
According to the latest data, there are currently about 17 million gun barrels in military warehouses, while about 7 millions have already used up their resources. And if you take into account other types of weapons, their total number will be several tens of millions of units. The Russian army numbers about 1 a million people.
According to the Deputy Director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies K. Makienko, there are not so many people in the country who could take more than 3 million trunks in their hands in the event of a war. In addition, modern scenarios for the conduct of hostilities no longer imply general mobilization, but the use of high-precision weapons and professional military.
It is planned that the old weapon will be sent for recycling to the enterprises where it was created. This will not only provide an opportunity to support them with orders (since most of the plants are practically idle), but also help to modernize them. For example, it is planned to create more 240 additional workplaces only at the Molot plant. The Izhmash plant, which is mainly engaged in the production of batteries, also disposes it, but for the given period of time all the work on recycling has been suspended. The reason for this was the scandal that broke out at the start of 2012. Then 80 weapons were removed from the factory territory. Later they were found by a local resident who bought old boxes for firewood. He bought them from the driver, who took them out from the territory of Izhmash and had to deliver them to the landfill for recycling, but decided to earn some money by selling boxes of 500 rubles each.
According to the plant, the incident occurred for the simple reason that the company has not installed a video surveillance system. Weapons disposal at the plant began in August, and video surveillance was installed only in October. How many weapons were destroyed during this time period is unknown. After the scandal, "Izhmash" suspended work on recycling, and when they begin, it is not reported.
The recycling process itself is not complicated - the weapon is cut with the help of machines or crushed under pressure, and then sent for remelting.
At the same time, the disposal of Mosin rifles, which were actively used at the beginning of the last century, was stopped. The corresponding instruction was given by the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia D.Rogozin, explaining his decision by the fact that this rifle is not just a weapon, but also a valuable museum exhibit and part of a military storieswhich is the subject of interest of many collectors.
There are many conflicting opinions on the decision of the Minister of Defense. For example, D. Shiryayev, a weapon designer who worked for many years at TsNIITochmash, notes that foreigners recognize the fact that domestic weapons are still the best in the world and that there will not be a single sample of foreign small arms that would make decent competition for Kalashnikov assault rifles in all respects. In addition, domestic weapons reliably.
And even if by some parameters something turns out to be better, this does not mean at all that you need to give up your weapon. When deciding on the purchase of foreign weapons, it is necessary to take into account the degree of their reliability. After all, it is no wonder that the tests carried out, for example, the same AK and M-4, proved that our machine gun is much more reliable.
Moreover, a big problem remains that the arms enterprises have a stable labor shortage due to low wages, and the purchase of foreign weapons may lead to the fact that most of these enterprises will stop working altogether.
According to S. Glussky, the former special forces soldier "Rosich", the Kalashnikov assault rifles, like the SVD, cannot be bad, as evidenced by the fact that the North Caucasus militants used it many times, although, having funding from the West, they could afford to buy something same French or American weapons. Moreover, he suggested to the Minister to clarify what weapons he considers the best domestic and conduct field testing.
S. Glussky also noted that the Minister is a non-military man, therefore he cannot know the merits or shortcomings of this or that type of weapon.
But the deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis A. Harchishin partially agrees with Serdyukov. He notes that according to certain parameters both the Kalashnikov machine gun and the SVD are a bit outdated, but this does not mean that it is necessary to buy weapons abroad.
According to Kharchishin, AK is very easy to use, but it does not have high enough accuracy and low accuracy. The SVD has one drawback - it is an optical sight instead of an electronic one, which would ensure greater accuracy of shooting. But why, instead of purchasing foreign weapons, not to distribute these funds and not to modernize their models?
It should be noted that in the post-Soviet space the issue of weapons disposal is not new. So, Ukraine also does not lag behind its northern neighbor. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a draft agreement with NATO, which provides for the disposal of small arms, light weapons, mines and ammunition. The agreement, which was signed last September in Brussels, provides for the disposal of 36 thousands of small arms and light weapons, 3 millions of anti-personnel mines and 76 thousands of tons of ammunition. At the end of November 2011, information appeared that the United States would provide Ukraine with financial assistance, the size of which would be about 126 million dollars, and part of which would be spent on the destruction of weapons.
It should be noted that this is the second agreement between Ukraine and the military bloc. The first was signed in 2005 year and was designed for 10 years. According to this document, the Ukrainian side had to dispose of 130 thousand tons of ammunition and weapons. This has been allocated 74 million euros.
In the European territory, disarmament issues are dealt with by the UN, which is trying to thwart attempts to distribute weapons, and also is carrying out their elimination. Within the UN, a large number of treaties were signed that prohibit the production, development and stockpiling of weapons. For example, in the 2005 year, the Ottawa Convention was signed, which the country’s 144 acceded to. This document prohibited the use of land mines. The organization also supports efforts to curb the illicit arms trade, which is the primary means of conducting hostilities in local conflicts.
In 2001, the United Nations declared International Day for the Destruction of Weapons, when all those who suffered from it, are engaged in their elimination. According to published statistics in the framework of the “Weapons - Under Control” campaign, for every tenth inhabitant of the Earth there is one barrel. Despite the fact that about 800 thousands of weapons are annually destroyed every year, the problem does not cease to be colossal, since for one destroyed unit there are 10 new ones.
There are other figures in the statistics: there are about 640 millions of weapons in the world; 8 millions of new weapons and 14 billions of ammunition are produced each year. The manufacture of small arms is engaged in more than 90 states of the world. Most of the countries instead of destroying old stocks are engaged in their resale.
Only three countries have a procedure for disposing of confiscated or surplus weapons.
The most striking example of the uncontrolled spread of weapons was Iraq, where in 2003, the US military seized more than 650 thousand tons of weapons and explosives, since military depots were abandoned without protection.
Information