Ukrainian army: from past to future on clones?
After the Soviet Union collapsed, independent Ukraine got one of the most numerous and combat-ready military units in the world. With modern weapons. At that time, the army was 700 thousand people. The structure of the Ukrainian army was three artillery, four tank, fourteen motorized rifle divisions, eight artillery brigades, nine air defense brigades and one special forces brigade. The armament consisted of more than 9000 tanks and more than 11 thousand armored vehicles. The security of the Ukrainian sky was ensured by about 1100 combat aircraft, as well as seven regimental formations of combat helicopters and a separate army air defense unit.
In addition, the Ukrainian troops were armed with high-range missiles (more than one hundred and seventy units), as well as Pioneer and Pioneer-UTTH rocket mobile complexes and strategic stationary complexes in the mines (RT-23 UTTH and UR-100H missiles). There were also 2600 tactical complexes P-300 (with a range of 300 km), "Point" and "Point-U" (with a range of 120 km). These complexes were capable of transporting nuclear warheads. To the existing weapons should be added even more 40 strategic Tu-160 bomber and Tu-25MS.
Thus, it can be argued that at the initial stage of the emergence of Ukraine as an independent state, it had one of the strongest armies in the world, able to protect the territory and population from possible threats.
Over the years of the existence of an independent Ukrainian state, its troops were constantly reformed with reference to the need to increase the level of combat effectiveness and adapt the number in accordance with the country's economic potential and modern military dangers. In the end, numerous reforms led to the fact that the Ukrainian state was not prepared for military confrontation. In other words, it is possible to speak not about reforming, but actually about the destruction of the Ukrainian troops.
Since its inception, Ukraine has remained a non-aligned state, going through the process of demilitarization, lowering the number of weapons and personnel. First, the government abandoned nuclear weapons, believing the assurances of the security and independence of the state given by the United States of America, Great Britain and Russia (Budapest Memorandum).
As for combat aviation, then in quantity and quality it is now significantly inferior to its direct adversary (according to the current Ukrainian military doctrine) - the Russian Federation. In the circumstances, the Ukrainian state can count on an air defense system, which until recently was considered one of the most effective in Europe (excluding air defense of the Russian Federation). Ukrainian troops are armed with “Chain mails” (radio intelligence stations), which are capable of detecting enemy targets on the ground, on water and in the air, created using stealth technologies. To cover the Ukrainian air borders, the Tunguska, Buk M, Igla, S-200 and S-300 air defense systems were used. Accordingly, a multi-level and fairly reliable protection was created. However, shortly before the events on the Maidan, the S-200 was withdrawn from service, as they were technically and morally obsolete. The most interesting thing is that they were not replaced by similar, but more powerful complexes.
If we talk about personnel, then for a long time there was a reduction. As of 2017 year, the number of Ukrainian armed forces was 70 thousand people.
In addition, in order to successfully defend the national interests of their state, military personnel must have decent material and financial support. Simply put, hungry soldiers who have no shelter pose a much greater danger to their corrupt leadership than to external opponents. And the prestige of military service in society leaves much to be desired. More than a third of servicemen expect housing improvements. True, at present they are trying to solve this problem by building hostels for non-family soldiers, but there are plenty of problems here, and the project’s end, which has been discussed so much, is not yet clear. And the salary of the Ukrainian military does not meet European standards. It should be noted that at present payments for military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are increasing, but they are almost imperceptible due to the constant increase in prices and the increase in utility tariffs.
Separately, we should talk about the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. At one time he was a significant part of the Soviet defense industry, but at present he is unable to provide his own army with armaments. Ukraine tried to export military equipment, which remained from Soviet times, but everything here is not so smooth.
In the state budget for 2018, the sum of 16 billion hryvnias for military needs and rearmament was laid. Of course, the military budget is very modest compared to world figures, but for Ukraine it is very tangible. For these funds, it was planned to purchase rocket and artillery systems, unmanned vehicles, armored boats, armored vehicles, etc. But it is quite logical to assume that it is simply unrealistic to make such a grand rearmament and fully equip the naval forces and the army with the amount put in the state budget.
However, insufficient financing is only one of the many problems of the domestic defense industry. No less important is another big problem - the inability to fulfill orders and the poor quality of the exported weapons.
So, in particular, we can recall the Ukrainian-Thai tank agreement, which was delayed for an impermissibly long period and around which a considerable scandal flared up. Until the end of 2017, only 36 from 49 ordered tanks of the Oplot series were delivered. But the contract for the transfer of equipment was signed in 2011 year. And the most interesting thing is that there are almost no Oplot tanks in service with the Ukrainian troops (the 1 tank does not count).
The military leadership claimed that in the real fighting conditions, Bulat tanks, designed by the national defense industry, were also ineffective due to the low-power engine and a sufficiently large weight. As a result, these combat vehicles were taken to the reserve, despite the fact that the troops managed to acquire several dozen tanks of this modification.
It should be remembered about another "new" - armored "Dozor-B", presented in 2004 year. When the armed conflict began in the south-east of the country, the government promised to supply two hundred armored vehicles to military units. As a result, only a few dozen vehicles entered service ...
After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine also got the center of military shipbuilding. Already during the period of independence, the Gyurza armored boat was designed in Nikolaev, and two samples were even purchased by Uzbekistan. But with supplies for his fleet somehow did not ask. Only 6 Gyurz-Ms are in service, of which 2 were detained by the Federal Border Guard Service and are located in the port of Kerch.
As for exports, things are not much better here. Over 2012-2016 years, Ukraine entered the ten largest suppliers weapons and military equipment. However, the government itself admits that this position was achieved thanks to sales of old military equipment - T-64, T-72, T-80 tanks, which were delivered in large quantities to East Asia, Africa.
Thus, this is not at all the potential of the Ukrainian defense industry, but the potential of Soviet military equipment, which has remained since former times. But in reality, the Ukrainian military-industrial complex produces only a few samples of equipment and weapons that can withstand competition in the external market.
Therefore, the Ukrainian defense industry follows the path of cloning weapons of the USSR period. There is a certain sense in this, since the Soviet equipment and weapons are quite effective, and you can do about the same thing, but taking into account advanced technologies.
Among the models of weapons that can be considered "clones" of Soviet technology, there is a KM-7,62 machine gun, which, by and large, repeats the PKM machine gun, but is more user-friendly and lighter.
Ukrainian military enterprises also mastered the production of the 30-mm 3ТМ-1 and АN 3ТМ-2 automatic cannon, which can be installed on the KBA-2 2А72 and 2А42 BMP-XM-117 guns) of the KBA-119 automatic guns-the-ZNUMX and NNXX 17 17 BMN-XNUMX BMN-XNUMX BMN-XNUMX automatic cannon. and AGS-XNUMX).
These are samples of successful copying. However, there are those that critics like to cite as evidence of the ineffectiveness and incapacity of the defense industry of Ukraine. This, in particular, 120-mm mortar M120-15 "Hammer", which was not only ineffective, but even dangerous (9 gaps were fixed, resulting in the death of 13 soldiers, and also 32 were injured). The causes of the tragedies were always called different, but in reality the mortar simply turned out to be unfinished in technical terms.
And more recently it became known about the next “replenishment” - the 73-millimeter anti-tank grenade launcher “Lancey”, which in its essence is analogous to the Soviet LNG-9. The characteristics of this sample are very good. Target range reaches 1300 meters. Estimated rate of fire - up to six shots per minute. And it weighs about 50 kg. Even with the tripod machine weighing 12 kg gun can be transferred by four fighters. The LNG-9 has become one of the most frequently used types of weapons used on the line of contact by motorized infantry units. And this, in turn, has caused rapid technical deterioration of mechanisms.
On the other hand, with the production of "Lanzei" there are many problems. First of all, we are talking about the trunk, with the production of which the Ukrainian military-industrial complex has great difficulties.
Thus, we can say that the Ukrainian military-industrial complex still has potential, and the production of analogues of Soviet weapons is just one of the stages of the transition to mass production of its own weapons.
What is the result? At the moment, Ukraine is in a state of war. The lack of stability in the political and military sphere, the presence of an armed conflict in the south-east of the country and the loss of individual territories necessitated major changes in ensuring national security. It should be said that in this direction individual steps are already being taken. So, in particular, the funding of the Ukrainian army is gradually increasing. For defense purposes, it is planned to allocate up to 5 percent of GDP, which is approximately 8 billion dollars. If you focus on European standards, this amount should grow to 10 billion dollars. But if you take into account the economic situation, the prospect of such financing is very remote. About half of these funds should be used to re-equip the troops with modern models of military equipment and weapons: military aircraft, electronic warfare and communications systems, air defense systems, control systems, high-precision weapons and fleet reinforcement. A significant part of these tasks is quite realistically provided by the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.
Proclaimed and recently enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution, the course on Euro-Atlantic integration also provides for the introduction of more than one thousand NATO standards, which, according to Ukrainian military experts, will help in the issue of interoperability of the Ukrainian army and the armed forces of NATO countries during joint operations and will give an opportunity to modernize troops. But it will take years of reform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The experts also note that it is very important to raise the standard of living of the Ukrainian military: gradually increase salaries, solve housing problems, review the social protection package for combatants and their families. This is the only way to increase the prestige of military service.
And, perhaps, one of the primary tasks is the fight against corruption, which completely engulfed the Ukrainian defense sphere, as evidenced by the recent scandals in Ukroboronprom ...
Materials used:
http://www.dsnews.ua/politics/voyna-klonov-pochemu-ukrainskiy-vpk-massovo-kopiruet-oruzhie-31012019080000
https://lenta.ru/articles/2017/12/28/ukroboron/
https://112.ua/statji/vooruzhennye-sily-ukrainy-istoriya-razvala-i-perspektiva-vozrozhdeniya-156791.html
In addition, the Ukrainian troops were armed with high-range missiles (more than one hundred and seventy units), as well as Pioneer and Pioneer-UTTH rocket mobile complexes and strategic stationary complexes in the mines (RT-23 UTTH and UR-100H missiles). There were also 2600 tactical complexes P-300 (with a range of 300 km), "Point" and "Point-U" (with a range of 120 km). These complexes were capable of transporting nuclear warheads. To the existing weapons should be added even more 40 strategic Tu-160 bomber and Tu-25MS.
Thus, it can be argued that at the initial stage of the emergence of Ukraine as an independent state, it had one of the strongest armies in the world, able to protect the territory and population from possible threats.
Over the years of the existence of an independent Ukrainian state, its troops were constantly reformed with reference to the need to increase the level of combat effectiveness and adapt the number in accordance with the country's economic potential and modern military dangers. In the end, numerous reforms led to the fact that the Ukrainian state was not prepared for military confrontation. In other words, it is possible to speak not about reforming, but actually about the destruction of the Ukrainian troops.
Since its inception, Ukraine has remained a non-aligned state, going through the process of demilitarization, lowering the number of weapons and personnel. First, the government abandoned nuclear weapons, believing the assurances of the security and independence of the state given by the United States of America, Great Britain and Russia (Budapest Memorandum).
As for combat aviation, then in quantity and quality it is now significantly inferior to its direct adversary (according to the current Ukrainian military doctrine) - the Russian Federation. In the circumstances, the Ukrainian state can count on an air defense system, which until recently was considered one of the most effective in Europe (excluding air defense of the Russian Federation). Ukrainian troops are armed with “Chain mails” (radio intelligence stations), which are capable of detecting enemy targets on the ground, on water and in the air, created using stealth technologies. To cover the Ukrainian air borders, the Tunguska, Buk M, Igla, S-200 and S-300 air defense systems were used. Accordingly, a multi-level and fairly reliable protection was created. However, shortly before the events on the Maidan, the S-200 was withdrawn from service, as they were technically and morally obsolete. The most interesting thing is that they were not replaced by similar, but more powerful complexes.
If we talk about personnel, then for a long time there was a reduction. As of 2017 year, the number of Ukrainian armed forces was 70 thousand people.
In addition, in order to successfully defend the national interests of their state, military personnel must have decent material and financial support. Simply put, hungry soldiers who have no shelter pose a much greater danger to their corrupt leadership than to external opponents. And the prestige of military service in society leaves much to be desired. More than a third of servicemen expect housing improvements. True, at present they are trying to solve this problem by building hostels for non-family soldiers, but there are plenty of problems here, and the project’s end, which has been discussed so much, is not yet clear. And the salary of the Ukrainian military does not meet European standards. It should be noted that at present payments for military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are increasing, but they are almost imperceptible due to the constant increase in prices and the increase in utility tariffs.
Separately, we should talk about the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. At one time he was a significant part of the Soviet defense industry, but at present he is unable to provide his own army with armaments. Ukraine tried to export military equipment, which remained from Soviet times, but everything here is not so smooth.
In the state budget for 2018, the sum of 16 billion hryvnias for military needs and rearmament was laid. Of course, the military budget is very modest compared to world figures, but for Ukraine it is very tangible. For these funds, it was planned to purchase rocket and artillery systems, unmanned vehicles, armored boats, armored vehicles, etc. But it is quite logical to assume that it is simply unrealistic to make such a grand rearmament and fully equip the naval forces and the army with the amount put in the state budget.
However, insufficient financing is only one of the many problems of the domestic defense industry. No less important is another big problem - the inability to fulfill orders and the poor quality of the exported weapons.
So, in particular, we can recall the Ukrainian-Thai tank agreement, which was delayed for an impermissibly long period and around which a considerable scandal flared up. Until the end of 2017, only 36 from 49 ordered tanks of the Oplot series were delivered. But the contract for the transfer of equipment was signed in 2011 year. And the most interesting thing is that there are almost no Oplot tanks in service with the Ukrainian troops (the 1 tank does not count).
The military leadership claimed that in the real fighting conditions, Bulat tanks, designed by the national defense industry, were also ineffective due to the low-power engine and a sufficiently large weight. As a result, these combat vehicles were taken to the reserve, despite the fact that the troops managed to acquire several dozen tanks of this modification.
It should be remembered about another "new" - armored "Dozor-B", presented in 2004 year. When the armed conflict began in the south-east of the country, the government promised to supply two hundred armored vehicles to military units. As a result, only a few dozen vehicles entered service ...
After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine also got the center of military shipbuilding. Already during the period of independence, the Gyurza armored boat was designed in Nikolaev, and two samples were even purchased by Uzbekistan. But with supplies for his fleet somehow did not ask. Only 6 Gyurz-Ms are in service, of which 2 were detained by the Federal Border Guard Service and are located in the port of Kerch.
As for exports, things are not much better here. Over 2012-2016 years, Ukraine entered the ten largest suppliers weapons and military equipment. However, the government itself admits that this position was achieved thanks to sales of old military equipment - T-64, T-72, T-80 tanks, which were delivered in large quantities to East Asia, Africa.
Thus, this is not at all the potential of the Ukrainian defense industry, but the potential of Soviet military equipment, which has remained since former times. But in reality, the Ukrainian military-industrial complex produces only a few samples of equipment and weapons that can withstand competition in the external market.
Therefore, the Ukrainian defense industry follows the path of cloning weapons of the USSR period. There is a certain sense in this, since the Soviet equipment and weapons are quite effective, and you can do about the same thing, but taking into account advanced technologies.
Among the models of weapons that can be considered "clones" of Soviet technology, there is a KM-7,62 machine gun, which, by and large, repeats the PKM machine gun, but is more user-friendly and lighter.
Ukrainian military enterprises also mastered the production of the 30-mm 3ТМ-1 and АN 3ТМ-2 automatic cannon, which can be installed on the KBA-2 2А72 and 2А42 BMP-XM-117 guns) of the KBA-119 automatic guns-the-ZNUMX and NNXX 17 17 BMN-XNUMX BMN-XNUMX BMN-XNUMX automatic cannon. and AGS-XNUMX).
These are samples of successful copying. However, there are those that critics like to cite as evidence of the ineffectiveness and incapacity of the defense industry of Ukraine. This, in particular, 120-mm mortar M120-15 "Hammer", which was not only ineffective, but even dangerous (9 gaps were fixed, resulting in the death of 13 soldiers, and also 32 were injured). The causes of the tragedies were always called different, but in reality the mortar simply turned out to be unfinished in technical terms.
And more recently it became known about the next “replenishment” - the 73-millimeter anti-tank grenade launcher “Lancey”, which in its essence is analogous to the Soviet LNG-9. The characteristics of this sample are very good. Target range reaches 1300 meters. Estimated rate of fire - up to six shots per minute. And it weighs about 50 kg. Even with the tripod machine weighing 12 kg gun can be transferred by four fighters. The LNG-9 has become one of the most frequently used types of weapons used on the line of contact by motorized infantry units. And this, in turn, has caused rapid technical deterioration of mechanisms.
On the other hand, with the production of "Lanzei" there are many problems. First of all, we are talking about the trunk, with the production of which the Ukrainian military-industrial complex has great difficulties.
Thus, we can say that the Ukrainian military-industrial complex still has potential, and the production of analogues of Soviet weapons is just one of the stages of the transition to mass production of its own weapons.
What is the result? At the moment, Ukraine is in a state of war. The lack of stability in the political and military sphere, the presence of an armed conflict in the south-east of the country and the loss of individual territories necessitated major changes in ensuring national security. It should be said that in this direction individual steps are already being taken. So, in particular, the funding of the Ukrainian army is gradually increasing. For defense purposes, it is planned to allocate up to 5 percent of GDP, which is approximately 8 billion dollars. If you focus on European standards, this amount should grow to 10 billion dollars. But if you take into account the economic situation, the prospect of such financing is very remote. About half of these funds should be used to re-equip the troops with modern models of military equipment and weapons: military aircraft, electronic warfare and communications systems, air defense systems, control systems, high-precision weapons and fleet reinforcement. A significant part of these tasks is quite realistically provided by the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.
Proclaimed and recently enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution, the course on Euro-Atlantic integration also provides for the introduction of more than one thousand NATO standards, which, according to Ukrainian military experts, will help in the issue of interoperability of the Ukrainian army and the armed forces of NATO countries during joint operations and will give an opportunity to modernize troops. But it will take years of reform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The experts also note that it is very important to raise the standard of living of the Ukrainian military: gradually increase salaries, solve housing problems, review the social protection package for combatants and their families. This is the only way to increase the prestige of military service.
And, perhaps, one of the primary tasks is the fight against corruption, which completely engulfed the Ukrainian defense sphere, as evidenced by the recent scandals in Ukroboronprom ...
Materials used:
http://www.dsnews.ua/politics/voyna-klonov-pochemu-ukrainskiy-vpk-massovo-kopiruet-oruzhie-31012019080000
https://lenta.ru/articles/2017/12/28/ukroboron/
https://112.ua/statji/vooruzhennye-sily-ukrainy-istoriya-razvala-i-perspektiva-vozrozhdeniya-156791.html
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