Challenges and Plans: A Series of Armed Forces Development Meetings
Last week, on May 25-27, Sochi hosted another series of meetings on the development of the armed forces and the military-industrial complex. The leaders of the country, the ministries of defense and industry reviewed recent successes, studied current challenges and clarified plans for the future.
Defense issues
The series included three meetings chaired by President Vladimir Putin. The Ministry of Defense at these events was represented by the head of the department Sergei Shoigu, the chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the commanders-in-chief of the branches of the armed forces and the heads of directorates. Also present at the meeting were Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and other heads of departments.The topic of the first meeting of the series was to determine ways for the further development of the defense industry and the armed forces. At the same time, a reserve is being created for the further development of the future State Armaments Program, which will be executed until 2034.
During the second meeting, the current issues of the implementation of the state defense order were discussed. We examined the specifics of the implementation of plans last and this year, against the background of epidemic and economic problems. They also discussed the development of fundamentally new samples that will enter the troops in the future.
At the third meeting, the development of several specific areas was discussed - strike weapons, including precision weapons, as well as some models for the aerospace forces. The generated proposals will be used in further planning.
Recent successes
During three sessions, President V. Putin announced the latest successes of the defense industry and the armed forces. So, last year, despite the known difficulties, the state defense order was fulfilled by 99,8%. The established production processes and the pace of research and development work have been preserved.
Rearmament continues, based on already mastered and new models. So, the army received the latest hypersonic complex "Avangard". The "Dagger" complex is in operation - 160 flights with similar products have been performed as part of combat duty. The Zircon anti-ship missile, intended for the Navy, is already at the last stage of state tests.
The supply of various weapons and equipment, already mastered in production, continues. In this context, the President listed the Kh-101 and Caliber cruise missiles, Iskander complexes, multiple launch rocket systems and aviation bombs. These products significantly expand the combat capabilities of individual combat arms and the armed forces as a whole.
The rearmament of the air defense and missile defense forces continues. According to V. Putin, by now more than 70% of anti-aircraft missile regiments have been transferred to modern S-400 systems. In addition, tests of the promising S-500 are nearing completion, and the delivery of such equipment to the troops is "next in line".
The production and supply processes are ongoing right now. So, on May 26, the President noted that the industry is building and modernizing 20 ships of the far sea zone. The construction and renovation of 145 aircraft and helicopters is also ongoing. Such work must be completed on time.
Assigned tasks
At the first meeting, the main tasks were formed. It is necessary to determine the ways for the further development of the armed forces, and in these processes it is necessary to use a systematic approach and maintain a balance. You also need to take into account current trends and changes in foreign armies.
Strategic nuclear forces remain a key factor in stability and security. Their improvement must be given the most serious impact. Recently, a serious groundwork has been created in this area, including Avangard and other new systems, and it needs to be developed.
The third strategic goal is the analysis of capabilities and needs, which will ensure the preparation of the future State Armaments Program. Work in this direction has already begun, and the President demands to complete them on time.
At the second meeting, the development of specific directions was considered. So, they raised the topic of modernizing the space group and ensuring its interaction with other components of the armed forces. Also, the attention of the country's leadership was paid to the most complex and knowledge-intensive spheres. The issues of development of robotic, hypersonic and laser systems were discussed separately. Unfortunately, the details of this discussion were not disclosed.
During the third meeting, the prospects of military transport aviation were considered. The President noted the particular importance of this type of troops, and also pointed to the existing successes. Due to the efforts of the defense industry, the operation of heavy An-124 aircraft continues, and state tests of the light Il-112V are being carried out. The production of the IL-76 of the latest modification has been resumed.
At the same time, it is noted that the available indicators of military transport aviation do not meet the needs of the Ministry of Defense. It is necessary to increase the production of equipment, and due to this, to bring the aircraft fleet in the Aerospace Forces to the required size. The meeting identified the measures necessary to address such problems.
Development priorities
The main discussions in the series of meetings were held in a closed format. Consequently, the main decisions, recommendations and plans remain unknown. However, in the open section, enough interesting information was sounded, which allows us to draw some conclusions.
In general, the Russian leadership intends to continue the development of the armed forces. Work that has already begun is continuing, and a new rearmament program is being drawn up. It starts in 2024 and will be carried out until 2033, which places special demands on forecasting and planning.
As follows from recent statements, incl. made in Sochi, the Russian leadership plans to develop all components of the armed forces at the same time. At the same time, more attention will be paid to some areas, due to the higher importance and responsibility. First of all, the strategic nuclear forces will receive special support - as in previous years.
It should be noted that in the published statements, the processes of the development of the ground forces and the naval fleet... At the same time, as Izvestia writes with reference to its source, more attention was paid in the initial plans for the meetings of the modernization of the Navy. In particular, it was proposed to discuss the development and construction of aircraft carriers and destroyers of the Leader type.
It can be assumed that the minimum attention to the army and navy at the past meetings is associated with successes in these areas. Their rearmament continues and generally meets the requirements. Thanks to this, the leadership of the country and the armed forces can focus on other issues, for example, on increasing the quantitative and qualitative indicators of military transport aviation. It also becomes possible to allocate additional resources to other areas.
Today and tomorrow
Thus, the processes of development of the defense industry and modernization of the armed forces continue and are accompanied by noticeable successes. At the same time, there are some difficulties and new challenges. For this, new plans are being developed and the necessary opportunities are being sought - one of the measures in this direction is regular meetings at the highest level.
As practice shows, holding such meetings allows you to identify new problems in time and respond to them. In addition, in the course of such events, plans are drawn up for the future, which will determine the appearance of the army in the future. Now we are talking about drawing up a new State Armaments Program for 2024-33, and therefore each new summit meeting is of particular importance.
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