The leadership of the Armed Forces sums up the preliminary results of the military reform
Recently, the leadership of the military department in the person of the Minister of Defense and the Chief of General Staff has become somewhat more open towards civil society. At least, this is evidenced by several meetings of the military leadership with deputies and senators, with representatives of the public, as well as closed briefings held by Anatoly Serdyukov and army general Nikolai Makarov for journalists of metropolitan editions. These briefings were called “closed” because a limited number of media representatives, including non-state, were invited to them, and besides, newsmen were asked, as is customary in such cases on the principle of chatham house, not to make direct references to one or another official that is, not to quote directly the statement of the Minister or NSG, since “conversation for information” and “conversation under a dictaphone” are different forms of conversation with different degrees of frankness.Nevertheless, it seems to us very important to make “squeezes” from all these meetings, to inform the readers of “NVO” about what was said there. Even without personal references to specific words of a particular official. What is important here, first of all, in our opinion, is precisely the content of the conversations, what they think and do to solve some of the most important problems of reforming or giving a new, promising appearance to the armed forces in the leadership of the army and fleet.
USC AND ITS COMPONENTS
The main result of recent months in the leadership of the army and navy is the creation of four new military districts, and with them the four joint strategic commands (USC) - “West”, “South”, “Center” and “East”. Made it, they say on Arbat Square, ahead of schedule. By presidential decree, the new military districts were supposed to start functioning from 1 in December of this year, but by mid-November they were already fully formed and began to work in a new composition. The Western Military District, for example, even with 1 September. It helped to solve this problem by the fact that the formation of each of the districts was personally assigned to one of the deputy defense ministers. And they, as already seen, managed to cope with this task. Staff categories of headquarters and offices are mostly filled. There is no antagonistic friction between the new structures. Now they have to organize close cooperation, as they say, to get used to each other. To work “in the same team”, to understand the representative of another kind of armed forces, to accept his view of this or that problem for many of them is a completely new and unusual thing.
Two commanders of military districts have already been approved in their new positions (Colonel General Arkady Bakhin was appointed Commander of the Western Military District by presidential decree 1291 of October 28, and Admiral Konstantin Sidenko was appointed Commander of the Eastern Military District by 1293 Decree of October 29), two have already been certified A new position, waiting for the presidential decree. They, as mentioned earlier, are subordinate to all forces and means located on the territory of the district, except for the Strategic Nuclear Forces (SNF), - Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense. Including the Airborne Forces, although they remain an independent branch of the military, a reserve of the Supreme Commander. But nevertheless, the USC commander can and must include them in the planning of a combat operational-strategic operation.
With the creation of the USC, there is a further division of functions between the General Staff, the Main Committee, the command of the military district and the army structures. The principal task is to prevent duplication of work. Therefore, the Main Committee will now be engaged in developing its own type, conducting peacekeeping operations, operational-tactical and tactical training and retraining of officers and professional sergeants (developing methodological instructions and monitoring their implementation), developing requirements for weapons and military equipment supplied to subordinate troops, and naturally, their purchase. The number of officers at Glavkomat is reduced to a minimum - there were a thousand people, 150 – 200 will remain. The General Staff, USC and the army command will be responsible for operational training at their level. For combat training - commanders and commanders of all levels. For military discipline - the Main Directorate for Work with Military Personnel (formerly GUVR), its structures in the district and in the brigade level. In order to fight corruption in people in uniform, financial bodies will be removed from the troops. No commander will be able to manage money. If he, for example, needs to purchase this or that equipment for his part, he will have to transfer the application to the appropriate financial body, consisting exclusively of civilians, and they will buy him everything that he has ordered.
NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR NEW ARMY
On the basis of the Space Forces, an Aerospace Defense system is being created that will have to fight all air targets, starting with cruise and ballistic missiles and ending with airplanes and helicopters. For the development of this type of troops it is planned to build two more plants of the Almaz-Antey company for the production of anti-aircraft missile systems C-400. However, exactly where these plants will be built, there is no exact information yet.
In addition, in the next three years, the Ministry of Defense plans to purchase up to a thousand helicopters. Each USC will now have at least one helicopter brigade with 70-100 turntables. It is also planned to equip all motorized rifle and helicopter squadrons with helicopter squadrons. tank brigades. The brigades themselves will be divided into three types: on one track common for all - these are tanks, but not T-95, which the Ministry of Defense refuses, as it does not meet the requirements for such a machine, BMP (but again not BMP-3, which also does not suit the leadership of the army), and self-propelled artillery. Then a wheeled-based brigade, again common to all, including using wheeled tanks (so far few have seen such in our troops), armored personnel carriers and transported artillery pieces, as well as self-propelled artillery, but on wheels. And a light brigade will appear - its feature is that at the same time it should have good security of personnel. The safety of people is the main thing when creating new combat units.
Demands are not reduced to the combat readiness of brigades. All their property, up to 90%, must be loaded onto vehicles and, on signal, they have to leave the site in an hour, reorganize into company columns, and enter the spare area for 5 – 6 km from the military town. They get the rest of the 10% needed - and into battle.
And the most important task is the creation of a control information system - the ACS, which would unite all the units into one network-centric complex, which is able to accumulate a huge amount of constantly received information, develop solutions for the commander and after making them instantly bring them to the performers. In connection with this postulate in the brigade link the share of intelligence agencies is increasing. A separate reconnaissance platoon will appear in the battalions. In brigade - reconnaissance battalion. In the army - a separate reconnaissance brigade. The transition to digital communications should also help strengthen the “information component” of the army. Until the end of this year, it should be implemented in all district communications nodes, not counting, of course, the central nodes. By the end of 2011, all portable and portable communications will be digitized. Among the designs proposed by industry there is even a sixth generation technique. But the analog connection will also continue, apparently, as a reserve for an unforeseen event.
Purchases for the Navy are sharply increasing - up to 24% of weapons costs in the coming years should go to the naval subject, including coastal troops with the Bastion complex. It is planned to receive at least two submarines a year. Both atomic and diesel, from which no one is going to give up.
On the development of nuclear deterrence warlords prefer to keep quiet. But even so it is obvious that in the coming years they will focus on them. And in connection with the demand for the implementation of the Prague Treaty on START, but even regardless of its ratification by the US Senate, this is primarily due to the aging of our nuclear missile shield, the need to update it. Strategic missiles, land and sea, single-headed and multi-headed, PC-12М2 Topol-M, PC-24 Yars and P-30 Bulava-30. It is not excluded, in the future there may appear another strategic missile with separable warheads of individual guidance. True, there is no official information about this yet.
INCENTIVES FOR SERVICE Not paid attention to the military leaders and the issues of social protection of military personnel and their families. However, the issues of housing, pay and pensions for veterans were raised, of course, precisely by journalists. They were struck by the fact that the draft state budget for 2011 – 2013, which is now being discussed in the State Duma, does not say a word about the long-promised increase in the salaries of officers and contract servicemen. Moreover, the bill on such an increase, including retirement pension pensions, has long been on the website of the military department since the April 26 of this year. What happens to him?
The answer we got is. A cash boost is really planned. As promised earlier - from 1 January 2012 of the year. The bill in question exists, and now it is being negotiated in government structures. Discussions with cabinet ministers are intensive, the military leadership insists that the salary of a lieutenant commander of a platoon should be no less than 50 thousand per month. The government wants to lower it to 30 thousand. No compromise has yet been found. As for the state budget, it is worked out in detail only for the coming year, the next two - only in general terms. Therefore, there are no words about the monetary content of the military. In the draft budget-2012, they will be.
Along with the increase in the monetary allowance of servicemen, it is planned to increase the retirement pension. How to do it while the question. There are several approaches. “Tear off” pensions from officer salaries, establish specific amounts that would be higher than the average labor pension, or leave the “old principle”. On this occasion, there are also discussions with the Ministry of Finance. But, as stated in the leadership of the Armed Forces, none of the commanders have any desire to somehow “infringe upon” the veterans. Everyone understands that after some time they will also be out of work, and the erroneous decision made today may affect themselves.
The task of providing permanent housing to the reserve will be completed by the end of this year. But only for those who stood in line before the 2005 of the year. This promise, according to the leadership of the army and navy, was given to the president and the prime minister. Last year, 46 thousand apartments were purchased. This year there will be another 52 thousand instead of the previously planned 45 thousand for each of two years. By the end of the year, 40 thousand notifications on the allocation of apartments to them will be sent to people. The rest of the flat will be offered a roof over their heads for 2011 and 2012's. Including the debts of 90-x years, when people were fired from the army without providing them with proper housing. Funds allocated for this. Of course, there are serious problems (about them in detail in the previous issue of NVO for November 12 – 18 “Expelling resettlement.” - V.L.). This is also because many officers refuse to receive warrants and move into apartments located in regional and district centers, away from their last duty station or their chosen place of residence. One of the ways to solve the problem is to “debit” apartments owned by the Ministry of Defense. Including in the Moscow suburbs. For example, in Solnechnogorsk. And to create a single line for the department, in which everyone, having typed a certain code on the Internet, on the website of the Ministry of Defense, could personally observe how his opportunity to receive housing is coming, regardless of the commanding moods.
By the end of the year, it is planned to populate 5 thousand apartments in St. Petersburg and 2,5 thousand more - in Vladivostok, in the Snegovaya Pad area.
EDUCATION AND SERGEANTS
A new recruitment to military universities of future officers, according to the leadership of the army and navy, will begin in 2012 year. (True, State Secretary, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, said that such a set would be in the 2011 year. - V.L.). The problem is that it is not quite clear how many officers will be required for troops in 2016 – 2017. It all depends on how many new ships are built, what will be the final structure of brigades, battalions and companies, how many specialists will be required for the engineering and technical forces. 150 thousand officers for the Russian army is the average. There may be a thousand or two more or a thousand or two less, it all depends on the specific tasks, the number of remaining universities, the level of teaching there, the quality of graduates.
Now a group of officers from the General Staff and the GUK travels to different countries, adopting the experience of training officers there. It is noted that the humanitarian component in civilian higher education institutions is much higher than in the military, and this is a signal that you need to prepare not a “narrow” specialist, but a person with a broad outlook and deep knowledge and beliefs who do not evaporate when confronted with life realities and difficulties. On the other hand, in military schools there should be more practical training. Already from the second year, the future officer should spend some time in the army to understand what he will do after graduation, to see his perspective, what subjects he needs to focus on first of all, what and how to prepare.
In order to make such training more substantive and tied to the needs experienced by the troops, military universities will invite to the teaching positions officers who have completed their service as commanders of regiments, brigades, battalions, deputy commanders for engineering or technical training. To teach future officers should not theorists who grew up in the departments of the university, and military practices. They should also deal with future professional sergeants.
With the preparation of future sergeants with secondary special education, as you can understand the leadership of the army and navy, there are problems. There is too much dropout among them, despite the fact that salaries for them are already set at the level of 30 thousand rubles. Not all of the candidates for professional junior commanders deserve the money for their abilities and willingness to comprehend the wisdom of the army. To date, these sergeants only about 2,5 thousand. You need a lot more.
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