Early in the morning of February 18, the operational duty and duty officers of the military units of the inspected units were handed packets with orders from the General Staff to bring the units to the highest degree of combat readiness and to perform combat training tasks. One of the main tasks of the exercises was a sudden test of the ability of the command of military districts to organize interaction and combat use of heterogeneous groups of troops in the indicated operational tactical areas. In order to accomplish all the tasks assigned to them, the troops carried out the transfer of personnel by road, rail and air transport and used the movement on their own. The units of the Airborne Forces and the military transport aviation in practice have developed a transfer of troops to another strategic direction.
In total, about 7 thousands of servicemen of various types of troops and several hundred units of military equipment, as well as about 40 aircraft of various purposes took part in large-scale military readiness exercises. A sudden test of combat readiness and combat readiness of troops of this magnitude was carried out for the first time in the last 20 years. According to the country's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, such events will be held on a regular basis in the future.
The results of a surprise check were announced on Friday, February 22. The combat readiness of the troops was analyzed by the Chief of the General Staff - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the country, Army General Valery Gerasimov. A feature of this event was that the event was completely open to the public. Journalists were allowed to be present at the scoring of the final report.
The overall results of the large-scale audit allow us to draw conclusions about a sufficiently high level of training of troops and military control, their ability to solve suddenly-appearing tasks, as well as to build up combined groups of troops in crisis areas, the army general said. According to Valery Gerasimov, a high degree of combat training in the course of the activities carried out was shown by the units of the 98 airborne division of the Airborne Forces deployed in Ivanovo.
So, for example, the 217 th parachute regiment from this division was alarmed and made a march from its location on the Ivanovo-North airfield, where he plunged into the Il-76 military transport aircraft and after a couple of hours made landing at the airport Shagol, located in the Chelyabinsk region. From the Shagol airfield, a regiment in severe weather conditions (air temperature -20 degrees) made a hundred-kilometer march to the Chebarkul training ground, where it successfully conducted live firing. The entire march was carried out over rough terrain and deep snow in combat formations (combat guarding was set up, reconnaissance was constantly conducted, other necessary measures were taken).
Valery Gerasimov also noted the successful actions of the pilots of the 4 command of the Air Force and Air Defense, as well as air bases from Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Morozov and Marinovka (YuVO), which are equipped with modern su-25 attack planes and Su-24 front-line bombers equipped with modern equipment, equipped with modern parachute guns, and modern Su-XNUMX attack planes equipped with modern paramedics. We were able to accurately hit all the targets indicated by him.
On the whole, according to the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, the exercises conducted made it possible to objectively assess the current state of combat readiness of the verified units, as well as to reveal the problems existing in them, to give practice to the personnel and commanders. According to Gerasimov, this approach to conducting unscheduled inspections will continue in the future, since it is the most effective method for determining the ability of military leadership and control to make informed and correct decisions.
Not without valid criticism. The work of the military authorities was not everywhere able to earn high marks from the leadership. The head of the Russian General Staff noted that the officers on duty in military units and operational officers on duty demonstrated weak skills in communicating signals through automated combat control systems. The general and the uncertain actions of the operational duty officer at the command of the Airborne Forces commented. At the same time, the duty officer on the 201 military base, which is deployed in the territory of Tajikistan, generally missed the alarm signal, which caused a delay in the release of personnel from the base of their deployment sites to the reserve area.
Colonel Sergey Ryumshin, the commander of this base, explained this incident by the fact that the communication lines used by the Russian military in Tajikistan belong to the local authorities, and those in turn use outdated equipment and equipment, which often fails. The chief of the General Staff addressed the head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces with a request, together with Tajik specialists, to investigate the problem found in detail and to make proposals for its quickest possible elimination.
Valery Gerasimov expressed his dissatisfaction with the rather low level of training of graduates of training centers of the Russian Defense Ministry, especially driver mechanics and drivers, which caused the failure of military equipment. Especially when advancing combat vehicles from their parks, during the march and the fulfillment of combat training tasks. In the first place, these comments refer to the 28 th motorized rifle brigade of the Central Military District. The general of the army was not satisfied with the results of the firing of standard weapons - the BMP gunners operators and tank crews. According to Gerasimov, most of the units were able to get only satisfactory ratings. At the same time, the weak personal training of 2012 graduates of military schools of the year is causing suspicion. At the same time, it is these officers who, on their own example of mastery of military equipment and weapons, will have to train their subordinate personnel.
Many complaints were related to the state of military equipment and weapons in the units subjected to the test. Especially the equipment that has already undergone warranty repairs at the enterprises of the defense industry. According to Gerasimov, the check once again confirmed the expediency of the decision taken by Sergei Shoigu to restore military repair agencies. The serious concern of the leadership of the armed forces is caused by a very large number of malfunctioning aircraft, the number of healthy vehicles is only 66%. That is why the most important task of the relevant military authorities and industry should be the repair and restoration of the aviation fleet.
For example, on the 565-th aviation base of the 2-th command of the Air Force and Air Defense, malfunctions of units and units on 5 Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters were identified, which led to the fact that they could not take part in the exercises. In addition, the Su-25 attack aircraft were forced to return to their airfields, which were not depleted by the 2 bombs during the bombing. This incident occurred with the ground attack aircraft of the 6972-th aviation base of the 4-th command of the Air Force and Air Defense.
In the 28-th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Central Military District, the 2-th 152-mm SAU "Msta-S" turned out to be overpowered, and "Uraltransmash" with which the contract for the maintenance of these self-propelled units was signed, has not done anything yet; to eliminate the revealed malfunctions. Oleg Sidenko, general director of Uralvagonzavod, which includes Uraltransmash, noted that the defects were found on the 900 SAU, but in order to eliminate them, it is necessary to purchase new units and assemblies from subcontractors, as well as to transfer the Army Repair Service. "Uralvagonzavod." According Sidenko, we can not constantly carry out repairs by leaps and bounds.
The state of military equipment and combat support equipment, as can be concluded from the final meeting, is of the greatest concern to the military. For example, BMD-2 (the main combat equipment of paratroopers) is outdated both physically and morally. The age of combat vehicles in the army is 20-25 years, or even more. Wear of the main units and units does not allow to use the combat capabilities of this type of military equipment. In the course of the march, two BMD-2s were out of commission. In the 58 Army of the Southern Military District, a malfunction of the X-NUMX portable radio stations P-100-168un produced at the Yaroslavl Radio Plant was identified. According to military experts, these radios have low reliability and build quality.
In concluding his speech, the Chief of the General Staff ordered an analysis of the deficiencies identified during the exercises in the field and eliminate them, creating a system of preventing them in the future. It is worth noting that it is better to identify shortcomings during exercises in peacetime than to reveal shortcomings and malfunctions during combat operations. In this regard, an unscheduled inspection of the combat readiness of units carried out plays a very important and positive role for the entire Russian army.
Information sources:
-http: //www.vz.ru/society/2013/2/22/621603.html
-http: //www.ng.ru/nvo/2013-02-25/1_genshtab.html
-http: //www.csef.ru