Is it better to buy weapons abroad or equip the Russian army with domestic weapons?
Currently, the purchase of weapons for the army of a large state abroad is almost impossible
To answer the question of whether it is better to buy or produce armament and military equipment (IWT) in your country, let us first consider what factors the importer is guided by. weapons when deciding on the procurement of samples of weapons and military equipment of a particular country.
Arkady SHIPUNOV
The first is the scientific and technical level of weapons and military equipment samples offered by the exporting country.
I will give an example. The European anti-tank missile system (ATGW) Milan used to buy well, but now it has already lagged behind in terms of technical level. The American TOW TOW for the same reason also lost its position in the arms market. Consumers turned to new models of weapons and military equipment: among them is the domestic Kornet-E ATGM, the American Javelin ATGM, the Israeli Spike ATGM. They differ significantly from the previously released complexes, have a different technical level.
The second is the production capacity and quality of the manufactured equipment. When buying a new weapon, the task is to rearm the army. The customer is interested in whether products can be received quickly and in the required quantity. The effectiveness of rearmament depends on this. The quality of weapons, in addition to the combat characteristics, is determined by the reliability and reliability of the operation of the complexes in various conditions, which affects the faith of the army in this type of weapon. Naturally, the value of weapons.
Arkady G. SHIPUNOV - Scientific Director of OJSC "KBP", Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The third is the political factor. When purchasing, the duration of maintenance is important: the supply of spare parts, repairs, maintenance. There must be confidence in the partner, that his position does not change. The higher the prestige of the country, the more in demand its weapons on foreign markets.
Let us return to the question of whether it is better to buy weapons abroad or equip the Russian army with domestic weapons?
Turning to historical examples.
The Russian emperor Peter I, who was the organizer of the full-scale arms production in Russia, considered: in order to eliminate century-old backwardness, it is necessary not to buy ships and guns abroad, but to adopt the technology of their design and construction. He not only actively supported the attraction of foreign specialists, but also initiated the direction of Russian masters to study abroad.
Peter's strategy gave a powerful impetus to the development of the country's defense industry, which led to the strengthening of Russian positions in the world and, ultimately, to the expansion of state borders.
However, the policy of subsequent rulers, consisting largely in the blind imitation of European armies and the procurement of foreign military equipment, led to the fact that in the pre-revolutionary period, Russia's armament remained at a lower level than foreign equipment. Armaments offered by domestic designers were not manufactured in sufficient quantities for the needs of the army.
For example, the production of the Mosin three-line rifle began in 1892 at the Tula, Izhevsk and Sestroretsky weapons factories. However, due to the limited production capacity of these plants, an order for 500 thousand units was also placed at French military factories.
At the beginning of World War I, in 1914, the Russian army consisted of a total of 4,6 million rifles, with the number of the army itself in 5,3 million. The needs of the front at the beginning of the war amounted to 100-150 thousand rifles monthly in the production at domestic factories only 27 thousand. The Russian government was forced to order about 1,5 million rifles from Winchester in the United States.
On 1 February 1916, three Russian fronts had about 4,4 million fighters and about 5600 machine guns of various kinds of foreign production: British light machine guns “Hotchks”, “Lewis”, American heavy machine guns “Colt” and “Maxim” under the Russian cartridge, French light machine guns "Shosh", captured Austrian machine guns "Schwarzlose" and others.
Thus, the Russian machine gun armament during the First World War turned out to be very variegated both in terms of calibers and systems, which, of course, made them difficult to maintain, repair, replenish ammunition. New production of machine guns in the country could not be deployed. Izhevsk and Sestroretsky weapons factories did not have the appropriate equipment, and private industry - the necessary production capacity and experience.
During World War I, the Russian army experienced a shortage of Russian small arms, there were no tanks и aviation. Thus, at that time, the vulnerability of Russia was a focus on foreign manufacturers.
Friedrich Engels said that according to the characteristics and quality of weapons of the army and fleet, you can judge the level of development of industry, economy, science and education in the country. If you rephrase Napoleon I, we can say that a people who do not want to develop their defense industry will feed a foreign army.
In the twentieth century, the Soviet government for the 19 years after the end of the Civil War carried out the industrialization of the country, due to which mass production of weapons and military equipment was organized on the basis of their own developments. This played a large role in the victory in the most terrible war in history with the most powerful, very well-equipped enemy.
During the Great Patriotic War in the USSR, new equipment was developed, and not bought it abroad from allies, for example, in the USA or in Great Britain. The military products that the US supplied to the USSR, and this, for example, automotive vehicles (about 750 thousand Studebaker trucks), of course, played a certain role in the victory of our country over Nazi Germany, but not decisive.
Thus, historical examples of the development of the defense industry in Russia show that the organization of weapons production in their country contributes to a high level of science and technology development, equipping the army with weapons that are not inferior in their characteristics to foreign counterparts, which allows, in the case of armed conflicts, to effectively solve combat missions.
If we turn to the experience of the leading countries of the world, then it can be stated that despite the difficult economic situation in the world, defense spending continues to be one of the priority items of expenditure in the budgets of leading countries.
R & D expenditures in the US military budget in 2010 amounted to about 11,5% and in real terms - $ 80 billion (1 figure). From this graph, it can be seen that in 2010, expenditures deducted to the US military budget exceeded those deducted to the military budget of European countries by about four times, the PRC - by 9,5 times, India - by 18 times. At the same time, the share of expenditures from the military budget for research and development by the Department of Defense of the USA is about 11%, which exceeds the share of expenditures from the military budget for research and development by the ministries of defense of the same countries, approximately two times.
Relying on the armed forces as the main tool of foreign policy requires maintaining a constant military-technical and technological superiority of the US Armed Forces over any potential adversary and their high readiness to conduct military actions in any region of the world. The presence in the country of a well-developed and stably funded research and technology base within the federal budget makes it possible to create an appropriate reserve of modern weapons and military equipment and promising scientific and technical systems, as well as promotes weapons development programs of a new generation.
In the United States, an approach has been adopted whereby the best results and options for implementing the results of research and development (R & D) can be proposed and implemented by qualified specialists themselves in organizations engaged in such research. This ensures higher efficiency of research systems and provides significant savings in the implementation of programs for defense needs. The US military is aimed at obtaining at its disposal samples of weapons and military equipment based on advanced technical achievements and allowing them to achieve superiority in the conduct of combat operations of any scale.
Currently, the purchase of weapons for the army of a large state abroad is practically impossible. For example, in France carried out to equip its armed forces the production of self-propelled SAM Roland-2 and SAM short range Crotal Naval, amphibious Mistral-type ships, aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, multirole fighters Mirage 2000 and Rafale generation 4 ++, the main Leclerc battle tanks, assault rifles FAMAS. The development and production of all these complexes would have been impossible without the presence in the country of a developed element base, instrument engineering. The organization and implementation of the development and production of elements and weapon complexes in the country is a sign of its independence, an indicator of the scientific, technical and economic level.
At present, four major centers of scientific progress are forming in the world - the United States, the European Union, Japan and China. The Russian Federation, unfortunately, is not included in the group of leaders yet - our country accounts for less than 2% of world R & D spending.
In Russia, over the past 20-25 years, technical development has slowed down. We actually found ourselves on the sidelines of progress, in connection with which many now put forward slogans calling to buy weapons abroad, which could involve the country in the abyss of technical backwardness and, ultimately, bring damage to the entire economy and complete political dependence on importing countries. As soon as we adopt a policy of purchasing weapons abroad, we recognize that Russia cannot manufacture and develop modern equipment.
How can we agree that Russia is a backward country if we are developing the most modern WTO complexes. The Cornet-EM complex was created, it qualitatively surpasses all existing ATGMs not only in their main characteristics, but also has new properties. The same can be said about the ZRPK "Pantsir-С1". In the field of weapons complexes for armored vehicles (BTT), we have created unique in their characteristics complexes of guided weapons. Russia represented by the Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering OJSC (OJSC KBP, which is part of the holding company NPO High-Precision Complexes), is the creator of the concept for combining artillery and guided missiles in one system. This combination of tools allows you to significantly increase the technical level from 3 to 15 times, reduce the required number of combat units, which leads to a sharp reduction in costs, simplifies the management of troops on the battlefield. This unification was carried out not only in armored vehicles, but also in artillery and anti-aircraft complexes. Attempts to adopt the experience of such a combination are known in world practice, but nowhere have they been brought to such a level of technical excellence.
The very hypothesis of a widespread wide lag is wrong. The largest lag is in the field of electronic technology. Naturally, this gap should not affect the general characteristics and ultimately should be eliminated. This task should be solved in parts, through temporary purchases and organization of production, which should ensure the alignment of the technical level of electronic equipment and superiority due to the successful layout and construction of the system as a whole. In reality, all major domestic IWT developers follow this path.
At present, it seems useful to consider the possibility of acquiring in the West not finished military products, but technologies for which we have a critical lag. It is possible to acquire production of various elements, separate units and assemblies for weapons and military equipment, individual products, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with all the technical documentation and equipment needed to organize production in our country.
But a more effective way is to modernize our own enterprises by equipping them with modern equipment, incl. foreign production, training abroad of design engineers, workers.
It should not be a pure modernization, namely the creation of breakthrough systems and complexes, the basis of which is the abrupt achievement of a new level of characteristics and properties.
Let us consider what are the arguments in favor of the strategy of creating and developing weapons production in our country.
first. No one in the world exports new weapons. As a rule, weapons developed at least 10 years ago are sold. Thus, we will get weapons with a technical level, shifted by decades.
Second. If you buy a license for the production of weapons abroad, then you need some more time to master mass production. Time is added - the process of lag is still aggravated.
The third. The purchase of expensive equipment causes economic damage to the state and finances a foreign defense industry. The purchase of weapons or military equipment abroad leads to the fact that the money spent is withdrawn from domestic circulation, the money generally leaves the country. This development leads to technical, economic and political dependence.
Let's give an example. Suppose a decision is made to purchase, instead of the domestic BMP-2, the American analogue M2А3 Bradley. Its cost is about $ 13,7 million. It is necessary to purchase 1000 units with anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and small-caliber guns to equip the Russian army. In addition, it will be necessary to introduce a new caliber in the army, which will violate the entire order and existing requirements for weapons and military equipment samples. As a result, the total costs may amount to about $ 20 billion, and besides, there will be a dependence on the external market in this industry, many domestic enterprises will remain without an order.
OJSC KBP offers domestic BMP-2M and BMD-4, which are developed and tested, in addition BMD-4 adopted by the Airborne Forces, and BMP 2М serially manufactured for deliveries abroad. The cost of these samples, together with the new ammunition, is about seven times lower than Bradley. At the same time, the former self-propelled base remains, which, although inferior to its foreign counterpart in characteristics, does not significantly affect the effectiveness of the use of the weapons complex. According to the technical level, our armament complex of combat vehicles will be ahead of the foreign equivalent. The funds received from the implementation of these promising samples, the company will invest in science and domestic development.
In our country, before 2020, huge funds are planned to be allocated for the development of the Armed Forces, the development and modernization of the production capacities of defense enterprises - about 20 trillion. rubles. Of these, more than 80% is planned to be spent on the purchase, production and development of new weapons. For these funds for almost 10 years in the country it will be possible to pay wages to nearly three million people.
Thus, when weapons and military equipment are developed, produced in Russia and delivered to the Russian army and, in certain quantities, for export, the funds received as a result of these measures will ultimately be paid to engineers and technical workers (ITR) and workers, employed in design organizations and directly in production in the defense industry. In turn, these people will be able to spend the money received, therefore, consumer demand in the country will increase.
Academician Abalkin, argued that the money invested in the defense industry is circulated domestically eight times (now this ratio is, of course, less due to the share of imports and is 3-4 times). And, ultimately, these funds go to all sectors of the economy: having mastered the funds allocated from the budget, the defense industry then stimulates many other industries and industries, such as metallurgical; production of non-metallic modern materials; electronic; chemical; medical; production of measuring instruments, control, communications, automotive, automotive engineering, etc.
If we link the above statement of Friedrich Engels with the modern era, we can say the following. Today, the defense industry is a technology leader. And so the need for its recovery is obvious. Arms sales are cash flow from abroad. We say that there is no investment, but if you sell weapons worth $ 10-15 billion, it will be an investment.
Fourth. Imagine for a minute the Russian Federation in a state of military conflict. Even in the presence of a full fleet of weapons during the fighting, it is necessary to repair and replenish it in a timely manner, the need to supply spare parts and ammunition. This is a huge expenditure of manpower and equipment, with the result that the country will lose its military independence. Do those who offer to buy weapons abroad think about this?
Fifth. There are circumstances that dictate the need for the development of weapons and military equipment - a vast country with extended borders that cannot be covered by conventional means. The absence of natural obstacles on the border (mountains, extended rivers) requires, on the one hand, reconnaissance and control of the state of space, and on the other hand, the possibility of striking at long distances with cheap and massive means, the ability to move impact forces, i.e. creating operational focus on operational areas. This requires specific weapons that can not be bought. Other consumers do not have such specific weapons.
In the USSR, with the resolution of this problem was better, there were natural boundary obstacles in the form of mountains, impassable spaces. Currently, the task of protecting the Russian territory is complicated, and the requirements for weapons systems are increasing dramatically.
Sixth. In connection with limited orders for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, at present there is a need to focus on arms supplies for export.
The development by enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex of their own advanced weapons and the sale of military products for export will provide funds, much of which must be invested in new developments. Thus, deliveries abroad will not only revive our defense industry and keep it afloat, but also develop the main priority areas of the industry.
Export orientation in the defense industry is also necessary because the price of export drug products, consisting of R & D costs, production (including the purchase of materials, components, production modernization) and the intellectual component (“illiteracy tax "), Always several times higher than the cost of production of this MPP.
This suggests that its structure is similar to the price of hydrocarbons (oil and gas), with the difference that the number of people employed in the defense industry and related industries is greater than in the oil and gas industry. At the same time, the reserves of raw materials are greatly depleted. Accordingly, in the future, in the absence of new developed fields, the value of their exports may decrease. Another thing is the export of military products is not an exhaustible source. The main thing here is the availability of personnel with a high level of technical training and the availability of a production base.
The armament complex is the fruit of intellectual labor. You can invest your money in the development and as a result of product sales to make a profit, which will be sufficient for the effective functioning of the company.
Thus, the export of military products is the most important tool that allows enterprises to develop.
Consider for example the situation that has developed in the OJSC "KBP".
OJSC KBP is a multi-disciplinary organization of the military-industrial complex, specializing in the development of weapons systems of a tactical combat zone. The enterprise has so far developed, mastered in mass production and commissioned more than 140 samples of weapons and military equipment of the Russian army. The armament models created at OJSC KBP are of world renown. Steady demand for the company's products is ensured by the high technical level of its developments, and today it is used in more than 50 countries of the world. Samples of military equipment being developed do not only meet modern requirements for weapons, but are also promising.
At present, OJSC KBP is developing advanced weapons systems, both within the framework of the state defense order (GOZ) and at its own expense. During Soviet times, the R & D enterprise carried out was almost completely funded under the state defense order. At the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries, funding for development of the state defense order was sharply reduced. It was then that most of the research and development work of the PCU was performed at their own expense. The key to the survival of the enterprise was the fact that it had the opportunity to independently conclude contracts and carry out direct deliveries of weapons abroad and use the funds received for development.
The right to independent foreign economic activity remained with the KBP for about 10 years. During this time, when the number of employees in all enterprises of the defense industrial complex was catastrophically reduced, it was possible not only to preserve the number of enterprises, but also to double it: from 4,2 thousand people. to 8,6 thous. At the same time, about 15 thousand more. was employed in enterprises that participated in cooperation in the development and manufacture of our products.
In the period 2000-2009. the volume of funds received from the supply of weapons and military equipment for export was about 20 times the amount of funds from supplies through the state defense order. In 2010, there was a tendency to an increase in the volumes of the state defense order, which is primarily due to the start of serial deliveries of the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile system (ZRPK). However, despite this, at present the volume of funds received from deliveries abroad exceeds the volume of funds from deliveries to the Russian army by about 5,0-6,6 times (table 1).
The right to independent foreign economic activity allowed the company to finance its own R & D. With the use of significant own funds, KBP developed and mastered the mass production of the modern PIR-AIR ZRPK, which is currently being supplied for the needs of the RF Ministry of Defense, the combat compartment for the BMP-2, and also completed work on BMD-4. On a proactive basis, the advanced multi-purpose Cornet-EM anti-tank complex and the unique Krasnopol-МХNUMX controlled artillery projectile (UAS) were fully developed.
At present, the enterprise supplies military products through the state intermediary of Rosoboronexport OJSC. The amount of R & D funding from the State Defense Order is insufficient. In order to achieve the technical level corresponding to 2030-2050. and ensuring unconditional competitiveness of its developments in the global market, OJSC KBP strives annually to increase the amount of funding for research and development work carried out in a proactive manner. However, the amount of funds allocated for initiative R & D is currently less than when the enterprise had the right to independent foreign economic activity (FEA).
Creating your own high-performance weapons in the country is a complex and multifaceted process. Investing in advanced weapons and military equipment should go in accordance with the chosen military-technical strategy, which should be based on developments that surpass the world level.
The main link in the chain of creation of modern weapons is firms capable of developing and producing military products endowed with the right to independently conduct foreign economic activity. This fully meets the basic requirements of a modern market economy. For the stable functioning of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex, it is necessary to have a constant scientific and technical reserve for promising R & D, for which part of the profit will be required.
It also requires state regulation, which is carried out through orders for science (through research and development), the supply of finished products manufactured by industry according to technical requirements agreed with the RF Ministry of Defense, financing the development and improvement of the technological base (through the implementation of FTP), and training.
When developing a strategy for military-technical development of Russian weapons, it is necessary to assess the suitability of existing weapons by the types most demanded in the world today: tanks, artillery, combat helicopters, anti-tank systems, and air defense systems.
According to the results of the assessment, it is necessary to classify all types of technology into groups:
• The first group includes equipment that is already in the army, but is not suitable for further service due to obsolescence;
• the second group includes equipment available and which can be upgraded with a high technical and economic coefficient;
• the third group includes equipment that corresponds to the world level, but not ordered by the army or ordered in limited quantities;
• The fourth group includes newly developed equipment. In this case, a mandatory requirement should be the achievement of high technical and economic indicators, including an increase in efficiency from 2 to 5 times.
In the aggregate, all samples must constitute an integral self-sufficient system of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In a special group it is necessary to allocate the development of breakthrough technologies that provide new qualities and properties.
Creating your own weapons - is the way to raise the entire country. For the development of weapons systems it is necessary to conduct developments at a high level and the presence of a creative team, trained and highly qualified personnel. The question is, is there any reason for this in Russia? Yes, since the main thing is that there are still people who have received high-quality education, not spoiled by the unified state examinations (EGE), who have experience in developing advanced weapons. Unfortunately, these specialists are older than 40 years, but there is still a generation from 30 to 40 years, which has found strong teachers in schools and universities that have high-quality training and the potential for engineering.
In his report to the State Duma 28 in February 2012, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Military Industrial Commission Dmitry Rogozin said: “Today there is no point in catching up with someone and following the beaten track. We need to move away from the square-cluster way of thinking, look not at tomorrow, but in the day after tomorrow. ”
Thus, the existing lag behind the leading Western countries needs to be eliminated on its own, directing money not only to modernize and develop new-generation weapon systems, significantly superior in their tactical and technical level to existing models, but also to create fundamentally new military technical equipment.
BMD-4 with the combat module "Bakhcha-U".
To answer the question of whether it is better to buy or produce armament and military equipment (IWT) in your country, let us first consider what factors the importer is guided by. weapons when deciding on the procurement of samples of weapons and military equipment of a particular country.
Arkady SHIPUNOV
The first is the scientific and technical level of weapons and military equipment samples offered by the exporting country.
I will give an example. The European anti-tank missile system (ATGW) Milan used to buy well, but now it has already lagged behind in terms of technical level. The American TOW TOW for the same reason also lost its position in the arms market. Consumers turned to new models of weapons and military equipment: among them is the domestic Kornet-E ATGM, the American Javelin ATGM, the Israeli Spike ATGM. They differ significantly from the previously released complexes, have a different technical level.
The second is the production capacity and quality of the manufactured equipment. When buying a new weapon, the task is to rearm the army. The customer is interested in whether products can be received quickly and in the required quantity. The effectiveness of rearmament depends on this. The quality of weapons, in addition to the combat characteristics, is determined by the reliability and reliability of the operation of the complexes in various conditions, which affects the faith of the army in this type of weapon. Naturally, the value of weapons.
Arkady G. SHIPUNOV - Scientific Director of OJSC "KBP", Academician of the Russian Academy of SciencesThe third is the political factor. When purchasing, the duration of maintenance is important: the supply of spare parts, repairs, maintenance. There must be confidence in the partner, that his position does not change. The higher the prestige of the country, the more in demand its weapons on foreign markets.
Let us return to the question of whether it is better to buy weapons abroad or equip the Russian army with domestic weapons?
Turning to historical examples.
The Russian emperor Peter I, who was the organizer of the full-scale arms production in Russia, considered: in order to eliminate century-old backwardness, it is necessary not to buy ships and guns abroad, but to adopt the technology of their design and construction. He not only actively supported the attraction of foreign specialists, but also initiated the direction of Russian masters to study abroad.
Peter's strategy gave a powerful impetus to the development of the country's defense industry, which led to the strengthening of Russian positions in the world and, ultimately, to the expansion of state borders.
However, the policy of subsequent rulers, consisting largely in the blind imitation of European armies and the procurement of foreign military equipment, led to the fact that in the pre-revolutionary period, Russia's armament remained at a lower level than foreign equipment. Armaments offered by domestic designers were not manufactured in sufficient quantities for the needs of the army.
For example, the production of the Mosin three-line rifle began in 1892 at the Tula, Izhevsk and Sestroretsky weapons factories. However, due to the limited production capacity of these plants, an order for 500 thousand units was also placed at French military factories.
At the beginning of World War I, in 1914, the Russian army consisted of a total of 4,6 million rifles, with the number of the army itself in 5,3 million. The needs of the front at the beginning of the war amounted to 100-150 thousand rifles monthly in the production at domestic factories only 27 thousand. The Russian government was forced to order about 1,5 million rifles from Winchester in the United States.
On 1 February 1916, three Russian fronts had about 4,4 million fighters and about 5600 machine guns of various kinds of foreign production: British light machine guns “Hotchks”, “Lewis”, American heavy machine guns “Colt” and “Maxim” under the Russian cartridge, French light machine guns "Shosh", captured Austrian machine guns "Schwarzlose" and others.
Thus, the Russian machine gun armament during the First World War turned out to be very variegated both in terms of calibers and systems, which, of course, made them difficult to maintain, repair, replenish ammunition. New production of machine guns in the country could not be deployed. Izhevsk and Sestroretsky weapons factories did not have the appropriate equipment, and private industry - the necessary production capacity and experience.
During World War I, the Russian army experienced a shortage of Russian small arms, there were no tanks и aviation. Thus, at that time, the vulnerability of Russia was a focus on foreign manufacturers.
Friedrich Engels said that according to the characteristics and quality of weapons of the army and fleet, you can judge the level of development of industry, economy, science and education in the country. If you rephrase Napoleon I, we can say that a people who do not want to develop their defense industry will feed a foreign army.
In the twentieth century, the Soviet government for the 19 years after the end of the Civil War carried out the industrialization of the country, due to which mass production of weapons and military equipment was organized on the basis of their own developments. This played a large role in the victory in the most terrible war in history with the most powerful, very well-equipped enemy.
During the Great Patriotic War in the USSR, new equipment was developed, and not bought it abroad from allies, for example, in the USA or in Great Britain. The military products that the US supplied to the USSR, and this, for example, automotive vehicles (about 750 thousand Studebaker trucks), of course, played a certain role in the victory of our country over Nazi Germany, but not decisive.
Thus, historical examples of the development of the defense industry in Russia show that the organization of weapons production in their country contributes to a high level of science and technology development, equipping the army with weapons that are not inferior in their characteristics to foreign counterparts, which allows, in the case of armed conflicts, to effectively solve combat missions.
If we turn to the experience of the leading countries of the world, then it can be stated that despite the difficult economic situation in the world, defense spending continues to be one of the priority items of expenditure in the budgets of leading countries.
R & D expenditures in the US military budget in 2010 amounted to about 11,5% and in real terms - $ 80 billion (1 figure). From this graph, it can be seen that in 2010, expenditures deducted to the US military budget exceeded those deducted to the military budget of European countries by about four times, the PRC - by 9,5 times, India - by 18 times. At the same time, the share of expenditures from the military budget for research and development by the Department of Defense of the USA is about 11%, which exceeds the share of expenditures from the military budget for research and development by the ministries of defense of the same countries, approximately two times.
During the First World War, there was a shortage of domestic small arms in the Russian army, and there were no tanks and aircraft of its own.
Relying on the armed forces as the main tool of foreign policy requires maintaining a constant military-technical and technological superiority of the US Armed Forces over any potential adversary and their high readiness to conduct military actions in any region of the world. The presence in the country of a well-developed and stably funded research and technology base within the federal budget makes it possible to create an appropriate reserve of modern weapons and military equipment and promising scientific and technical systems, as well as promotes weapons development programs of a new generation.
In the United States, an approach has been adopted whereby the best results and options for implementing the results of research and development (R & D) can be proposed and implemented by qualified specialists themselves in organizations engaged in such research. This ensures higher efficiency of research systems and provides significant savings in the implementation of programs for defense needs. The US military is aimed at obtaining at its disposal samples of weapons and military equipment based on advanced technical achievements and allowing them to achieve superiority in the conduct of combat operations of any scale.
Currently, the purchase of weapons for the army of a large state abroad is practically impossible. For example, in France carried out to equip its armed forces the production of self-propelled SAM Roland-2 and SAM short range Crotal Naval, amphibious Mistral-type ships, aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, multirole fighters Mirage 2000 and Rafale generation 4 ++, the main Leclerc battle tanks, assault rifles FAMAS. The development and production of all these complexes would have been impossible without the presence in the country of a developed element base, instrument engineering. The organization and implementation of the development and production of elements and weapon complexes in the country is a sign of its independence, an indicator of the scientific, technical and economic level.
At present, four major centers of scientific progress are forming in the world - the United States, the European Union, Japan and China. The Russian Federation, unfortunately, is not included in the group of leaders yet - our country accounts for less than 2% of world R & D spending.
In Russia, over the past 20-25 years, technical development has slowed down. We actually found ourselves on the sidelines of progress, in connection with which many now put forward slogans calling to buy weapons abroad, which could involve the country in the abyss of technical backwardness and, ultimately, bring damage to the entire economy and complete political dependence on importing countries. As soon as we adopt a policy of purchasing weapons abroad, we recognize that Russia cannot manufacture and develop modern equipment.
Figure 1. R & D expenditures in the military budgets of the leading countries in 2010
How can we agree that Russia is a backward country if we are developing the most modern WTO complexes. The Cornet-EM complex was created, it qualitatively surpasses all existing ATGMs not only in their main characteristics, but also has new properties. The same can be said about the ZRPK "Pantsir-С1". In the field of weapons complexes for armored vehicles (BTT), we have created unique in their characteristics complexes of guided weapons. Russia represented by the Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering OJSC (OJSC KBP, which is part of the holding company NPO High-Precision Complexes), is the creator of the concept for combining artillery and guided missiles in one system. This combination of tools allows you to significantly increase the technical level from 3 to 15 times, reduce the required number of combat units, which leads to a sharp reduction in costs, simplifies the management of troops on the battlefield. This unification was carried out not only in armored vehicles, but also in artillery and anti-aircraft complexes. Attempts to adopt the experience of such a combination are known in world practice, but nowhere have they been brought to such a level of technical excellence.
The very hypothesis of a widespread wide lag is wrong. The largest lag is in the field of electronic technology. Naturally, this gap should not affect the general characteristics and ultimately should be eliminated. This task should be solved in parts, through temporary purchases and organization of production, which should ensure the alignment of the technical level of electronic equipment and superiority due to the successful layout and construction of the system as a whole. In reality, all major domestic IWT developers follow this path.
At present, it seems useful to consider the possibility of acquiring in the West not finished military products, but technologies for which we have a critical lag. It is possible to acquire production of various elements, separate units and assemblies for weapons and military equipment, individual products, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with all the technical documentation and equipment needed to organize production in our country.
But a more effective way is to modernize our own enterprises by equipping them with modern equipment, incl. foreign production, training abroad of design engineers, workers.
It should not be a pure modernization, namely the creation of breakthrough systems and complexes, the basis of which is the abrupt achievement of a new level of characteristics and properties.
Let us consider what are the arguments in favor of the strategy of creating and developing weapons production in our country.
first. No one in the world exports new weapons. As a rule, weapons developed at least 10 years ago are sold. Thus, we will get weapons with a technical level, shifted by decades.
Second. If you buy a license for the production of weapons abroad, then you need some more time to master mass production. Time is added - the process of lag is still aggravated.
KBP has mastered the mass production of ZRPK "Pantsir-С1".
The third. The purchase of expensive equipment causes economic damage to the state and finances a foreign defense industry. The purchase of weapons or military equipment abroad leads to the fact that the money spent is withdrawn from domestic circulation, the money generally leaves the country. This development leads to technical, economic and political dependence.
Let's give an example. Suppose a decision is made to purchase, instead of the domestic BMP-2, the American analogue M2А3 Bradley. Its cost is about $ 13,7 million. It is necessary to purchase 1000 units with anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and small-caliber guns to equip the Russian army. In addition, it will be necessary to introduce a new caliber in the army, which will violate the entire order and existing requirements for weapons and military equipment samples. As a result, the total costs may amount to about $ 20 billion, and besides, there will be a dependence on the external market in this industry, many domestic enterprises will remain without an order.
OJSC KBP offers domestic BMP-2M and BMD-4, which are developed and tested, in addition BMD-4 adopted by the Airborne Forces, and BMP 2М serially manufactured for deliveries abroad. The cost of these samples, together with the new ammunition, is about seven times lower than Bradley. At the same time, the former self-propelled base remains, which, although inferior to its foreign counterpart in characteristics, does not significantly affect the effectiveness of the use of the weapons complex. According to the technical level, our armament complex of combat vehicles will be ahead of the foreign equivalent. The funds received from the implementation of these promising samples, the company will invest in science and domestic development.
In our country, before 2020, huge funds are planned to be allocated for the development of the Armed Forces, the development and modernization of the production capacities of defense enterprises - about 20 trillion. rubles. Of these, more than 80% is planned to be spent on the purchase, production and development of new weapons. For these funds for almost 10 years in the country it will be possible to pay wages to nearly three million people.
Thus, when weapons and military equipment are developed, produced in Russia and delivered to the Russian army and, in certain quantities, for export, the funds received as a result of these measures will ultimately be paid to engineers and technical workers (ITR) and workers, employed in design organizations and directly in production in the defense industry. In turn, these people will be able to spend the money received, therefore, consumer demand in the country will increase.
Academician Abalkin, argued that the money invested in the defense industry is circulated domestically eight times (now this ratio is, of course, less due to the share of imports and is 3-4 times). And, ultimately, these funds go to all sectors of the economy: having mastered the funds allocated from the budget, the defense industry then stimulates many other industries and industries, such as metallurgical; production of non-metallic modern materials; electronic; chemical; medical; production of measuring instruments, control, communications, automotive, automotive engineering, etc.
If we link the above statement of Friedrich Engels with the modern era, we can say the following. Today, the defense industry is a technology leader. And so the need for its recovery is obvious. Arms sales are cash flow from abroad. We say that there is no investment, but if you sell weapons worth $ 10-15 billion, it will be an investment.
Fourth. Imagine for a minute the Russian Federation in a state of military conflict. Even in the presence of a full fleet of weapons during the fighting, it is necessary to repair and replenish it in a timely manner, the need to supply spare parts and ammunition. This is a huge expenditure of manpower and equipment, with the result that the country will lose its military independence. Do those who offer to buy weapons abroad think about this?
Fifth. There are circumstances that dictate the need for the development of weapons and military equipment - a vast country with extended borders that cannot be covered by conventional means. The absence of natural obstacles on the border (mountains, extended rivers) requires, on the one hand, reconnaissance and control of the state of space, and on the other hand, the possibility of striking at long distances with cheap and massive means, the ability to move impact forces, i.e. creating operational focus on operational areas. This requires specific weapons that can not be bought. Other consumers do not have such specific weapons.
In the USSR, with the resolution of this problem was better, there were natural boundary obstacles in the form of mountains, impassable spaces. Currently, the task of protecting the Russian territory is complicated, and the requirements for weapons systems are increasing dramatically.
Sixth. In connection with limited orders for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, at present there is a need to focus on arms supplies for export.
The development by enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex of their own advanced weapons and the sale of military products for export will provide funds, much of which must be invested in new developments. Thus, deliveries abroad will not only revive our defense industry and keep it afloat, but also develop the main priority areas of the industry.
Export orientation in the defense industry is also necessary because the price of export drug products, consisting of R & D costs, production (including the purchase of materials, components, production modernization) and the intellectual component (“illiteracy tax "), Always several times higher than the cost of production of this MPP.
This suggests that its structure is similar to the price of hydrocarbons (oil and gas), with the difference that the number of people employed in the defense industry and related industries is greater than in the oil and gas industry. At the same time, the reserves of raw materials are greatly depleted. Accordingly, in the future, in the absence of new developed fields, the value of their exports may decrease. Another thing is the export of military products is not an exhaustible source. The main thing here is the availability of personnel with a high level of technical training and the availability of a production base.
The armament complex is the fruit of intellectual labor. You can invest your money in the development and as a result of product sales to make a profit, which will be sufficient for the effective functioning of the company.
Thus, the export of military products is the most important tool that allows enterprises to develop.
Consider for example the situation that has developed in the OJSC "KBP".
OJSC KBP is a multi-disciplinary organization of the military-industrial complex, specializing in the development of weapons systems of a tactical combat zone. The enterprise has so far developed, mastered in mass production and commissioned more than 140 samples of weapons and military equipment of the Russian army. The armament models created at OJSC KBP are of world renown. Steady demand for the company's products is ensured by the high technical level of its developments, and today it is used in more than 50 countries of the world. Samples of military equipment being developed do not only meet modern requirements for weapons, but are also promising.
At present, OJSC KBP is developing advanced weapons systems, both within the framework of the state defense order (GOZ) and at its own expense. During Soviet times, the R & D enterprise carried out was almost completely funded under the state defense order. At the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries, funding for development of the state defense order was sharply reduced. It was then that most of the research and development work of the PCU was performed at their own expense. The key to the survival of the enterprise was the fact that it had the opportunity to independently conclude contracts and carry out direct deliveries of weapons abroad and use the funds received for development.
The right to independent foreign economic activity remained with the KBP for about 10 years. During this time, when the number of employees in all enterprises of the defense industrial complex was catastrophically reduced, it was possible not only to preserve the number of enterprises, but also to double it: from 4,2 thousand people. to 8,6 thous. At the same time, about 15 thousand more. was employed in enterprises that participated in cooperation in the development and manufacture of our products.
In the period 2000-2009. the volume of funds received from the supply of weapons and military equipment for export was about 20 times the amount of funds from supplies through the state defense order. In 2010, there was a tendency to an increase in the volumes of the state defense order, which is primarily due to the start of serial deliveries of the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile system (ZRPK). However, despite this, at present the volume of funds received from deliveries abroad exceeds the volume of funds from deliveries to the Russian army by about 5,0-6,6 times (table 1).
The right to independent foreign economic activity allowed the company to finance its own R & D. With the use of significant own funds, KBP developed and mastered the mass production of the modern PIR-AIR ZRPK, which is currently being supplied for the needs of the RF Ministry of Defense, the combat compartment for the BMP-2, and also completed work on BMD-4. On a proactive basis, the advanced multi-purpose Cornet-EM anti-tank complex and the unique Krasnopol-МХNUMX controlled artillery projectile (UAS) were fully developed.
At present, the enterprise supplies military products through the state intermediary of Rosoboronexport OJSC. The amount of R & D funding from the State Defense Order is insufficient. In order to achieve the technical level corresponding to 2030-2050. and ensuring unconditional competitiveness of its developments in the global market, OJSC KBP strives annually to increase the amount of funding for research and development work carried out in a proactive manner. However, the amount of funds allocated for initiative R & D is currently less than when the enterprise had the right to independent foreign economic activity (FEA).
Creating your own high-performance weapons in the country is a complex and multifaceted process. Investing in advanced weapons and military equipment should go in accordance with the chosen military-technical strategy, which should be based on developments that surpass the world level.
In its own way, the Krasnopol-М2 controlled artillery shell (UAS), unique in its characteristics, was developed.
The main link in the chain of creation of modern weapons is firms capable of developing and producing military products endowed with the right to independently conduct foreign economic activity. This fully meets the basic requirements of a modern market economy. For the stable functioning of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex, it is necessary to have a constant scientific and technical reserve for promising R & D, for which part of the profit will be required.
It also requires state regulation, which is carried out through orders for science (through research and development), the supply of finished products manufactured by industry according to technical requirements agreed with the RF Ministry of Defense, financing the development and improvement of the technological base (through the implementation of FTP), and training.
When developing a strategy for military-technical development of Russian weapons, it is necessary to assess the suitability of existing weapons by the types most demanded in the world today: tanks, artillery, combat helicopters, anti-tank systems, and air defense systems.
According to the results of the assessment, it is necessary to classify all types of technology into groups:
• The first group includes equipment that is already in the army, but is not suitable for further service due to obsolescence;
• the second group includes equipment available and which can be upgraded with a high technical and economic coefficient;
• the third group includes equipment that corresponds to the world level, but not ordered by the army or ordered in limited quantities;
• The fourth group includes newly developed equipment. In this case, a mandatory requirement should be the achievement of high technical and economic indicators, including an increase in efficiency from 2 to 5 times.
In the aggregate, all samples must constitute an integral self-sufficient system of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In a special group it is necessary to allocate the development of breakthrough technologies that provide new qualities and properties.
Creating your own weapons - is the way to raise the entire country. For the development of weapons systems it is necessary to conduct developments at a high level and the presence of a creative team, trained and highly qualified personnel. The question is, is there any reason for this in Russia? Yes, since the main thing is that there are still people who have received high-quality education, not spoiled by the unified state examinations (EGE), who have experience in developing advanced weapons. Unfortunately, these specialists are older than 40 years, but there is still a generation from 30 to 40 years, which has found strong teachers in schools and universities that have high-quality training and the potential for engineering.
The Kornet-EM complex qualitatively surpasses all existing ATGMs not only in their basic characteristics, but also has new properties.
In his report to the State Duma 28 in February 2012, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Military Industrial Commission Dmitry Rogozin said: “Today there is no point in catching up with someone and following the beaten track. We need to move away from the square-cluster way of thinking, look not at tomorrow, but in the day after tomorrow. ”
Thus, the existing lag behind the leading Western countries needs to be eliminated on its own, directing money not only to modernize and develop new-generation weapon systems, significantly superior in their tactical and technical level to existing models, but also to create fundamentally new military technical equipment.
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