Russian tank fell victim to intrigue
The corporation "Uralvagonzavod" intends to present at the Russian exhibition of armaments Russian Expo Arms-2010 a new T-95 tank. These plans may be hampered by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, whose representatives announced the closure of development work in this area. Instead of the T-95, outdated before birth, the military proposes a further upgrade of the T-90 production model. Experts believe this view, at least, controversial. But, as the RusBusinessNews columnist found out, this discussion is meaningless, since the debts of Uralvagonzavod are tens of billions of rubles, and the production is hopelessly outdated. State Arms Program for 2007-2015 provides for the supply of 630 modernized to the Armed Forces of Russia tanks and 770 - fundamentally new. Re-equipment should begin in 2011. It was by this time that Ural Transport Engineering Design Bureau OJSC (part of Uralvagonzavod NPK OJSC) promised to introduce the fourth-generation T-95 combat vehicle and an improved serial model T-90 with a new turret, gun and improved fire control system.
In April 2010, it became clear that the program would fail. Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin told reporters that it was decided to stop the development work on the T-95, since for twenty years that they were underway, the tank was hopelessly outdated. The question of whether funds will be allocated to develop a modern combat vehicle, was left without comment. Representatives of the developer argue that they do not have funds for research and development.
The industrialists did not cope with the delivery of modernized tanks to the army: the improved T-90 model will be ready no earlier than the end of 2010 of the year. This means that Uralvagonzavod will be able to produce 630 tanks at best in six years, if, of course, all export contracts are terminated. Deliveries abroad are unlikely to be stopped, because there are countries willing to buy T-90. The manufacturer’s capacity is not enough to supply tanks both to the Russian army and for export.
The decision to close the "195 project" (T-95) was surprising in expert circles. The fact is that a month earlier, a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, General Vladimir Goncharov, said at a meeting of the Sverdlovsk Union of Defense Industries that the T-90 was the car of the past, and Uralvagonzavod should not develop a new generation tank without orders. Other high-ranking leaders of the Russian army also spoke about the impossibility of modernizing the main combat characteristics of military equipment developed in the 70s.
The head of the analytical department of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, Alexander Khramchikhin, does not exclude that T-95 could become a victim of intrigue — more commercial than political. The essence of this undercover struggle, however, is completely incomprehensible, given the fact that T-90 is certainly outdated.
Andrei Frolov, a researcher at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, assumes that General Popovkin may have made a reservation: the T-95 project is not closing, but is discontinued until a 1500-strong engine and a number of other components are developed. Used on the T-90 power unit with power 1000 hp for the new tank is clearly weak. However, even if the Deputy Minister of Defense did not make a reservation, the expert believes, in any case, his statements must be treated very carefully: another general will come, and the position may change.
The problem, according to A. Frolov, lies elsewhere: Russia has not yet decided which war it should be ready for. For local conflicts it is quite enough, the expert believes, and the modernized T-90, which is why it is in steady demand in a number of Asian countries. The export potential of this tank has not yet been exhausted: Libya, Turkmenistan and a number of other countries are showing interest in it. Participation in the global modern war will require a fundamentally different approach to the development of new technology. The previous installation - who has thicker armor and more powerful gun, he will win the war, no longer works. The most modern tank without air cover and its inclusion in the battle management system becomes easy prey for an advanced enemy. Therefore, developed countries pay much attention to the means of protecting combat vehicles from self-guided weapons.
Russia cannot boast that it is able to calculate and hit anti-tank detection and targeting systems. weapons. Accordingly, she is not ready for a global war. But there is a desire to stand in a row with highly developed countries - at least in order to be present on the global arms market. The lack of funds for R & D, however, puts the Russian military in a situation of permanent choice between preparations for a local or global war. The absence of a military strategy makes it much more difficult to answer the question which tank of the Russian army is needed. This creates additional problems for the Uralvagonzavod, which is going through hard times.
The company, which produced in the times of the Soviet Union before the 1200 tanks per year, today lives mainly due to civilian products. With the onset of the crisis, the construction equipment mastered by the plant turned out to be unclaimed by the market, and Russian Railways began to impose stringent requirements on the quality of the wagons. At the end of 2008, the plant sent the railroad 284 gondola with a new bogie. In 2009, RZD ordered thousands of such gondolas to 1,5, but, as the press service of the UVZ notes, the crisis prevented them from being purchased. Only 305 gondolas were manufactured. Sales of traditional rolling stock were not very successful. "Uralvagonzavod" is faced with an acute shortage of orders. In 2009, the enterprise’s debt reached 66 billion rubles, which caused 30 to lose millions of rubles in interest servicing per day. In April, 2010 of the year, says Oleg Sienko, General Director of UVZ, the debt fell to 26 billion, but the problem of orders remained - including for military products.
Sergei Perestoronin, head of the Rosoboronzakaz representative office in the Ural region, said that the three-year contract for the supply of the Russian army in 2008-2010 for 189 tanks "Uralvagonzavod" had fulfilled almost completely in the first two years. The new contract, which, most likely, will also be three years old, has not yet been submitted to the representative office. There is no money, respectively, although the Russian government promised to transfer up to 80% in the first quarter of the year for the fulfillment of the state defense order.
Andrei Frolov believes that money in one form or another at the UVZ still come, and the plant will produce 2010-100 tanks in 120 year. These volumes will in no way change the balance in the Russian army. Alexander Khramchikhin has no doubt that no one is going to carry out the state armament program for 2007-2015 for years, and therefore it is absolutely impossible to say what the state defense order will be for UVZ.
The position of Uralvagonzavod became even more uncertain after the demand of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to reduce the cost of weapons and military equipment by 15%. At the same time, metallurgists announced an increase in prices for their products by an average of 20%. Oleg Sienko told reporters that the company would have to cut staff to reduce costs.
The plant today has to pay 8 loan obligations of billions of rubles a year, which makes it extremely difficult to implement investment projects. Production at Uralvagonzavod is extremely outdated: even the products are painted by hand. At present, the UVZ is "grinding out" the installation of a new painting line and replaces individual machines where it is absolutely necessary. The general director of the company claims that it will not be possible to correct the situation by fixing the holes: we need a new concept of product release from beginning to end.
Currently, projects for deep modernization and development of metallurgical capacities existing in the corporation are being considered. The option of building workshops from scratch is not excluded, because due to poor-quality casting, the plant incurs substantial costs and loses its sales markets. The problem, however, is the lack of money for the project. The state’s money is coming very slowly: the 2009 of 10, which had been promised by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in September XNUMX of the year, had only recently been received by the UVZ banknote in September.
It is noteworthy that precisely the late financing of R & D extremely delayed the development of a new-generation tank and made T-95 unnecessary for anyone.
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