We criticize our Defense Ministry a lot for shortcomings in combat training and other negative phenomena, alas, still existing in our army. This is not criticism, but a desire to help see what, by virtue of the very organization of the armed forces and the structure of the management of our army, is not always visible from the Moscow headquarters and offices of the ministry.
Today "VO" will not criticize, but talk about the failures and achievements of our Armed Forces in 2019. In short, we will sum up the results of our activities. Moreover, a week ago, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu himself started the conversation on this topic, and soon, literally in a couple of weeks, we will learn the point of view of the President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin on this issue. The announcement of the meeting on the issue of defense is already available.
Armament and military equipment
Let's start with the main thing. Providing the army with military equipment and weapons.
We are so used to the fact that in any country in the world, the military department annually "cries" about the lack of funds and begs for an increase in funding, that what our ministry is voicing will seem incredible to you. In 2019, the government allocated over 1.5 trillion rubles to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. rubles! Moreover, more than 70% of these funds were directed to the purchase of modern weapons and military equipment.
Agree, the amount looks impressive. It would seem, buy and re-equip. Take away old, ineffective in modern conditions weapons and turn regiments and divisions into full-fledged combat units. But … In 2019, the troops received just over 2,300 units of new and modernized weapons. And this is … only 47% of the plan! Less than half!
Thus, at the end of the year, the Russian army was equipped with modern weapons by only about 68%. Simply put, a third of the parts and connections are not up to date. Is it critical or not?
We are so accustomed to the successes of our military in Syria or at exercises (games) that we hardly think about it. Meanwhile, if we recall 1941, it was the divisions arriving from the east of the country that largely determined the success of the defense of Moscow and Leningrad. Remember what "battles" were in the headquarters between the commanders of the corps and the armies in order to get these particular divisions?
Without diminishing the merits of the soldiers and officers of these divisions in the sense of courage and dedication, the strength of these units and formations was largely in the fact that they had a well-trained, equipped and armed personnel. Remember the recent film "Panfilov's 28". The authors quite accurately described this particular feature of the division from Kazakhstan. A couple of months were enough to train fighters from Alma-Ata and Frunze.
What do we have today? Here I will refer to the data voiced by the deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis Alexander Khramchikhin in his article on the state of defense of our Primorye. I will not fully voice the weapons of the 5th Army (Ussuriysk) today. Of the 8 brigades and the regiment that are there, I will show you three. Moreover, today they are being reformed into a division. One!
“The 59th motorized rifle brigade is deployed in the village of Sergeevka, the 60th motorized rifle brigade is deployed in the village. Kamen-Rybolov and Monastyrische, 70th motorized rifle brigade - in the village. Barabash. In total, they are armed with 123 T-72B tanks, 240 BMP-1 (yes, still!), More than 80 BTR-80, about 200 MTLB, more than 100 152-mm ACS 2S3 "Akatsia" and 2S19 "Msta-S ", More than 50 120-mm mortars 2S12" Sani ", 54 122-mm MLRS BM-21" Grad ", up to 40 self-propelled ATGM" Konkurs "(also still), up to 20 100-mm ATGM MT-12, not less than 40 SAM "Tor-M2U" and "Strela-10", up to 20 ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" (again still). At present, the 127th motorized rifle division with headquarters in Sergeevka is being recreated on the basis of these three brigades. In particular, the 59th Motorized Rifle Brigade was reorganized into the 394th Motorized Rifle Regiment of this division. At the same time, the division's armament, apparently, will consist of T-80BV tanks (lifted from storage), and not T-72”.
For those who are versed in weapons, it is clear that the army commanders would not have fought for such a division as for the division of Major General Panfilov. Although, in fairness, I will note that Panfilov's division was "fresh", formed in July 1941.
Let's return to the present, to the present day. Defense Minister Shoigu announced another figure. More joyful, but also reluctant to load the fireworks cannon. The pace of purchases of high-tech weapons has accelerated. Not globally, but 6, 7%.
And what does this mean? Alas, the widely announced and often referred to "import substitution program" does not fully work today. Our industry cannot restore its own capabilities in a short time. We have learned the lesson. This was directly stated at the conference call of the Ministry of Defense on October 8. The program will continue even if the sanctions against Russia are lifted!
"The creation of a technologically independent system for the development and production of weapons and military equipment will continue even if anti-Russian sanctions are lifted."
Navy
We have written many times that the Russian Navy is now inferior to the fleets of the leading maritime powers and does not ensure the fulfillment of tasks not only of dominance at sea, but also of the proper defense capability of the country's coastal regions. I will not repeat the reasons for this state of the fleet and sprinkle ashes on my head.
The once powerful Pacific Fleet perfectly shows the state of our fleet. What is the Primorskaya flotilla of the Pacific Fleet today, according to Khramchikhin?
“In total, the Primorskaya flotilla of the Pacific Fleet has 7 submarines of pr. 877 (B-187 Komsomolsk-on-Amur, B-190 Krasnokamensk, B-345 Mogocha, B-394 Nurlat, B-464" Ust-Kamchatsk ", B-445" Nikolai the Wonderworker ", B-494" Ust-Bolsheretsk "), missile cruiser" Varyag "pr. 1164, 3 destroyers pr. 956 (" Burny "," Bystry "," Fearless "), 4 BOD pr. 1155 ("Admiral Panteleev", "Admiral Tributs", "Admiral Vinogradov", "Marshal Shaposhnikov"), 4 MPK pr. 1124M (MPK-17 "Ust-Ilimsk", MPK-64 "Blizzard", MPK-221 "Primorsky" and MPK-222 "Koreets"), 1 missile boat pr. 1241T (R-79) and 10 pr. 12411 (R-11, R-14, R-18, R-19, R- 20, R ‑ 2 4, R ‑ 29, R ‑ 261, R ‑ 297, R ‑ 298), 3 base minesweepers pr. 1265 (BT ‑ 100, BT ‑ 114, BT ‑ 232), BDK Nikolay Vilkov pr. 1171, 3 BDK pr. 775 (BDK-11 "Peresvet", BDK-98 "Admiral Nevelskoy", BDK-101 "Oslyabya") and landing boat "Ivan Kartsov" pr. 21820 ".
It's all! Can such a fleet even withstand the Japanese Navy? Even taking into account the 72nd coastal missile brigade deployed in the village. Smolyaninovo, 155th Marine Brigade, stationed in Vladivostok, and 7062nd Naval Aviation Base (Nikolayevka airfield, Nakhodka), we can prevent the landing on our coast. Not more.
Alas, the Ministry of Defense cannot please the sailors for today. We are not yet building full-fledged combat ships. The emphasis in 2019 and for several (until 2027) subsequent years is placed on the auxiliary fleet. So, by 2027, it is planned to replenish the fleet by 176 sea and roadstead vessels of the auxiliary fleet.
Air force
How many copies were broken in the disputes about modern Russian aircraft! How much has been written, shown, told about the fifth, sixth and other generations of aircraft. We have already defeated (lost) US aviation so many times that we don't want to repeat ourselves. Therefore, the Air Force is short and to the point. What the minister said.
The emphasis in aviation is on updating the fleet of military transport aviation. First of all, this is the Il-76MD-90A heavy transport aircraft, the tests of which are ongoing. A new promising tanker aircraft is also being tested. By the way, the factory workers promise to complete the factory and flight tests in May next year.
The Il-112V light transport aircraft is being actively improved. This aircraft will replace the An-24 and An-26. True, it is not planned to complete the refinement of the aircraft in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Defense next year. According to the plan, the car should be put into service in 2022.
Improving the social and living conditions of servicemen
Probably, there is no problem that would be as insoluble as the problem of housing and social facilities. In any garrison, in any military unit, there are people who are dissatisfied with these indicators. There are always not enough apartments. Everyone understands this. And this is the most noticeable question for the average person. The press often uses specific housing situations to create negative feelings about the military.
The problem of repairing buildings and structures for personnel and military equipment is no less acute. Military infrastructure does not last forever, especially under conditions of intensive exploitation. The emergence of new equipment and weapons requires the creation of conditions for their storage, transportation and use for their intended purpose.
In 2019, the Ministry of Defense received 168 billion rubles from the budget to solve all these problems. Is it a lot or a little? Judging by the fact that problems remain, there are few. But do you need more? Whether the Ministry of Defense will be able to master these means is a difficult question. We will take a look at what has been built.
So, according to the ministry, 3751 buildings and structures will be commissioned by the end of the year. Of this number, 2,338 buildings have already been adopted. Agree, the figure is impressive. There is one more figure that will impress no less. This year, our defense department has provided housing for almost 85,000 military families! Is it impressive?
But we must take into account one nuance, which is not customary to talk about after scoring a beautiful figure. In fact, not 85,000 families received apartments, but much less. The total number of families of military personnel who received permanent or service housing, as well as those who received compensation for hiring or under the program of the accumulative mortgage system, was calculated.
MO saves and earns
We are used to what the military department spends. This is fine. He started a combat vehicle, pulled the trigger at the shooting range, came to lunch or dinner, put on a uniform, and so on, which a soldier does every day means that you have taken several hundred rubles from the state, or even several tens of thousands of rubles.
However, it is no secret that funds are often used ineffectively. And we are not talking about soldiers and officers who for some reason "shoot too much and drive combat vehicles." There is never too much. It happens just the opposite. We are talking about the targeted use of budgetary funds in the implementation of the state defense order. Let's listen to Minister Shoigu:
“The monitoring and acceptance of documentation on the separate accounting of the results of the financial and economic activities of its performers is being carried out, which makes it possible to assess the effectiveness of the use of allocated funding, track the implementation of government contracts at all stages of the production process, compare the actual cost of production with the planned indicators, determine the correct price of products and control the allocation of funds. funds.
It often seems to us that little things like control and routine monitoring of producer costs will not yield much savings. In fact, the effect of such control, although the manufacturers often have cheekbones with anger at the customer, is enormous. The cost of our military equipment is several times lower than foreign ones. Therefore, we can maintain the pace of rearmament, even by reducing the budget. In percentage terms, of course.
But there is another source of income for the Ministry of Defense. We are talking about decommissioned military equipment and weapons. Even equipment that is unusable, destroyed or destroyed during the period of hostilities costs money. It's metal! And not cheap metal.
So, in 2019, the Ministry of Defense transferred about 1000 units of automotive and special equipment for processing. And this, think about it, 83,000 tons of metal! In addition, the military finally began to sell unnecessary property that cannot be used in the army, but is quite suitable for use in civilian life.
Further arithmetic.83,000 tons of metal, taking into account, of course, not only black, but also non-ferrous and precious metal, this is about a billion rubles! The written off property, sold through various channels, is still a little more than 0.5 billion. In total, more than 1.5 billion rubles were returned to the state.
Many numbers were named at the conference call. Problems too. It is clear that today we cannot boast of solving all the problems that need to be urgently solved. In conditions when wherever you throw, there is a wedge everywhere, it is quite difficult. And there are enough mistakes.
But the army organism lives on. It does not survive, but it lives and develops.
Perspectives
By the way, judging by the draft budget for next year, changes in the army will continue. They have already started talking about raising cash payments to servicemen, about raising salaries and allowances. It is planned to increase the military budget by 6, 6%. In the draft of the Ministry of Finance, in comparison with the legislatively established amount of budgetary allocations, the basic budgetary allocations were increased in 2020 by 1,602,398.3 thousand rubles, in 2021 - by 1,825,103.5 thousand rubles. and in 2022 - by 39 397 517.5 thousand rubles.
Let's look at the final decision of the commander-in-chief.
