On January 30, 2018, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin visited the National Defense Management Center, where he took part in a military-practical conference to summarize the experience and summarize the results of the military operation in Syria. During the conference, the President called on the audience to frankly and honestly study the experience of using Russian weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as eliminate the shortcomings of Russian weapons identified during the hostilities. In addition, Putin thanked the representatives of the Russian military-industrial complex for their work and contribution to strengthening the country's defense capability.
According to Vladimir Putin, the defeat of well-equipped terrorist groups in Syria demonstrated the strength of the Russian army and navy, while the course of the special operation in Syria showed the whole world the traditional effectiveness and reliability of Russian-made weapons. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, in total in Syria, the Russian army used 215 modern and promising types of weapons, as well as most of the samples of military equipment already used in the troops, which, in general, were able to confirm their high declared characteristics.
At the military-practical conference on the results of the special operation in Syria, photo: kremlin.ru
The experience of the combat use of modern Russian high-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons was positively assessed. First of all, we are talking about the Kalibr cruise missiles and the less well-known air-launched X-101 missiles to the general public. In addition, it was in Syria that Russian strategic and carrier-based aircraft were first used in combat conditions. According to Vladimir Putin, we managed to cope with the assigned tasks of operational-tactical aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles quite well, if not dignifiedly, and modern air defense systems S-400 and Pantsir - together with fighter aircraft - managed to ensure the superiority of our VKS in airspace of Syria. As part of the military operation in the SAR, the Russian military managed to establish clear control over the air situation in the skies of the region of hostilities, in which, in addition to the Russian, serious aerospace groups of a number of countries worked.
The first combat use of Kalibr cruise missiles took place on October 7, 2015 from the Caspian Sea. Four ships of the Caspian military flotilla: RK "Dagestan" and three MRCs "Grad Sviyazhsk", "Veliky Ustyug" and "Uglich" fired a total of 26 cruise missiles at 11 targets of terrorists in Syria, which hit targets at a distance of more than 1500 km. On December 8, 2015, the first underwater launch of the Kalibr-PL cruise missiles took place, it was carried out from the board of the Rostov-on-Don diesel-electric submarine of project 636.3 Varshavyanka. In total, two missiles were fired at two major points of Islamic State terrorists (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) on the territory of Raqqa in Syria. The X-101 strategic air-to-surface cruise missile, designed using technologies to reduce radar signature, was first used against terrorists in Syria on November 17, 2015, from the Tu-160 supersonic strategic missile-carrying bombers, during that operation against terrorist targets 16 missiles were fired.
The forces of the Russian Navy acted harmoniously during the operation in Syria. Ships and submarines launched targeted and concentrated missile strikes against the infrastructure and positions of terrorist organizations. In addition, for the first time, Russian carrier-based aircraft - Su-33 and MiG-29K - took part in combat conditions. The first ever combat use of carrier-based fighters from the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" took place as part of a military operation in Syria on November 15, 2016. Carrier-based fighters, taking off from a Russian aircraft carrier, struck at the command posts and headquarters of the militants, their strongholds and combat positions. In two months, carrier-based pilots flew 420 sorties (including 117 at night), destroying more than a thousand objects of the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia and other terrorist groups operating in Syria.
Over the entire period of the military operation in Syria, more than 1200 representatives from 57 enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex, as well as specialized scientific organizations, managed to visit the Khmeimim airfield and the port of Tartus (the main Russian bases). Thanks to the work of these specialists, it was possible to quickly eliminate 99 percent of all identified malfunctions of weapons and military equipment.
Taking this opportunity, the President thanked all defense industry workers - engineers, designers, blue-collar professionals for their work and contribution to strengthening the state's defense capability, as well as their most important contribution to the success of the anti-terrorist operation in Syria and ensuring the defense capability of the Russian Federation. According to Putin, the successful use of Russian weapons in the SAR has convincingly demonstrated that, in terms of equipment, the Russian army is currently one of the leading in the world, and has no equal in a number of weapon systems.
At the same time, Putin urged the military and representatives of the military-industrial complex not to soar in the clouds, noting that in Syria there were also shortcomings of some types of weapons and military equipment. This is evidenced by the reviews of our servicemen - direct participants in the hostilities in Syria, and the data of objective control. The President asked the audience to carefully study the information received and make operational adjustments to the process of mass production of weapons and military equipment, urging, if necessary, to conduct additional research, development work, tests in order to bring existing samples of weapons and equipment to the required level. Putin asked the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, representatives of defense industry enterprises and general designers to keep this issue under constant control, noting that in some types of weapons and equipment, the identified shortcomings have already been eliminated, and quickly within the framework of intense joint work of all departments.
Noting the successes of the domestic defense industry, the President of Russia emphasized that at present the share of modern weapons in the Russian army is almost 60 percent (59, 5), while almost all military equipment in parks and bases is in good condition: according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, this figure is now 94 percent. In the future, Russia will have to make a qualitative step forward. The new recently adopted State Armament Program until 2027 should help in this. Within the framework of this program, the troops will be equipped with shock, reconnaissance systems of weapons of a new generation, the creation of a powerful technological reserve in the defense industry, on which the Russian army of the future will be built.
It is already known that the government will spend 20 trillion rubles on the implementation of the State Armament Program until 2027, of which 19 trillion is planned to be spent on the purchase, repair and creation of weapons and military equipment. Particular emphasis will be placed on equipping Russian troops with modern precision weapons of land, air and sea-based,as well as unmanned strike complexes and means of individual equipment for military personnel, it is also planned to widely introduce new communication, reconnaissance and electronic warfare systems.
According to the information announced by the Russian military leadership, in the next ten years it is planned to carry out work on the new Sarmat missile system for the Strategic Missile Forces, the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system, and the Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missile. It is also planned to complete work on promising armored vehicles built on the Armata, Boomerang and Kurganets platforms, it is planned to supply the troops with new T-90M tanks (export version of the T-90MS) and conduct tests of deep modernization of T-80 tanks - T-80BVM. Also, within the framework of this program, the adoption of the newest Russian fifth generation fighter - the Su-57, as well as the new MiG-35, the modernization of the T-95MS, Tu-160M and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, as well as the creation of a promising long-range aviation complex known as PAK YES.
For the Russian Navy, within the framework of the GPV, until 2027, it is planned to build new strategic nuclear submarines Borey-B (further development of Project 955A) and surface ships equipped with the latest high-precision weapons (Zircon missile). It is also planned to transfer to the fleet two helicopter carriers by 2025, which will become carriers of the latest ship-based Ka-52K Katran attack helicopters.
Strategic missile forces within the framework of the GPV are to be armed with the latest Sarmat and Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missiles by 2027. In addition, according to Viktor Bondarev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, former commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, it is planned to upgrade strategic missile systems: decommissioning Topol, replacing them with newer and more advanced Yars complexes.
