After the collapse of the Soviet Union, independent Ukraine got some of the most numerous and combat-ready military formations in the world. With modern weapons. At that time, the number of the army was 700 thousand people. The structure of the Ukrainian army included three artillery, four tank, fourteen motorized rifle divisions, eight artillery brigades, nine air defense brigades and one special brigade unit. In service consisted of more than 9,000 tanks and more than 11,000 armored vehicles. The security of the Ukrainian sky was provided by about 1,100 combat aircraft, as well as seven regimental formations of combat helicopters and a separate army air defense unit.
In addition, the Ukrainian troops were armed with long-range missiles (more than one hundred and seventy units), as well as mobile missile systems "Pioneer" and "Pioneer-UTTH" and strategic stationary complexes in mines (RT-23 UTTH and UR-100N missiles). There were also 2,600 operational-tactical complexes R-300 (with a range of 300 km), Tochka and Tochka-U (with a range of 120 km). These complexes were capable of transporting nuclear warheads. More than 40 strategic bombers Tu-160 and Tu-25MS should be added to the existing armament.
Thus, it can be argued that at the initial stage of Ukraine's formation as an independent state, it had one of the strongest armies in the world, capable of protecting its territory and population from possible threats.
Over the years of the existence of the independent Ukrainian state, its troops have been constantly reformed with reference to the need to increase the level of combat capability and adapt the number in accordance with the country's economic potential and modern military dangers. Ultimately, numerous reforms led to the fact that the Ukrainian state was not prepared for military confrontation. In other words, we can talk not about reforming, but actually about the destruction of the Ukrainian troops.
Since the beginning of its existence, Ukraine has remained a non-aligned state, going through the process of demilitarization, reducing the number of weapons and personnel. First, the government abandoned nuclear weapons, believing the assurances of state security and independence given by the United States of America, Great Britain and Russia (Budapest Memorandum).
As for combat aviation, in terms of quantity and quality, it is now significantly inferior to its direct enemy (according to the current Ukrainian military doctrine) - the Russian Federation. In the current circumstances, the Ukrainian state can count on the air defense system, which until recently was considered one of the most effective in Europe (excluding the air defense of the Russian Federation). Ukrainian troops are armed with Kolchuga (electronic reconnaissance stations), which are capable of detecting enemy targets on the ground, in the water and in the air, created using stealth technologies. To cover the Ukrainian air borders, the Tunguska, Buk M, Igla, S-200 and S-300 air defense systems were used. Accordingly, a multi-level and sufficiently reliable protection was created. However, shortly before the events on the Maidan began, the S-200 was removed from service, since they were technically and morally obsolete. The most interesting thing is that they were not replaced by similar, but more powerful complexes.
If we talk about the personnel, then for a long time there has been a reduction. As of 2017, the number of the Ukrainian armed forces was 70 thousand people.
In addition, in order to successfully defend the national interests of their state, servicemen must have decent material and financial support. Simply put, hungry, homeless soldiers pose a much greater danger to their own corrupt leadership than to external opponents. And the prestige of military service in society leaves much to be desired. More than a third of the servicemen are expected to improve their living conditions. True, at present, they are trying to solve this problem by building dormitories for non-family soldiers, but there are enough problems here, and how the project, about which so much has been said, will end, is still unclear. And the salary of the Ukrainian military does not meet European standards. Note that at present, payments for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are increasing, but they are practically invisible due to the constant rise in prices and the increase in utility tariffs.
Separately, we should talk about the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. At one time he was a significant part of the Soviet defense industry, but at present he is unable to provide weapons to his own army. Ukraine tried to export military equipment left over from Soviet times, but even here everything is far from being so smooth.
In the state budget for 2018, an amount of 16 billion hryvnias was allocated for military needs and rearmament. Of course, the military budget is very modest in comparison with world indicators, but for Ukraine it is very tangible. For this money, it was planned to purchase missile and artillery systems, unmanned vehicles, armored boats, armored vehicles, etc. But it is quite logical to assume that it is simply unrealistic to carry out such a grandiose rearmament and fully equip the naval forces and the army for the amount included in the state budget.
However, insufficient funding is only one of the many problems of the domestic military-industrial complex. No less important is another big problem - the inability to fulfill orders and the poor quality of exported weapons.
So, in particular, one can recall the Ukrainian-Thai tank agreement, which dragged on for an unacceptably long period and around which a serious scandal erupted. Until the end of 2017, only 36 of the 49 ordered Oplot series tanks were delivered. But the contract for the transfer of equipment was signed back in 2011. And the most interesting thing is that there are almost no Oplot tanks in the armament of the Ukrainian troops (1 tank does not count).
The military leadership stated that in the conditions of real battles, the Bulat tanks, designed by the domestic defense industry, also turned out to be ineffective, due to their low-power engine and rather large weight. As a result, these combat vehicles were withdrawn to the reserve, despite the fact that the troops managed to acquire several dozen tanks of this modification.
It is worth remembering about another "novelty" - the Dozor-B armored vehicle, presented back in 2004. When an armed conflict broke out in the southeast of the country, the government promised to supply two hundred armored vehicles to military units. As a result, only a few dozen vehicles entered service …
After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine also got the center of military shipbuilding. Already in the period of independence, an armored boat "Gyurza" was designed in Nikolaev, and two samples were even purchased by Uzbekistan. But somehow it didn’t work out with supplies for our fleet. There are only 6 Gyurz-Ms in service, 2 of them were detained by the Federal Border Guard Service and are in the port of Kerch.
On the export side, things are not much better. In 2012-2016, Ukraine became one of the ten largest suppliers of weapons and military equipment. However, the government itself admits that such a position was achieved thanks to the sale of old military equipment - T-64, T-72, T-80 tanks, which were supplied in huge quantities to East Asia and Africa.
Thus, this is not at all the potential of the Ukrainian defense industry, but the potential of Soviet military equipment, which remained from the old days. But in reality, the Ukrainian military-industrial complex produces only a few samples of equipment and weapons that are able to withstand competition in the foreign market.
Therefore, the Ukrainian defense industry follows the path of cloning weapons of the USSR period. This makes a certain sense, since Soviet equipment and weapons are quite effective, and approximately the same can be done, but taking into account advanced technologies.
Among the weapons that can be considered "clones" of Soviet technology, there is the KM-7, 62 machine gun, which, by and large, repeats the PKM machine gun, but is more convenient in use and lighter.
Also, Ukrainian military enterprises have mastered the production of a 30-mm automatic cannon 3TM-1 and 3TM-2, which can be installed on the BMP-2 (they are analogs of the 2A72 and 2A42 guns), the KBA-117 and KBA-119 automatic grenade launchers (analogs of the AG-17 and AGS-17).
These are examples of successful copying. However, there are those that critics like to cite as evidence of the inefficiency and incapacity of Ukraine's defense industry. This, in particular, the 120-mm mortar М120-15 "Molot", which turned out to be not only ineffective, but even dangerous (9 explosions were recorded, as a result of which 13 servicemen died, and 32 more were injured). The reasons for the tragedies have always been named different, but in reality the mortar simply turned out to be underdeveloped in technical terms.
And quite recently it became known about the next "replenishment" - the 73-mm anti-tank mounted grenade launcher "Lanceya", which in its essence is an analogue of the Soviet SPG-9. The characteristics of this sample are very good. Sighting range reaches 1300 meters. Estimated rate of fire - up to six rounds per minute. And this with a weight of about 50 kg. Even taking into account a tripod machine weighing 12 kg, the gun can be easily carried by the forces of four fighters. SPG-9 has become one of the most commonly used weapons used on the line of contact by motorized infantry units. And this, in turn, became the reason for the rapid technical wear of the mechanisms.
On the other hand, there are many problems with the production of Lancea. First of all, we are talking about the barrel, with the production of which the Ukrainian military-industrial complex has great difficulties.
Thus, we can say that the Ukrainian military-industrial complex still has the potential, and the production of analogues of Soviet weapons is just one of the stages of the transition to the serial production of its own weapons.
What is the end result? At the moment, Ukraine is in a state of war. The lack of stability in the political and military spheres, the presence of an armed conflict in the southeast of the country and the loss of certain territories made it necessary to make significant changes in ensuring national security. It should be said that some steps are already being taken in this direction. Thus, in particular, funding for the Ukrainian army is gradually increasing. It is planned to allocate up to 5 percent of GDP for defense needs, which is about $ 8 billion. If we focus on European standards, then this amount should grow to $ 10 billion. But if we take into account the economic situation, then the prospect of such financing is very distant. About half of these funds should be spent on re-equipping troops with modern models of military equipment and weapons: military aviation, electronic warfare and communications systems, air defense systems, control systems, high-precision weapons and strengthening the fleet. It is quite realistic to ensure the fulfillment of a significant part of these tasks by the forces of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.
The Euro-Atlantic integration course proclaimed and recently enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution also provides for the introduction of more than a thousand NATO standards, which, according to Ukrainian military experts, will help in the issue of interoperability of the Ukrainian army and the armed forces of NATO countries during joint operations and will provide an opportunity to modernize troops. But this will take years of reforming the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Experts also note that it is very important to improve the standard of living of Ukrainian servicemen: to gradually raise wages, solve housing problems, and revise the social protection package for participants in military operations and their families. This is the only way to increase the prestige of military service.
And, perhaps, one of the primary tasks is the fight against corruption, which has completely swallowed up the Ukrainian defense sector, which is eloquently evidenced by the recent scandals in Ukroboronprom …
