How to combine the interests of society, the army and arms exporters
Greece has suspended the conclusion of a contract with Russia for the supply of 420 BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles to Athens. The deal, which had been in preparation for more than two years and which promised domestic defense enterprises almost $ 1.5 billion, was stuck in obscurity. And the reason for this is not the well-known financial problems of one of the EU states (money was set aside for Russian weapons in the budget), but the critical phrase that was inadvertently thrown at a press conference against this vehicle by Deputy Defense Minister - Chief of Armaments of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Vladimir Popovkin. He then said the following: “We really need to take care of the soldiers. Today everyone drives the BMP upstairs, because no one wants to go in this "coffin". We have to make another car."
Greek journalists immediately published this statement in their newspapers. And the opposition made a scandal: how to buy unusable military equipment, which even its creators refuse?
Vladimir Popovkin expressed claims not only to the BMP, but also to the T-90 tank, which Delhi buys from us, to the tank support combat vehicle that Rosoboronexport demonstrated last week at the international arms exhibition in Kuala Lumpur and is also promoting for export, to other military equipment, which the army refuses for one reason or another, but which our country promotes for export and actively advertises there. Naturally, such statements by Russian generals have a right to life. Let's say more: the truth about the state of the Russian defense-industrial complex, about the processes that are taking place there, about the systemic crisis in it and the inability of its individual leaders, including the government's military-industrial commission, to correct the current situation is very important. It helps the public and those in power to identify problem areas, to take some drastic measures to correct them. To direct efforts to join bottlenecks. In the end, provide the army and navy with the modern military equipment and weapons that will allow them to confidently carry out tasks to protect the national interests of the country.
Without an honest and frank conversation with the citizens of Russia, an impartial and interested criticism of shortcomings, this is practically impossible to do.
But, on the other hand, how not to harm the same defense enterprises that supply their products not only to the army, but also for export? And from such frankness, they begin to lose their implicit advantages in the fight against competitors for lucrative arms orders on the world market. There are only two ways out of this contradiction. Find themselves in the role of losers and lose export orders, come to terms with this or dramatically improve the quality and efficiency of weapons being created, reduce their price, non-production costs that are embedded in each product, strive to be at the forefront of technical and technological progress, get rid of dependency and senseless expectations of those, who will come and give everything, will teach everything.
To paraphrase an old saying, let us recall that the salvation of the defense industry is in the hands of the defense industry itself. And no one else.
And a new combat vehicle really needs to be done. And then our army is already forced to buy sniper rifles from the British and Finns, landing ships from the French, they also have night sights for tank guns, drones from the Israelis, light and durable armor from the Germans. There have already been talks that we will buy armored personnel carriers from the Italians. The international division of labor in the defense industry is a good thing. It brings our country closer to its recent "potential adversaries", but it may soon happen that we will not be able to make both nuclear submarines and strategic missiles ourselves. And nobody will sell them to us. And Russia's national security will have to be remembered as a long-forgotten past.
