In the course of reforming the Russian army, one of the priority tasks is to equip it with modern types of weapons and military equipment. In the field of equipping the Armed Forces with armored vehicles, the leading role is assigned to the vertically integrated structure Scientific and Production Corporation Uralvagonzavod (NPK UVZ), which unites 19 industrial enterprises, research institutes and design bureaus in five federal districts of Russia. UVZ is the country's largest diversified machine-building complex, producing more than two hundred types of military and civilian products.
SEPTEMBER 12 - TANKER DAY
Through the jungle of crisis
Initially, the creation of an integrated structure of NPK UVZ was caused by the need to concentrate technological, design, scientific and production developments involved in the creation of armored and artillery weapons and equipment. The corporation includes well-known developers of defense products, who have been working for decades in the field of researching metals, materials, equipment and technologies. High technologies inherent in the defense industry make it possible to rebuild production in a mobile manner to meet market challenges, create new, promising products, including civilian ones. The merger into a vertically integrated structure has greatly expanded the corporation's capabilities in solving production problems. UVZ has been assigned the role of a locomotive to bring the enterprises that entered the corporation to a new level of development. The plant has the necessary potential to solve this problem.
According to the American publication Defense News, Uralvagonzavod is one of the hundred largest military-industrial complexes in the world. In 2009, it ranked 80th in terms of military output and was the third in terms of this indicator among Russian manufacturers.
At the same time, the financial possibilities of UVZ are not unlimited. The leader of the corporation, investing all his profits in the development of production capacities and the implementation of various programs that are of priority importance for the entire RPC, had practically no financial reserves.
According to experts, last year was the most difficult for UVZ in the entire history of the plant. The enterprise was balancing on the brink of default. This is to some extent due to the global financial and economic crisis, but the main knockout blow was struck by the Russian Railways OJSC (RZD). The company, which owns the infrastructure of the Russian railway network, is the main buyer of civilian products from Uralvagonzavod. Having adjusted its plans, Russian Railways put the plant on the brink of collapse. The production of UVZ is largely based on the production of not military, but civilian products, the share of which in the order portfolio is more than 80 percent. To meet the needs of Russian Railways, the capacities of UVZ make it possible to produce more than 20,000 (!) Sets of rolling stock annually. In early 2009, Russian Railways abandoned large-scale purchases of Uralvagonzavod products. In that year, the Nizhny Tagil enterprise, commissioned by railway workers, produced less than 4,500 gondola cars and tank cars.
With such a meager order, some experts shamelessly assured that all the problems allegedly lie in the organizational structure of the enterprise and the incorrectly built financial policy pursued by the then head of UVZ Nikolai Malykh.
However, the current general director of the corporation, Oleg Sienko, who was appointed to this post in April 2009, figured out the situation and actually adheres to the previous course of development of the country's largest machine-building holding company. The package of anti-crisis measures implemented under his management is assessed by specialists as successful.
The state did not stand aside either. It provided financial assistance to the company. In September 2009, the government allocated 4.4 billion rubles to Uralvagonzavod to increase its authorized capital. In December 2009, it was decided to increase the authorized capital by another 10 billion rubles. With the support of the government, a portfolio of orders has been formed, which makes it possible to bring the company out of the financial and economic crisis.
It is too early to say that the holding functions as a well-oiled mechanism, but nevertheless, the company's specialists are confident that the implementation of a number of projects will allow us to offer consumers fundamentally new products, expand the capabilities of the corporation and make its work more stable. 42 investment projects are being successfully implemented. Several of them finished this year and received high marks at the state level.
Armored vector
The next step after the stabilization of the situation at NPK UVZ should be the implementation of military programs. The Russian tank building school is rightfully considered the world leader. On this topic, the leading role in NPK UVZ is assigned to OJSC "Ural Design Bureau of Transport Engineering". Currently, the corporation is carrying out work on the modernization of the T-90A tank, which, according to the criterion "efficiency - cost", surpasses all modern foreign tanks by 2-3 times.
The reorganization and re-equipment of the tank fleet of the Russian army is today considered one of the main military priorities. Simultaneously with the reduction in the number of tank forces, the tanks of the previous models are being modernized, which will remain in combat formation.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense, planning to update the tank fleet, seeks to acquire equipment in which the latest developments of domestic tank builders are implemented. With a reduction in the quantitative composition of tank subunits and units in the Russian army of a new look, a significant increase in the tactical and technical characteristics of domestic tanks is urgently required.
It should be noted that all samples of weapons and military equipment are developed under strict control, according to plans, technical specifications of the Russian Ministry of Defense and with a phased payment for work. It is important to make an informed decision in a timely manner on the advisability of continuing these or those developments, on correcting them or refusing to implement them.
In this regard, the financing of a number of projects in the field of tanks has been frozen. The Ministry of Defense is revising existing programs on various topics in terms of their prospects and the need for creating an army of a new look.
A certain delay in the implementation of previously outlined plans, as well as the reluctance of the Ministry of Defense to announce ahead of time the prospects in the field of tank topics, sometimes give rise to premature conclusions in the expert community based on various assumptions that are far from the real state of affairs.
This summer, in Nizhny Tagil, at the VI International Exhibition of Technical Means of Defense and Defense "Defense and Defense-2010", Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Viktor Khristenko, speaking about the prospects for the development of NPK UVZ, said that 2011 will be a defining year for the enterprise. A long-term program is being drawn up for him by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Unification and modernization
Within the framework of the International Forum "Technologies in Mechanical Engineering-2010" held in Zhukovsky near Moscow, at a meeting of the Business Council at the International Commission for Military-Economic Cooperation of the CSTO, the head of the 46th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Major General Vasily Burenok spoke about the main directions of modernization of weapons and military equipment of the countries - parties to the treaty.
According to the institute, with the modernization of the T-72B, T-72B1, T-80B tanks, their generalized combat potential increases by 1.23 times.
Vladimir Domnin, General Director - Chief Designer of OJSC Ural Design Bureau of Transport Engineering, made a report on the prospects for the development of armored vehicles in order to equip the forces and means of the collective security system of the CSTO member states. He spoke about the proposed modernization of T-72 tanks in service with the CSTO countries. Its implementation in full will increase the service life, improve the combat and technical characteristics of the T-72 to the level of modern third-generation tanks, and surpass them in a number of parameters.
In addition, UKBTM proposes converting the T-72 into an armored fire support vehicle. This is accomplished by installing an armament module for a tank support combat vehicle and equipping it with modular reactive armor for third-generation tanks.
Here it is necessary to clarify that the fire support combat vehicle created at the UKBTM has no analogues in the world. World experts are very actively discussing the prospects for its use in modern warfare. All this is due to the fact that when creating the machine, a completely new concept of its application was used. Initially, it was positioned to support tanks in order to destroy enemy anti-tank weapons. At present, its task is called fire support of motorized rifle subunits, units in the offensive or defense. However, until the end of the well-thought-out concept of its use in the combat formations of troops does not exist.
As another option, the proposed conversion of the T-72 into an armored recovery vehicle BREM-72 with the characteristics of the serially produced BREM-1.
V. Domnin made the main emphasis in his speech on the possibility of modernization at the production facilities of customers. This aspect of cooperation aroused great interest among the participants of the event, as well as the discussion of the need for interstate cooperation in qualified service, the supply of spare parts, technological documentation and the repair of military equipment, which has developed in the CSTO countries.
