Currently, the purchase of weapons for the army of a large state abroad is almost impossible.
BMD-4 with combat module "Bakhcha-U".
To answer the question of what is better - to buy or produce weapons and military equipment (AME) in your country, let us first consider what factors the arms importer is guided by when deciding whether to purchase samples of AME from a particular country.
Arkady SHIPUNOV
The first is the scientific and technical level of weapons and military equipment offered by the exporting country.
Let me give you an example. The European anti-tank missile system (ATGM) Milan used to be bought well, but now it has already lagged behind in terms of technical level. For the same reason, the American ATGM TOW also lost its position in the arms market. Consumers turned to new models of weapons and military equipment: among them the domestic Kornet-E ATGM, the American Javelin ATGM, and the Israeli Spike ATGM. They differ significantly from the previously released complexes, they have a different technical level.
The second is the production capacity and the quality of the manufactured equipment. When buying new weapons, the task is to re-equip the army. The customer is interested in whether it is possible to receive products quickly and in the required quantity. The effectiveness of the rearmament of the army depends on this. The quality of weapons, in addition to combat characteristics, is determined by the reliability and reliability of the complexes in various conditions, which affects the army's faith in this type of weapon. Of course, the cost of weapons also matters.
Arkady Georgievich SHIPUNOV - Scientific Supervisor of JSC KBP, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The third is the political factor. When purchasing, the duration of support is important: supply of spare parts, repairs, maintenance. There must be confidence in the partner, that his position does not change. The higher the authority of the country, the more in demand its weapons are in foreign markets.
Let's return to the question, which is better - to buy weapons abroad or to equip the Russian army with domestic weapons?
Let's turn to historical examples.
The Russian Emperor Peter I, who was the organizer of the full-scale arms production in Russia, believed: in order to eliminate the age-old backwardness, it is necessary not to buy ships and guns abroad, but to adopt the technology of their design and construction. He not only actively advocated the attraction of foreign specialists, but also initiated the sending of Russian masters to study abroad.
Peter's strategy gave a powerful impetus to the development of the country's defense industry, which led to the strengthening of Russian positions in the world and, ultimately, to the expansion of the state's borders.
However, the policy of subsequent rulers, which in many respects in blind imitation of the European armies and purchases of foreign military equipment, led to the fact that in the pre-revolutionary period, Russia's armament in its characteristics remained at a lower level than foreign weapons. The samples of weapons offered by domestic designers were manufactured in insufficient quantities for the needs of the army.
For example, the production of the Mosin three-line rifle began in 1892 at the Tula, Izhevsk and Sestroretsk arms factories. However, due to the limited production capacity of these factories, an order for 500 thousand units was also placed at French military factories.
At the beginning of the First World War, in 1914, the Russian army had only 4.6 million rifles, while the army itself was 5, 3 million people. The needs of the front at the beginning of the war were 100-150 thousand rifles per month, while the production at domestic factories was only 27 thousand. The Russian government was forced to order about 1.5 million rifles from Winchester in the United States.
On February 1, 1916, three Russian fronts had about 4.4 million soldiers and about 5600 machine guns of various names of foreign production: British light machine guns "Hotchkiss", "Lewis", American heavy machine guns "Colt" and "Maxim" under the Russian cartridge, French light machine guns "Shosha", captured Austrian machine guns "Schwarzlose", etc.
Thus, Russian machine gun armament during the First World War turned out to be very variegated both in terms of calibers and in terms of systems, which, of course, made it difficult to maintain, repair, and replenish ammunition. It was not possible to deploy a new production of machine guns in the country. The Izhevsk and Sestroretsk arms factories did not have the appropriate equipment, and the private industry did not have the necessary production capacity and experience.
During the First World War, there was a shortage of domestic small arms in the Russian army, there were no tanks and aircraft of its own. Thus, at that time, the vulnerability of Russia was the focus on foreign manufacturers.
Friedrich Engels said that by the characteristics and quality of the armament of the army and navy, one can judge the level of development of industry, economy, science and education in the country. To paraphrase Napoleon I, we can say that a people who do not want to develop their defense industry will feed someone else's army.
In the twentieth century, the Soviet government, 19 years after the end of the Civil War, carried out the industrialization of the country, due to which the mass production of weapons and military equipment was organized on the basis of its own developments. This played a big role in winning the worst war in history against the most powerful, very well-equipped enemy.
During the Great Patriotic War, new equipment was developed in the USSR, and not bought abroad from allies, for example, in the USA or Great Britain. The military products that the United States supplied to the USSR, and this, for example, automobile equipment (about 750 thousand Studebaker trucks), of course, played a certain role in the victory of our country over Nazi Germany, but not decisive.
Thus, historical examples of the development of the defense industry in Russia show that the organization of arms production in one's own country contributes to a high level of development of science and technology, equipping the army with weapons that are not inferior in their characteristics to foreign counterparts, which allows, in the event of armed conflicts, to effectively solve combat missions.
If we turn to the experience of the leading countries of the world, we can state that despite the difficult economic situation in the world, defense spending continues to be one of the priority items of expenditure in the budgets of leading countries.
R&D expenditures in the US military budget in 2010 amounted to about 11.5% and in kind - $ 80 billion (Figure 1). It can be seen from this graph that in 2010 the expenditures allocated to the US military budget exceeded the expenditures allocated to the military budgets of European countries by about four times, the PRC by 9.5 times, and India by 18 times. At the same time, the share of expenditures from the military budget for R&D of the US Department of Defense is about 11%, which exceeds the share of expenditures from the military budget for R&D of the defense ministries of the same countries by about two times.
During the First World War, there was a shortage of domestic small arms in the Russian army, there were no tanks and aircraft of its own.
Relying on the armed forces as the main instrument of foreign policy requires maintaining the constant military-technical and technological superiority of the US Armed Forces over any potential adversary and their high readiness to conduct military actions in any region of the world. The presence in the country of a well-developed research and technological base, which is stably funded within the framework of the federal budget, makes it possible to create an appropriate reserve of modern weapons and military equipment and promising scientific and technical systems, and also ensures the promotion of programs for the development of new generation weapons.
In the United States, an approach is adopted in which the best results and options for implementing the results of research and development work (R&D) can be proposed and implemented by qualified specialists themselves in organizations engaged in such research. This allows for higher efficiency in the operation of research systems and provides significant cost savings in the implementation of programs for defense needs. The US military department aims to obtain at its disposal weapons and military equipment developed by American firms and corporations, based on advanced technical achievements and allowing them to achieve superiority in the conduct of combat operations of any scale.
Currently, the purchase of weapons for the army of a large state abroad is practically impossible. For example, in France, the production of self-propelled air defense systems Roland-2 and short-range air defense systems Crotal Naval, landing ships of the Mistral type, aircraft carriers Charles de Gaulle, multipurpose fighters Mirage 2000 and Rafale generation 4 ++, Leclerc main battle tanks, assault rifles FAMAS. The development and production of all these complexes would be impossible without the availability of a developed element base in the country, instrumentation. The organization and implementation of the development and production of elements, weapon systems in the country is a sign of its independence, an indicator of the scientific, technical and economic level.
Currently, there are four main centers of scientific progress in the world - the United States, the European Union, Japan and China. The Russian Federation, unfortunately, is not yet included in the group of leaders - our country accounts for less than 2% of world R&D expenditures.
In Russia, over the past 20-25 years, technical development has slowed down. We actually found ourselves on the sidelines of progress, in connection with which, many are now putting forward slogans calling for the purchase of weapons abroad, which can draw the country into an abyss of technical backwardness and, ultimately, harm the entire economy and complete political dependence on importing countries. As soon as we embark on a course for the purchase of weapons abroad, we recognize that Russia cannot produce and develop modern equipment.
Figure 1. Expenditures on R&D in the military budgets of the leading countries in 2010
How can we agree that Russia is a backward country if we are developing the most modern WTO complexes. The complex "Kornet-EM" has been created, it qualitatively surpasses all existing ATGM systems not only in terms of basic characteristics, but also has new properties. The same can be said about the Pantsir-S1 air defense missile system. In the field of weapon systems for armored vehicles (BTT), we have created guided weapon systems that are unique in their characteristics. Russia represented by the Instrument-Making Design Bureau OJSC (KBP OJSC, which is part of the NPO High-Precision Complexes OJSC holding) is the creator of the concept for connecting artillery and guided missiles in one system. This combination of means can significantly increase the technical level from 3 to 15 times, reduce the required number of combat units, which leads to a sharp reduction in costs, simplifies command and control of troops on the battlefield. This integration was carried out not only in armored, but also in artillery and anti-aircraft complexes. Attempts to adopt the experience of such a combination are known in world practice, but nowhere have they been brought to such a level of technical perfection.
The very hypothesis of widespread lagging behind is wrong. The largest lag is in the field of electronic technology. Naturally, this gap should not affect the overall performance and should ultimately be closed. This task must be solved in parts, through temporary purchases and organization of production, which should ensure alignment with the technical level of electronic technology and superiority due to the successful layout and construction of the system as a whole. In reality, all the main domestic developers of weapons and military equipment are following this path.
At present, it seems useful to consider the possibility of acquiring in the West not finished military products, but technologies for which we have a critical gap. It is possible to purchase production facilities for various elements, individual blocks and assemblies for weapons and military equipment, individual products, for example, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with all the technical documentation and equipment necessary for organizing production on the territory of our country.
But a more effective way is to modernize their own enterprises by equipping them with modern equipment, incl. foreign production, training abroad for design engineers, workers.
This should not be a pure modernization, namely the creation of breakthrough systems and complexes, the basis of which is the abrupt achievement of a new level of characteristics and properties.
Let us consider what are the arguments in favor of the strategy of creating and developing the production of weapons in our country.
First … No one in the world is exporting new weapons. As a rule, weapons are sold that were developed at least 10 years ago. Thus, we will receive weapons with a technical level shifted by decades.
Second … If you buy a license for the production of weapons abroad, then some more time is needed to master serial production. Time is added - the process of lagging is further aggravated.
KBP mastered serial production of Pantsir-S1 air defense missile systems.
Third … The purchase of expensive equipment causes economic damage to the state and finances the foreign defense industry. The purchase of weapons or military equipment abroad leads to the fact that the funds spent are withdrawn from internal circulation, the money generally leaves the country. This development of events leads to technical, economic and political dependence.
Let's give an example. Let's say a decision is made to purchase an American analogue of the M2A3 Bradley instead of the domestic BMP-2. Its cost is about $ 13.7 million. It is necessary to purchase 1,000 units to equip the Russian army together with anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and small-caliber guns. In addition, it will be necessary to introduce a new caliber in the army, which will violate the entire order and existing requirements for weapons and military equipment. As a result, the total costs may amount to about $ 20 billion and, in addition, there will be dependence on the external market in this industry, many domestic enterprises will be left without an order.
OJSC KBP offers domestic BMP-2M and BMD-4, which have been developed and tested, in addition, BMD-4 has been adopted by the Airborne Forces, and BMP 2M is serially produced for supplies abroad. The cost of these samples, together with the new ammunition, is about seven times lower than the Bradley. At the same time, the former self-propelled base remains, which, although it is inferior to its foreign analogue in terms of characteristics, this circumstance does not significantly affect the effectiveness of the use of the weapons complex. In terms of the technical level, our armament complex for combat vehicles will outstrip its foreign counterpart. The funds received from the sale of these promising samples, the enterprise will invest in science and domestic developments.
In our country, until 2020, it is planned to allocate huge funds for the development of the Armed Forces, the development and modernization of the production capacities of defense industry enterprises - about 20 trillion. rubles. More than 80% of them are planned to be used for the purchase, production and development of new weapons. With these funds for almost 10 years in the country it will be possible to pay wages to almost three million people.
Thus, when weapons and military equipment are developed, produced in Russia and supplied to the Russian army and, in certain quantities, for export, the funds received as a result of these activities will ultimately be paid to engineers and technicians (engineers) and workers. employed in design organizations and directly in production in the defense industry. In turn, these people will be able to spend the money received, therefore, consumer demand in the country will increase.
Academician Abalkin argued that the money invested in the defense industry circulates within the country eight times (now, of course, this coefficient is less due to the share of imports and is 3-4 times). And, ultimately, these funds go to all sectors of the economy: having mastered the funds allocated from the budget, the defense industry then stimulates many other sectors and industries, such as metallurgy; production of non-metallic modern materials; electronic; chemical; medical; production of measuring instruments, control, communication, automobile, auto-tractor equipment, etc.
If we link the aforementioned statement of Friedrich Engels with the modern era, we can state the following. The defense industry is a technology leader today. And therefore, the need to restore it is obvious. The sale of weapons is an inflow of funds from abroad. We say that there is no investment, but if you sell weapons worth $ 10-15 billion, then this will be an investment.
Fourth … Let's imagine for a moment the Russian Federation in a state of military conflict. Even in the presence of a full fleet of weapons during hostilities, it is necessary to repair and replenish it in a timely manner; supplies of spare parts and ammunition will be required. This is a huge expenditure of manpower and resources, as a result of which the country will lose its military independence. Do those who offer to buy weapons abroad think about this?
Fifth … There are circumstances that dictate the need to develop weapons and military equipment - a huge country with long borders that cannot be covered by conventional means. The absence of natural obstacles on the border (mountains, long rivers) requires, on the one hand, reconnaissance and control of the state of space, and on the other hand, the possibility of striking at large distances with cheap and massive means, the ability to move strike forces, i.e. creating an operational concentration in operational areas. This requires specific weapons that cannot be bought. Other consumers do not have such specific weapons.
In the USSR, the solution to this problem was better, there were natural boundary obstacles in the form of mountains, impassable spaces. Currently, the task of protecting Russian territory is more complicated, and the requirements for weapons systems are sharply increasing.
Sixth … In connection with limited orders for the RF Ministry of Defense, there is currently a need to focus on the supply of weapons for export.
The development by enterprises of the Russian defense-industrial complex of their own promising weapons and the sale of military products (MPN) for export will make it possible to obtain funds, a significant part of which must be invested in new developments. Thus, supplies abroad will allow not only to revive our defense industry and keep it "afloat", but also to develop the main priority areas of the industry.
Export orientation in the "defense industry" is also necessary because the price of export MP, which consists of R&D costs, production costs (including the purchase of materials, components, production modernization) and an intellectual component ("tax on illiteracy "), Is always several times higher than the cost of producing this MP.
This allows us to speak about the similarity of its structure with the price of hydrocarbon raw materials (oil and gas), with the difference that the number of people employed in the defense industry and related industries is greater than in the oil and gas industry. At the same time, the reserves of raw materials are severely depleted. Accordingly, in the future, in the absence of new developed deposits, the value of their export may decrease. The export of military products is another matter - it is not an exhaustible source. The main thing here is the availability of personnel of a high level of technical training and the availability of a production base.
The weapons complex is the fruit of intellectual labor. You can invest your funds in development and, as a result of the sale of products, make a profit, which will be quite enough for the effective functioning of the company.
Thus, the export of military products is the most important tool that allows enterprises to develop.
Let us consider, for example, the situation that has developed in OJSC KBP.
KBP OJSC is a diversified organization of the military-industrial complex specializing in the development of weapon systems for a tactical combat zone. By now, the enterprise has developed, mastered in mass production and put into service with the Russian army more than 140 models of weapons and military equipment. The samples of weapons, created at JSC KBP, are world famous. The steady demand for the company's products is ensured by the high technical level of its developments, and today it is used in more than 50 countries around the world. The developed samples of military equipment not only meet modern requirements for weapons, but are also promising in nature.
Currently, KBP OJSC is developing advanced weapons systems, both within the framework of the state defense order (SDO), and at its own expense. During the Soviet era, the R&D carried out by the enterprise was almost entirely financed within the framework of the state defense order. At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, funding for development under the state defense order was sharply reduced. It was then that the KBP began to carry out most of the research and development work at its own expense. The key to the survival of the enterprise was that it had the opportunity to independently conclude contracts and carry out direct deliveries of weapons abroad and use the funds received for development.
The KBP retained the right to independent foreign economic activity for about 10 years. During this time, when the number of employees in all enterprises of the military-industrial complex was drastically reduced, it was possible not only to maintain the number of enterprises, but also to double it: from 4, 2 thousand people. up to 8.6 thousand people At the same time, about 15 thousand more people. was employed in enterprises participating in cooperation in the development and manufacture of our products.
In the period 2000-2009.the amount of funds received from the supply of weapons and military equipment for export was approximately 20 times higher than the amount of funds from supplies through the state defense order. In 2010, there was a tendency to an increase in the volume of state defense orders, which is associated, first of all, with the start of serial deliveries of the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex (ZRPK). However, in spite of this, at present the amount of funds received from supplies abroad exceeds the amount of funds from supplies to the Russian army by about 5, 0-6, 6 times (Table 1).
The right to independent foreign economic activity allowed the company to finance its own R&D. With the involvement of significant own funds KBP has developed and mastered the serial production of the modern ZRPK "Pantsir", which is currently supplied for the needs of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the fighting compartment for the BMP-2, and also completed work on the BMD-4. A promising multipurpose anti-aircraft anti-tank complex "Kornet-EM" and a unique in its characteristics guided artillery shell (UAS) "Krasnopol-M2" have been fully developed on an initiative basis.
Currently, the company supplies military products through the state intermediary OJSC Rosoboronexport. The volume of R&D funding from the state defense order is insufficient. In order to ensure the achievement of the technical level corresponding to 2030-2050. and ensuring the unconditional competitiveness of their developments in the world market, JSC KBP annually strives to increase the volume of funding for research and development and development, carried out on its own initiative. However, the amount of funds allocated for proactive R&D is currently less than when the enterprise had the right to independent foreign economic activity (FEA).
The creation of its own highly effective weapons in the country is a complex and multifaceted process. Investment in advanced weapons and military equipment should be in accordance with the chosen military-technical strategy, which should be formed on the basis of developments that are superior to the world level.
A guided artillery projectile (UAS) "Krasnopol-M2", unique in its characteristics, was developed on its own initiative.
The main link in the chain of creating modern weapons is firms capable of developing and producing military products, endowed with the right to independently conduct foreign economic activity. This fully meets the basic requirements of a modern market economy. For the stable functioning of the enterprises of the defense industry, it is necessary to have a permanent scientific and technical groundwork for promising R&D, which will require spending part of the profit.
Also, government regulation is needed, which is carried out through orders for science (through research and development work), the supply of finished products manufactured by the industry according to the technical requirements agreed with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, financing the development and improvement of the technological base (through the implementation of FTP), training.
When developing a strategy for the military-technical development of Russian weapons, it is necessary to assess the suitability of the available weapons according to the types most in demand in the world today: tanks, artillery, combat helicopters, ATGMs, and air defense systems.
Based on the results of the assessment, it is necessary to classify all types of equipment into groups:
• the first group includes equipment that is already in the army, but is not suitable for further service due to obsolescence;
• the second group includes equipment that is available and which can be upgraded with a high technical and economic coefficient;
• the third group includes equipment that corresponds to the world level, but is not ordered by the army or ordered in limited quantities;
• the fourth group includes newly developed equipment. At the same time, a mandatory requirement should be the achievement of high technical and economic indicators, including an increase in efficiency from 2 to 5 times.
Taken together, all samples should make up an integral self-sufficient system of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In a special group, it is necessary to single out the development of breakthrough technologies that provide new qualities and properties.
Creating your own weapons is the path to the rise of the entire country. For the development of weapons systems, it is necessary to carry out high-level developments and the presence of a creative team, trained and highly qualified personnel. The question is, is there any reason for this in Russia? Yes, because the main thing is that there are still cadres who have received a high-quality education, not spoiled by uniform state exams (USE), and have experience in developing advanced weapons. Unfortunately, the age of these specialists is over 40 years old, but there is still a generation from 30 to 40 years old who have found strong teachers in schools and universities, who have high-quality training and potential for engineering activities.
The Kornet-EM complex is qualitatively superior to all existing ATGM systems not only in terms of basic characteristics, but also has new properties.
In his report to the State Duma on February 28, 2012, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission Dmitry Rogozin said: “Today it makes no sense to catch up with someone and follow the beaten track. It is necessary to move away from the square-nested way of thinking, to look not into tomorrow, but into the day after tomorrow."
Thus, the existing lag behind the leading Western countries must be eliminated on our own, spending money not only on the modernization and development of new generation weapon systems, significantly superior in their tactical and technical level to existing models, but also on the creation of fundamentally new military-technical means.
