On Wednesday, a government hour was held in the State Duma with the participation of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. The head of the Defense Ministry behind closed doors told the parliamentarians about the progress of the military reform, about the solution of social and personnel issues of the army. According to GZT. RU, the legendary Kalashnikov assault rifles and SVD rifles were recognized by the leadership of the ministry as obsolete. So in the near future, the Armed Forces will buy on the side not only helicopter carriers and drones, but also small arms - foreign assault and sniper rifles.
For some time now, the State Duma has preferred to discuss all issues related to the course of military reform and ensuring defense and security behind closed doors. So you can not be afraid to unwittingly violate the law on state secrets. However, most of the information reported by the military still becomes the property of the press.
A year without a broom
“First of all, we discussed with the Minister today the issues of the military capability of the Armed Forces, since in 2010 there were many changes in this area,” Igor Barinov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, told GZT. RU. with operational commands. Intermediate command and control links have been eliminated - this will contribute to more efficient command and control of troops."
According to the deputy, during the discussion, those of the colleagues who have some idea of the functioning of the army expressed concern that new requirements are being made to the leadership of the military commands, and the experience of this kind of management has not yet been accumulated, there was no place to get it before. “Officers have to learn on the go,” says Barinov.
The minister also dwelled on the fact that it was possible to separate the operational command of the troops from the administrative one. “Now the officers are only dealing with issues of combat training,” the deputy said. Everything related to ensuring the activities of the Armed Forces - from guard duty to cooking and repairing equipment, is outsourced to third-party organizations. "This is especially important in terms of a service life of one year: conscripts are freed from orders, cleaning the territory, cooking food," says Barinov. "And during this time they master the level of combat training that they used to take two years." In some places the old scheme has been preserved, the minister told the deputies, but there they are "putting things in order" with the commanders of the units: the decision on the division of service is common for everyone.
This division of service, according to the deputy, has a side advantage: "The soldiers do not have time for barracks hooliganism, hazing." He said that the Defense Ministry and the Main Military Forces have already accumulated statistics indicating a decrease in the level of non-regulation in the units.
Goodbye Kalashnikov?
The minister also discussed with the deputies the state program for the purchase of weapons. "The funds (allocated from the state budget) are crazy," admitted one of the members of the Duma Defense Committee. Earlier, the figure was already named - 20 trillion rubles. The Ministry of Defense has determined the directions in which massive purchases and rearmament of units will soon be carried out. We are talking about air defense and modern means of communication, including individual ones, for military personnel of constant readiness units.
"People's automatic machine" AK rejected by special forces, they say in the Ministry of Defense
Surprisingly, Russia found itself lagging behind in the arms industry where it was considered almost the world leader: in small arms. “Foreign samples are superior to ours in all performance characteristics. "Kalashnikovs" remained in the last century, - admitted one of the deputies after the minister's report. - They, including the 100th series, are not capable of conducting aimed fire in bursts. In combat, professionals are forced to fire alone. Moreover, foreign models of small arms are lighter in weight, easier to handle, and often cheaper."
According to the officer deputies, these problems arose, among other things, due to the fact that during the Cold War and the Iron Curtain, Russian (Soviet) gunsmiths were torn away from the weapons schools in Germany, Belgium, Austria, the USA, Israel, South Africa.
Not only Kalashnikovs, but also sniper rifles may be overboard of the new appearance of the Armed Forces. "What was great for the 1960s and 70s has long been outdated," the source admitted. "Now we are talking about modernizing the production base." At the same time, the Ministry of Defense is allegedly considering the possibility of purchasing large consignments of foreign small arms for arming units and subdivisions of the North Caucasus Military District, and other units that are "at the forefront of events."
During the conversation with the deputies, the question about the Mistral was inevitably raised. Some MPs argued that the French helicopter carriers are backward in their driving performance and other specifications. "The reaction of Georgia to the purchase of Mistrals is typical - panic!" - says Barinov. “These naval complexes are modern and multifunctional, they will allow the fleet to reach a different level of fulfillment of assigned tasks,” confirms a member of the committee, captain of the first rank in reserve Mikhail Nenashev.
Login-password-apartment
Serdyukov could not get around the painful issue of obtaining housing for the dismissed officers and warrant officers. “Today the minister reported that a single queue of officers has been formed to receive housing,” said Nikolai Levichev, head of the Fair Russia faction in the State Duma. “Previously, it was a very corrupt sphere, where there was a lot of injustice and complaints. Now a single queue has been formed, which will be available on the Internet from the new year. Each serviceman who is waiting for his turn will be able to receive an individual code in order to be able to watch online how his turn is moving”. "It is not a fact that this will accelerate the" housing "of the military, but there are 'new trends'," they added on the sidelines of the Duma.
"Steps are being taken to ensure that conscripts undergo military service near their home," Levichev said. "Then they will be able to go home for the weekend." In addition, as the minister said, “everything possible will be done” so that even in distant garrisons, the military can use the Internet and other modern means of communication to communicate with their families and friends via videoconference or at least telephone communication.
By the way, some opposition deputies have become wary in connection with the new, "local" principle of conscription. They believe that the army can thus be divided into regional components, which will almost lead to separatism among the military personnel.
“There were other funny questions,” confirmed the deputy head of the committee, Barinov. “For example, why do we allow foreigners to serve in our army and what events can this lead to, given the experience of Manezhnaya Square? In general, stupidity and insanity. According to the deputy, there are only 119 people serving in the Russian Armed Forces who are not citizens of the Russian Federation, and these are former compatriots who thus seek to obtain a Russian passport in a simplified manner.
