Recently, the leadership of the military department, represented by the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff, has become somewhat more open in relation to civil society. At least this is evidenced by several meetings of the military leadership with deputies and senators, with representatives of the public, as well as closed briefings held by Anatoly Serdyukov and General of the Army Nikolai Makarov for journalists of the capital's publications. These briefings were called “closed” because a limited circle of media representatives, including non-state ones, were invited to them, in addition, newspapermen were asked, as is customary in such cases on the principle of chatham house, not to make direct references to this or that official. that is, do not quote directly the statement of the minister or the NSP, since “conversation for information” and “conversation with a dictaphone” are different forms of conversation with varying degrees of frankness.
Nevertheless, it seems to us very important to make "extracts" from all these meetings, to inform the readers of "NVO" about what was said there. Even without personal references to specific words of a specific official. What is important here, in our opinion, is the content of the conversations, what they think and what they do to solve certain major problems of reforming or giving a new, promising look to the armed forces in the leadership of the army and navy.
OSK AND ITS COMPONENTS
The main result of recent months in the leadership of the army and navy is considered the creation of four new military districts, and with them four United Strategic Commands (USC) - West, South, Center and Vostok. This was done, they say on Arbat Square, ahead of schedule. By presidential decree, the new military districts were supposed to start functioning on December 1 of this year, but by mid-November they were already fully formed and began to work in a new composition. Western military district, for example, even from September 1. It helped to solve this problem that the formation of each of the districts was personally entrusted to one of the deputy defense ministers. And they, as you can see, managed to cope with such a task. The established categories of headquarters and directorates are mostly full. There are no antagonistic frictions between the new structures. Now they have to organize close interaction, as they say, get used to each other. To work "in one team", to understand a representative of another branch of the armed forces, to accept his view of this or that problem for many of them is an absolutely new and unusual thing.
Two commanders of military districts have already been approved in their new positions (Colonel-General Arkady Bakhin was appointed commander of the Western military district by presidential decree No. 1291 of October 28, and Admiral Konstantin Sidenko - commander of the Eastern military district by decree No. 1293 of October 29), two have already been certified for new position, awaiting presidential decree. They, as mentioned earlier, are subordinate to all the forces and assets located in the district, except for the Strategic Nuclear Forces (SNF) - the Ground Forces, the Navy, the Air Force and Air Defense. Including the Airborne Forces, although they remain an independent branch of the military, the reserve of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. But nevertheless, the commander of the USC can and should include them in the planning of one or another combat operational-strategic operation.
With the creation of the USC, there is a further division of functions between the General Staff, the High Commands, the command of the military district and army structures. The principal task is to avoid duplication of work. Therefore, the High Command will now be engaged in the development of its kind, conducting peacekeeping operations, operational-tactical and tactical training and retraining of officers and professional sergeants (developing methodological instructions and monitoring their implementation), developing requirements for weapons and military equipment supplied to subordinate troops, and, of course, their purchase. The number of officers in the High Command is reduced to a minimum - there were a thousand people, 150-200 will remain. The General Staff, the USC and the command of the armies will be responsible for operational training at their own level. For combat training - commanders and commanders of all levels. For military discipline - the Main Directorate for Work with Servicemen (former GUVR), its structures in the district and in the brigade level. In order to combat corruption of people in uniform, financial authorities will be removed from the troops. No commander can manage money. If, for example, he needs to purchase this or that equipment for his part, he will have to submit an application to the appropriate financial authority, consisting exclusively of civilians, and they will buy him everything that he ordered.
NEW VEHICLES FOR A NEW ARMY
On the basis of the Space Forces, an aerospace defense system is being created, which will have to fight all air targets, from cruise and ballistic missiles to aircraft and helicopters. For the development of this kind of troops, it is planned to build two more plants of the Almaz-Antey company for the production of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. True, there is no exact information yet about where these plants will be built.
In addition, in the next three years, the Ministry of Defense plans to purchase up to a thousand helicopters. Each USC will now have at least one helicopter brigade with 70-100 "turntables". It is also planned to equip all motorized rifle and tank brigades with helicopter squadrons. The brigades themselves will be divided into three types: on one common tracked thrust - these are tanks, but not the T-95, which the Ministry of Defense rejects, as not satisfying the requirements for such a machine, BMP (but again not BMP-3, which also does not suit the leadership of the army), and self-propelled artillery. Then a brigade on a wheeled basis, again common to all, including the use of wheeled tanks (so far few have seen such in our troops), armored personnel carriers and portable artillery, as well as self-propelled artillery, but on wheels. And a light brigade will appear - its peculiarity is that at the same time it must have good protection of personnel. The safety of people is the main thing when creating new combat units.
The exactingness to the combat readiness of the brigades does not decrease either. All their property, up to 90%, must be loaded onto vehicles and, upon a signal, they must leave their location in an hour, reorganize into company columns, and go to the reserve area 5-6 km from the military town. There, get the remaining 10% of what you need - and into battle.
And another most important task is the creation of a control information system - an automated control system, which would unite all the units into one network-centric complex, capable of accumulating a huge amount of constantly incoming information, developing solutions for the commander and, after making them, instantly bring them to the executors. In connection with this postulate, the share of intelligence agencies in the brigade level is increasing. A separate reconnaissance platoon will appear in the battalions. The brigade has a reconnaissance battalion. The army has a separate reconnaissance brigade. The transition to digital communications should also help to strengthen the "information component" of the army. By the end of this year, it should be implemented in all district communication centers, not counting, of course, central nodes. By the end of 2011, all wearable and transportable communications will be digitized. Among the samples offered by the industry, there is even a sixth generation technique. But analog communication will also be preserved, apparently as a reserve for an unforeseen event.
The purchases for the Navy are sharply increasing - up to 24% of the expenditure on weapons in the coming years should go to the naval theme, including coastal troops with the Bastion complex. It is planned to receive at least two submarines a year. Both nuclear and diesel, which no one is going to give up.
The military leaders prefer to keep quiet about the development of nuclear deterrent. But even so, it is obvious that in the coming years the main emphasis will be placed on them. And in connection with the requirement to fulfill the Prague START Treaty, but even regardless of its ratification by the American Senate - this is primarily due to the aging of our nuclear missile shield, the need to update it. Strategic missiles, land and sea, single-headed and multi-headed, RS-12M2 Topol-M, RS-24 Yars and R-30 Bulava-30. It is not excluded that in the future there may appear another strategic missile with MIRVs. True, there is no official information about this yet.
INCENTIVES FOR SERVICE
The military leaders also paid attention to the issues of social protection of servicemen and members of their families. However, the issues of housing, pay and pensions for veterans were raised, of course, by journalists. They were struck by the fact that the draft state budget for 2011-2013, which is now being discussed in the State Duma, does not say a word about the long-promised increase in the salaries of officers and contract servicemen. Moreover, the bill on such an increase, including retirees' pensions, has long been on the website of the military department since April 26 of this year. What's going on with him?
We got the following answer. The increase in pay is indeed planned. As promised earlier - from January 1, 2012. The draft law in question exists, and now it is being coordinated in government structures. Discussions with cabinet officials are intense; the military leadership insists that the salary of a lieutenant and platoon commander be at least 50,000 a month. The government wants to lower it to 30 thousand. A compromise has not yet been found. As for the state budget, it is being worked out in detail only for the coming year, the next two - only in general terms. Therefore, there are no words about the pay of the military personnel. They will certainly be included in the draft 2012 budget.
Along with the increase in the salary of servicemen, it is planned to increase the pensions of retirees. How to do this, while the question. There are several approaches. To "tear off" pensions from officers' salaries, to establish specific amounts that would be higher than the average labor pension, or to leave the "old principle". On this occasion, discussions are also underway with the Ministry of Finance. But, as stated in the leadership of the Armed Forces, none of the commanders has any desire to somehow "infringe" on the veterans. Everyone understands that after some time they will also be out of work, and the erroneous decision made today may affect them.
The task of providing permanent housing for those transferred to the reserve will be completed by the end of this year. But only with regard to those who joined the queue before 2005. It was this promise, according to the leadership of the army and navy, that was given to the president and prime minister. Last year, 46 thousand apartments were purchased. This year there will be another 52 thousand instead of the previously planned 45 thousand for each of the two years. By the end of the year, people will be sent 40 thousand.notifications about the allocation of apartments to them. The rest of the apartmentless will be offered a roof over their heads during 2011 and 2012. Including for the debts of the 90s, when people were fired from the army without providing them with the proper housing. Funds have been allocated for this. Of course, there are serious problems (about them in detail in the previous issue of "NVO" for November 12-18, "Kick-out resettlement" - VL). Including because many officers refuse to receive warrants and enter apartments located in regional and district centers, away from their last duty station or their chosen place of residence. One of the ways to solve the problem is to "de-serve" the apartments belonging to the Ministry of Defense. Including in the near Moscow region. For example, in Solnechnogorsk. And also to create a single queue for the department, in which everyone, having typed on the Internet, on the website of the Ministry of Defense, a certain code, could personally observe how his opportunity for housing is approaching, regardless of the commander's whims.
By the end of the year, it is planned to populate 5 thousand apartments in St. Petersburg and another 2, 5 thousand - in Vladivostok, in the Snegovaya Pad area.
EDUCATION AND SERGEANTS
A new recruitment of future officers to military universities, according to the leadership of the army and navy, will begin in 2012. (True, State Secretary, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta said that such a recruitment will be already in 2011. - VL). The problem is that it is not yet entirely clear how many officers the troops will need in 2016-2017. It all depends on how many new ships will be built, what the final structure of brigades, battalions and companies will be, how many specialists will be required for the engineering and technical troops. 150 thousand officers for the Russian army is an average figure. There may be a thousand or two more, or a thousand or two less, it all depends on the specific tasks, the number of universities remaining, the level of teaching there, and the quality of graduates.
Now a group of officers from the General Staff and the GUK travels to different countries, adopting the experience of training officers there. It is noticed that the humanitarian component in civilian universities is much higher than in military ones, and this is a signal that it is necessary to train not a “narrow” specialist, but a person with a broad outlook and deep knowledge and beliefs that do not evaporate when faced with realities of life and difficulties. On the other hand, there should be more practical classes in military universities. Already from the second year, a future officer must spend a certain time in the troops in order to understand what he will do after graduation, to see his perspective, what subjects he needs to lean on in the first place, what and how to prepare.
In order to make such training more substantive and tied to the needs of the troops, military universities will invite officers who have completed their service as commanders of regiments, brigades, battalions, deputy commanders for engineering or technical training for teaching positions. Future officers should be taught not by theorists who grew up in the departments of a university, but by military practice. They should also deal with future professional sergeants.
There are problems with the training of future sergeants with secondary specialized education, as you can understand the leadership of the army and navy. There is too much dropout among them, despite the fact that salaries for them have already been set at the level of 30 thousand rubles. Not all of the candidates for professional junior commanders deserve this money for their ability and willingness to comprehend the wisdom of the army. Today there are only about 2,500 such sergeants. Much more is needed.
