Used military equipment finds new uses
How is the most acute problem of using out-of-date weapons and military equipment being solved in our country? Is a second life possible for outdated anti-aircraft missile systems, aircraft and ships, or are they subject to mandatory elimination? How cost-effective is it to store military equipment at bases idle? Alexey Komarov, head of the planning, coordination and industrial disposal of weapons and military equipment of the Armaments Department of the Ministry of Defense, answered these and other questions in an exclusive interview with MIC.
Alexey Vadimovich, one of the tasks that your department is called upon to solve is organizing the disposal of weapons and military equipment. What does this concept include and why is the task entrusted to you?
- In this case, it is better to operate with the term “liquidation”. That is, to talk about the transformation of weapons and military equipment, in which they either cease to exist or cannot be used in accordance with their intended purpose.
Disposal is just one of the areas of liquidation. But given the meaning that the overwhelming majority of citizens put into this term, and its general applicability, we will use it.
"Utilization of weapons and military equipment" is a type of liquidation in which industrial processing is carried out to obtain secondary material resources, potentially suitable for use.
The term itself includes all the basic principles that we put into the process. This is the implementation of measures for the disposal of weapons and military equipment at industrial enterprises, and the receipt of secondary materials in the form of scrap ferrous and non-ferrous metals, explosives and gunpowders. In addition, ordinary scrap and waste can contain precious stones, rare earths and precious metals, and other materials that can be reused. Our task is to organize the process in such a way as to ensure the return of these materials to industrial circulation.
Until the beginning of the 90s, disposal problems were solved in the branches and branches of the Armed Forces, military districts, main and central directorates on their own. They were sold at a manufacturing plant of a specific model of weapons and military equipment or at specialized enterprises of the Ministry of Defense, sometimes in military units by the forces of repair agencies.
In 1992, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense made a decision to centralize the planning and organization of measures for the disposal of weapons and military equipment. On April 7, 1993, the 17th department for the disposal of weapons and military equipment was created as part of the apparatus of the chief of armaments of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. This was due to the need to concentrate the functions of coordination and planning of activities related to all stages of the AME life cycle - from research and development to disposal.
What are the basic principles underlying the activities of participants in the disposal of weapons and military equipment?
- This is determined by the current legislation. Since 1994, in accordance with the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, measures for the industrial disposal of weapons and military equipment have been implemented within the framework of the FTP for the corresponding period. Currently, the third program is in operation - for 2011–2015 and for the period until 2020.
The activities of the direct executors of work - enterprises and organizations - are based on two basic principles. First, it is comprehensive security. It implies safety during the transportation of weapons and military equipment to the places of disposal, directly in the course of the activities carried out at the enterprise; ensuring the safety of the population living near the transport routes along which transportation is carried out, and production sites; environmental safety.
Participants in the process of weapons and military equipment disposal at the executive level do not need to invent anything, but should strictly, scrupulously comply with the requirements and provisions of the current documents in this area. At the same time, everyone needs to understand that in this case, there can be no excessive security, because it is ultimately about the life and health of people.
The second basic principle is the economic efficiency of work. The fact is that weapons and military equipment to be recycled are a potential source of significant volumes of raw materials and materials, which sometimes even in secondary quality are very expensive. And since the weapons and military equipment transferred for disposal are federal property, it would be very wasteful and even criminal for the state to simply send the resulting materials to a landfill.
Therefore, the Ministry of Defense imposes on the contractor the obligation not only to dismantle, cut and grind a sample of weapons, but also to sort the resulting scrap according to the types of raw materials and materials, bring them in accordance with the requirements of the relevant GOSTs and implement, and transfer the funds received to the federal budget. This ensures compensation for the costs incurred by the state by financing such work.
- What are the specific indicators confirming the economic effect?
- There is no question of direct economic benefit from the disposal of weapons and military equipment. Only partial compensation of direct financial costs of the federal budget is provided.
So, in 2014, with two billion rubles allocated for the implementation of work on the disposal of conventional weapons, about 1.2 billion rubles were transferred to the budget from the sale of the products received, that is, more than half of the financial resources spent.
As of April 30, 2015, over 150 million rubles have already been transferred to the federal budget. But the main volume of work on utilization and sale of the resulting raw materials and materials will be completed by the end of the year.
However, it is fundamentally wrong to assess the economic efficiency of the implementation of measures only from the point of view of direct compensation of costs or financial benefits. It is necessary to approach comprehensively, taking into account all indicators. Such, for example, as reducing the cost of storing released equipment, the level of environmental, explosion and fire hazard, social tension in the places where ammunition is stored.
There is also such an indicator as possible damage. It can be applied, for example, by an emergency if it occurs. The implementation of the above-mentioned FTP will allow to provide financial savings (from possible damage) in volumes comparable to the overall financing of this program - 39 billion rubles. Add to this the very compensation of costs - the cost returned to the budget of sold products for the disposal of weapons and military equipment, and then the economic effect can be estimated. Draw your own conclusions.
- Until recently, the Ministry of Defense disposed of ammunition by detonating them at training grounds in various regions of the country, which caused a great public outcry. There are known cases of the death of servicemen. The situation has changed?
- Just want to draw your attention to the fact that we are not talking about recycling. In this case, the destruction of ammunition was carried out. Returning to the terminology, destruction is another type of weapons and military equipment liquidation, which is carried out by the methods of mechanical, thermal, chemical or explosive action on the liquidated object without obtaining secondary raw materials and materials.
In 2010-2012, when carrying out measures to optimize the storage system of stocks of missiles, ammunition and explosives, significant volumes of them were released. The production capacities of enterprises carrying out industrial utilization were not designed for the required rates of processing. The Ministry of Defense had neither the right nor the opportunity to provide temporary storage of such explosive and fire hazardous property. Under the prevailing conditions, the military leadership made a decision to destroy them by detonation. However, at the end of 2012, the Minister of Defense banned this.
Currently, the disposal of ammunition is carried out by specialized organizations in strict accordance with technological processes using special equipment. These are enterprises - manufacturers of ammunition and explosives, which are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and the state corporation "Russian Technologies", the former arsenals of the Ministry of Defense, which were previously engaged in the repair and disposal of ammunition, and now are part of JSC "Garrison", other utilization institutions.
The work is carried out under government contracts. At the same time, enterprises, in addition to having a license for their implementation, must have special workshops and sites, certified technological equipment, trained technical personnel, modern security and safety systems.
The ability to ensure the required level of environmental and industrial safety is periodically checked by Rosprirodnadzor, Roshydromet, Rostekhnadzor and is confirmed by a license to operate fire and explosion hazardous production facilities. Multi-stage control is carried out. At the slightest manifestation of signs of danger, the process is suspended, the ammunition is removed from the technological process and destroyed in special armored chambers.
- How much ammunition was disposed of in the past year?
- More than two million ammunition and a little less than 400 million rounds of small arms ammunition were subject to disposal. In general, over the years of the implementation of the current federal target program, about nine million pieces of various ammunition and over 1.7 billion rounds of small arms have been disposed of.
- And what happens to large-sized weapons: tanks, aircraft?
- The organization and execution of work on the disposal of these nomenclatures of weapons and military equipment, on the one hand, is easier. Because the level of explosion and fire hazard is much lower. In addition, no explosives are generated at the outlet that require special storage and distribution conditions. On the other hand, the task is more difficult, because tanks, aircraft, ships, missile and artillery systems, air defense and communications systems are not only large-sized, but also technically complex items. They consist of a large number of blocks, assemblies, units, often having different operating periods and residual life.
Thus, when deciding on the release of this equipment from the Armed Forces, unit commanders and contented command and control bodies must carry out rather painstaking work. Those components and components are dismantled, which can be subsequently used either when carrying out various types of repairs - from current to overhaul, or as spare parts. Only after that the released weapons and military equipment are transferred for recycling. I would like to emphasize: without components and components that can be reused.
After receiving and moving the equipment to the places of work, their executors carry out bringing it to an unusable state, downsizing and industrial processing, isolation and preparation of disposal products for sale.
All stages of work are carried out under the control of the military representations of the Ministry of Defense. Legality and quality are confirmed by appropriate certificates.
The final stage in the implementation of government contracts is the sale of the received recycling products at an auction or exchange with the transfer of the funds received to the federal budget.
- The composition of a number of samples of weapons and military equipment includes elements related to radio and electronic equipment, which contain a certain amount of precious materials. How are they removed? What then happens to the allocated gold and silver?
- Yes, indeed, weapons and military equipment samples containing parts, blocks and assemblies containing precious metals are sent for recycling. Considering that these materials are especially valuable raw materials, the Ministry of Defense, as a state customer, in accordance with the current legislation, provides conditions for their return to economic circulation.
When disassembling samples of weapons and military equipment, performers remove parts, blocks and assemblies containing precious metals, free them from other components and prepare them for processing. Then the resulting recycling products containing precious metals are sold to special processing plants or refineries. There, final purification from impurities and related components is carried out and brought to a quality that meets standards and specifications. The finished ingots are sold in accordance with the established procedure to the Committee of the Russian Federation for Precious Metals and Precious Stones, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or authorized commercial banks.
- What's going on with automotive technology? Can a vehicle be used for private purposes if its service life has expired?
- Automotive equipment, as well as base chassis (on which a complex of weapons or specialized equipment is mounted) are dual-use equipment and without significant modification (with the exception of dismantling weapons and special parts) can be used in civilian areas, including by individuals. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense does not carry out such work, and even in the case of placing an order for their implementation (disposal of equipment mounted on a vehicle base chassis), the terms of the contract include the requirement to return these chassis to the customer.
In general, both the vehicles accumulated in the troops, released from the Armed Forces, and the base chassis remaining after the dismantling of weapons and special parts from them, in accordance with government decree No. 1165 of October 15, 1999 "On the sale of released movable military property" open auctions. Almost anyone can become a participant.
