2015 is over, which means it's time to take stock of the work of the Russian military-industrial complex and compare them with the results of last year. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, within the framework of the state defense order, 7% more military equipment was delivered this year than in the past, and the deliveries themselves were completed by 96% (95% in 2014). To get a more complete picture, it is necessary to pay attention to certain categories of military equipment.
Aviation equipment - less than last year
In 2015, the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation (VKS) received 243 aircraft and helicopters, which is slightly less than in 2014, when the troops received 277 aircraft. It should be borne in mind that this figure also takes into account the equipment that has undergone modernization, and not only built from scratch. If we take only new products, then last year the Aerospace Forces received a record number of aircraft - 108 units.
Read more: The release of military aircraft in Russia caught up with the indicators of the USSR in the 1980s and overtook the USA
This year, the calculation is somewhat complicated by the smaller amount of information: it is possible to speak for certain about the supply of 18 Su-30SM multifunctional fighters, 4 Su-30M2 (according to plans, 5, possibly open information is incomplete), 18 front-line Su-34 bombers (2 above the plan), not less than 6 Su-35s (although according to the plan there were 14, it is possible that official information did not appear about the transfer of some of them), at least 6 light MiG-29SMT (R) / UB (R) fighters (possibly 8), 12 training - combat fighters Yak-130, 1 military transport aircraft Il-76MD-90A, 1 An-148-100E (possibly 2). In total, there are 66-78 aircraft. That is, even in the most favorable case, 30 fewer cars were produced (27% less). The reasons for this are different: the contracts for the Su-35S have ended (a new contract for 48 aircraft has not yet been signed) and the carrier-based MiG-29K, the An-148 and An-140 aircraft are problematic to produce without cooperation with Ukraine, there were some difficulties with the Yak-130 import substitution. Nevertheless, the result is still not bad, given the economic problems and the issue of establishing the production of local components.
As for the helicopter technology, there are fewer detailed data this year, however, apparently, the number of helicopters produced has not changed much. As for the modernization of the existing equipment, its pace remains at a high level.
Strategic nuclear forces - actively replenishing, as before
In 2015, the "nuclear triad" received 35 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) - of which, presumably, 24 land-based RS-24 Yars, and the rest - R-30 Bulava, which are equipped with Project 955 Borey submarines. Last year, 38 ICBMs were built, including 16 Yars and 22 Bulava. Thus, there are no problems or significant changes in this area - no country in the world is even close to such indicators. If the current pace is maintained, by 2022 only modern ICBMs will be in service with the Russian Federation.
Along with the construction of new ICBMs, the strategic forces also received upgraded bombers - 2 Tu-160M, 3 Tu-95MS and 5 Tu-22M3. The Navy also received two Project 955 Borey submarine missile carriers, each carrying 16 Bulava ICBMs.
The production and modernization of ground equipment remained at about the same level as last year, for example, 2 brigade sets of Iskander-M missile systems were still received. In total, up to 1,172 armored vehicles (tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles), 148 missile and artillery systems and up to 2,292 vehicles have been modernized and built. The main novelty was the armored vehicles of a new generation, the pre-production batches of which were shown at the Victory Parade on May 9 in Moscow. The T-14 tank and the T-15 heavy infantry fighting vehicle built on the Armata tracked platform, the BMP and armored personnel carrier based on the Kurganets-25 tracked platform, the Boomerang wheeled armored personnel carrier, the Koalitsiya-SV 152-mm self-propelled howitzer were demonstrated …
Air defense weapons were also received in the planned amount.
Read more: New armored vehicles of Victory Day: the basis of the Russian Ground Forces for half a century
Military shipbuilding is the most vulnerable industry
The Russian Navy received in 2015 2 diesel-electric submarines of project 636.6 "Varshavyanka" (1 in 2014), 2 nuclear missile carriers of project 955 "Borey" (1 in 2014), two small missile ships of project 21 631 and other ships: in total 8 surface and 16 support vessels.
In addition, the state tests of the patrol ship of project 11 356 "Admiral Grigorovich" (will be put into service in February 2016) have been completed. Two more ships of this type will be commissioned in 2016. But a big problem is connected with them - Ukrainian power plants were installed on the ships of this project, so the fate of 3 more ships under construction is somewhat vague, although it was decided to resume their construction.
In general, the Navy can be most affected by the economic crisis and sanctions: the industry was in a very difficult state, large surface ships had not been built for many years, so they will probably “save” budget funds, probably on shipbuilders. Dependence on Ukrainian and German power plants, which cannot now be purchased, is also a rather difficult problem.
Sanctions and "cheap oil" could not seriously harm the Russian military-industrial complex
The main conclusion is that Western sanctions and the economic crisis for 2 years could not radically affect the Russian military-industrial complex - some problems appeared in certain industries, many of which have already been resolved, while others must be resolved (for example, nothing is "incredibly" complicated there are no analogues of Ukrainian ship power plants in the Russian Federation, simply because these are Soviet developments, thus it is a matter of time). Nevertheless, the next 2-3 years will be very indicative, primarily due to problems in the economy. The priority task for the military-industrial complex is to fulfill the state armaments program until 2020. It is the results of 2016, 2017 and 2018 that will show us whether the Russian defense industry will be able to keep up with the current pace. In addition, it is necessary to actively work on the state armaments program until 2025 (its adoption has been postponed due to the unpredictable economic situation in the country).
