24 of December, an expanded meeting of Defence Ministry Board Session took place at the National Centre for State Defence Control of the Russian Federation, during which the results of the activities of the Armed Forces in 2019 were summed up and tasks for the next period were determined. The President of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, addressed the members of the Session. The President thanked the entire personnel of the Russian Armed Forces for the clear fulfillment of the tasks set and for their loyalty to the country.
«A general analysis of the state of the Armed Forces shows their high combat readiness. All branches and service arms of troops are capable of practicing their mission as intended, and guaranteeing the peace and security of Russia,» he noted opening the Session.
The full text of the speech of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is available on the website of the President of Russia.
The Minister of Defence of Russia, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, made a report at a meeting of the Session.
Rearmament of the Army and Navy
All measures provided by the Ministry of Defence Action Plan and the 2019 state defence order have been completed. The highest rate of execution of arms and equipment deliveries over the past four years has been achieved. More than 6,500 pieces of new and modernized armament have entered the Russian Armed Forces that made it possible to increase the share of modern weapons to 68.2%.
The order of the President of the Russian Federation to equip strategic nuclear forces with new launch systems is being completed.
The rate of modern armament in Strategic Missile Forces has exceeded 76%, and in nuclear triad is 82%.
This week, the first missile regiment armed with the Avangard missile system with hypersonic glider wing units will take up combat duty.
Three missile regiments of Strategic Missile Forces have been re-equipped with modern Yars missile systems. The deployment of Peresvet laser systems has been completed. Since December 1, they have been on combat duty in the position areas of the five missile divisions of the Strategic Missile Forces.
Five modernized missile carriers have entered strategic aviation nuclear forces.
State test of nuclear submarine project Borey-A Knyaz Vladimir has been finished.
This year, 624 pieces of tanks and other armored vehicles, 143 modern aircraft and helicopters, 13 spacecraft, one submarine, eight surface ships, 17 boats and support vessels, and four Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems and more than 10,000 pieces of modern signal equipment received Russian Armed Forces.
Large-scale work on the re-equipment of all missile brigades of the Land Forces with Iskander complex was completed.
As well as the launch of the third Kupol spacecraft of the Unified Space System. It successfully completes the tasks of combat alert duty.
Flights of the Hunter experimental reconnaissance-strike long-range unmanned complex, surpassing foreign counterparts, were performed.
From December 1, a unique over-the-horizon radar station took up combat duty. It is able to reveal the massive take-offs of aircraft and launches of cruise missiles, including hypersonic ones.
Long-term contracts were signed for the supply of 76 Su-57 aircraft and more than 200 modern combat helicopters to the Aerospace Forces. This allowed to reduce purchase prices by 20% and guarantee the loading of enterprises until 2028.
For the first time in the modern history of Russia, the Navy is simultaneously builds 22 ships for the far sea zone. Five ships were laid this year, and there will be eight more next year.
The issues of reducing the time of their construction and equipping with precision weapons, including Tsircon hypersonic missiles, are being resolced.
Mi-28NM helicopters, new samples of missiles, bombs arms of Su-57 fighter jet were tested in combat work in Syria.
The rearmament of the army and navy, as well as the planned repair of military equipment, made it possible to increase the level of serviceability in the Armed Forces to 95%.
At the same time, there is an acute question with the serviceability of training aircraft, in which it is 58%, and for Yak-130 aircraft - 56%. We are taking active measures to correct the situation.
The activities on transferring 107 repair enterprises to the defence industry complex and the state corporation Rostec were completed in full.
Fundamentally new technologies and weapons models developed in the Era military innovative technopolis are already used in the daily activities of the troops.
Four research and production companies showed their effectiveness. We consider it necessary to extend this practice to all defence enterprises.
Unique research in the defence sphere is carried out by servicemen of 17 scientific companies. They implemented 1,584 developments, registered 135 inventions. After the service, 912 of them became officers or got jobs at the defence industry enterprises.
Over the five years of the operation of the National Centre for State Defence Control, the total productivity of its computing facilities has been increased eight times. The volume of stored protected data has increased by 16 times, which allows to control all types of activities of the Armed Forces - from everyday to combat control. The Centre also fully implements round-the-clock monitoring of the implementation of the state defence order.
To increase the efficiency of the execution of the state defence order, within the framework of a unified information system for calculating state defence orders, a separate accounting methodology is used for the results of financial and economic activities of state defence executives, at which military missions are created.
This made it possible to reduce accounts receivable by two and a half times, reduce the price of arms and equipment, and increase the volume of their deliveries to the troops.
The type of armament and equipment has been clarified, purchase prices have been reduced, and the Unified Information System for the Control of the State Defence Order is functioning.
At the same time, against the backdrop of annually rising spending by the United States and other countries, Russia's military budget has remained unchanged for several years.
If in 2018 we were in seventh place in military spending among the leading states of the world, in the current year - in eighth, and in the next we will be in ninth.
At the same time, the accumulated pace of the rearmament of the troops, the creation of a modern military infrastructure, and also the solution of the tasks of social protection of servicemen are maintained.
Improving the readiness of troops to carry out mission
Level of field, air and sea training has increased. In total, over 18,500 exercises and trainings of various levels were held in the Armed Forces during the year.
The task of increasing the flying and sailing time has been completed.
Two surprise combat readiness inspection were carried out with the participation of military districts, branches and arms of the Armed Forces.
The largest event in the training of troops was Tsentr-2019 strategic command-post exercise. It was attended by military contingents of seven foreign countries from the CSTO and SCO.
The Russian Navy conducted Ocean Shield joint exercise. The created groupping has demonstrated the ability to effectively fulfill the tasks of protecting our national interests in the waters of the Baltic and North Seas and in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.
The interest of foreign countries in the International Army Games, which has become an important part of combat training, is growing every year. The Games competitions were held in ten countries with the participation of teams from 39 countries. For the first time in India, Uzbekistan and Mongolia.
To increase the level of combat training of the troops and the Games 82 training grounds were modernized during five years.
Conducted 42 exercises with foreign counterparts. The most significant of them were Joint Sea 2019 Russian-Chinese bilateral naval exercise and Indra Russian-Indian exercise.
We continue to form a professional army. Simultaneously with the entry into the troops of technologically sophisticated weapons, the number of contracted personnel trained for its operation and combat use is increasing. At the same time, the need for recruiting citizens for military service is proportionally reduced.
This year certification of all contractors was carried out, during which professionally unsuitable servicemen were identified and dismissed.
We continue to increase the requirements for the selection and level of training of contracted personnel. Currently, more than 70% of them have professional education. At the same time, they are financially encouraged and the conditions of service are improved.
This year, over 14,000 such specialists were sent to the troops. This is the second full graduation from our schools. The military education system has reached the required training capacity and is able to meet the army's need for qualified military personnel.
Performing tasks abroad
To ensure a military presence in strategically important areas, 48 strategic missile-carrier flights were carried out this year.
In July, joint patrols of Russian and Chinese strategic bombers in the Asia-Pacific region were first performed.
In October, the Tu-160 missile carriers made flights using airfields in South Africa.
The ships of the Russian Navy completed 111 trips to the Arctic zone, the Central and North Atlantic, the Caribbean, as well as to the pirate-dangerous areas of the Gulf of Aden.
Russian ships also took an active part in joint exercises in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.
Russian servicemen are the guarantor of peace in Syria.
Russian Aerospace Forces aviation currently makes an average of 2–3 sorties per day for reconnaissance and air support for the actions of the Syrian army in the liquidation of disparate terrorist formations. In 2015–2017, during an operation, our aviation performed an average of 80–90 sorties per day.
In total, we tested 359 modern weapons in Syria.
Military personnel of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides conducted more than 2,000 humanitarian actions.
109,000 civilians received medical care.
The Syrian authorities, with the active participation of Russian military personnel, are implementing a large-scale program to restore peaceful life and return refugees. Since 2015, around 2,000,000 refugees and internally displaced persons have returned to their places of former residence.
Today, modern military and social infrastructure is deployed in places of deployment of the Russian force groupping in Syria.
This year, shelters for operational-tactical aviation were put into operation at the Hmeymim airbase.
The construction of a ship repair complex has been completed in Tartous.
Russian military facilities are reliably covered by an air defence system and electronic warfare systems.
This year, they shot down 53 unmanned aerial vehicles and 27 missiles of MLRS terrorists.
Since 2015, Syrian air defence have repelled 83 air strikes by coalition forces led by the United States, Israel and terrorists. At the same time, they destroyed 217 cruise missiles, 38 guided bombs and 25 drones. Unlike the Patriot systems in Saudi Arabia, Syrian Air Defence systems bring down at least 72% of precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles in every massive strike.
At the same time, along with the modern Russian «Pantsirs» and «Buks», the Soviet S-75, S-125 and S-200, restored and modernized with the participation of Russian specialists, form the basis of Syria’s Air Defence.
Modern military and social infrastructure is being built at our bases abroad for servicemen and their families.
This year, at the training ground of the 201st military base in Tajikistan, the S-300PS anti-aircraft missile battalion with Russian units took up an experimental combat alert duty.
This system can be transferred in two years to the armed forces of Tajikistan after completion of training of their specialists.
In the field of military and technical cooperation, China, India, Egypt, Algeria and Vietnam remained our priority partners. We continued to strengthen our allied relations with the CSTO, CIS and SCO countries.
International Military and Technical Forum «ARMY-2019» was an important event in the development of international military and technical cooperation.
In terms of its main indicators, it significantly surpassed last year's forum. The amount of the State contracts signed has exceeded one trillion rubles.
In five years, the Forum has become the largest armament exhibition in the world.
A record number of delegates – more than 1,000 from 111 countries and seven international organizations attended the annual Moscow Conference on International Security.
Armed Forces completed all tasks defined for 2019.
An increase in combat capabilities of 14% and a predetermined level of maintaining the country's defence capability were ensured.
The identified issues and solutions are taken into account in the Ministry of Defence plan for 2019-2025.
In 2020, the Ministry of Defence will have to solve a number of priority tasks.
To deliver 22 launchers with Yars and Avangard ballistic missiles for the combat alert duty to the Strategic Nuclear Forces of the Strategic Missile Forces.
To complete the modernization of six strategic missile carriers Tu-95MS at industry enterprises.
To commission the type ship of nuclear submarine project Borey Knyaz Vladimir equipped with the Bulava ballistic missile. There will be seven in total.
As for general purpose forces. To deliver 565 modern armored vehicles, 436 piece of missile and artillery weapons, two division sets of Buk-M3 to the Land Forces, the Coastal Troops of the Navy and the Airborne Troops. To organize 11 formations and military units.
To deliver 106 new and upgraded aircraft, four regiment sets of air defense missile weapon system S-400 Triumf and six division sets of the Pantsir missile system to the Aerospace Forces and the Navy.
To launch the fourth spacecraft of the United space system.
To increase the level of serviceability of aviation equipment up to 80% due to the conclusion of State contracts for the cost of a flight hour and the transition to a promising system of engineering and aviation supply and military repair.
To commission 14 warships and boats, three submarines, 18 auxiliary vessels. To deliver one Bal coastal missile system.
To complete the construction of strategic missile submarines base infrastructure in the Northern and Pacific Fleets.
To introduce the project method for managing the creation, construction and modernization of the Navy ships.
To equip the Armed Forces with modern weapons and equipment by 70%, following the instructions given in the May 2012 decrees of the President of the Russian Federation.
To maintain the serviceability of weapons and equipment at the achieved level.
To conduct 19,200 different exercises and trainings, including the strategic command post exercise «Kavkaz-2020».
To put into operation 3,200 buildings and constructions synchronously with terms of the armament arriving in troops.
To continue the implementation of the «Effective army» program.
In accordance with your instructions, next year we will continue our progressive developement of the Armed Forces and improving their quality.
We will discuss the results of our activities in detail during the closed part of the Defence Ministry Board Session.
Source - MoD
