Translated material
An army on three fronts
The armed forces are ordered to protect the mineral resources, the greatness of the state and world peace
“The period of firefighters “patching holes” and basic survival in the army and navy is over. The army and navy are regaining power, strength, and inner pride. And most importantly, the consciousness of their national importance and relevance is returning to people in uniform,” this is how Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin figuratively described the current state of the armed forces. He did this at the traditional annual meeting of the leadership of the army and navy, which took place yesterday. The main task that the president set for the armed forces is as simple as it is large-scale: strategic nuclear forces must be guaranteed to destroy any potential aggressor, and general-purpose forces must win local conflicts. And from the report of Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, it became clear that the third key task of the army will be to support Russia in global competition for access to raw materials and technological resources. Simply put, the army must repel an enemy attack on our bowels, if one happens.The Minister of Defense, whose any communication with the president is now perceived through the prism of a possible “succession,” structured his report in the form of a report on how the tasks set for the armed forces by the president in his annual address to the Federal Assembly are being solved. In this document, as is known, along with demography, perhaps the main place was devoted to issues of the military organization of the state. From yesterday's report by the Minister of War, it can be understood that the Russian army is being built to suit the military-political situation in the world. And this situation is characterized by “increasing competition between leading powers for access to raw materials, energy, scientific and technological resources.” Russia has all this, and all this must be reliably protected. Moreover, according to the minister, the armed forces must be able to wage war “in global, regional, and, if necessary, in several local conflicts.” So to speak, on three fronts.
Today, Sergei Ivanov said, self-sufficient groups have already been created in all potentially dangerous directions. The only thing missing is quality management. To fill the gap, the Army is experimenting with moving from military districts to regional groupings. The formation of one such command, Vostok, has been practically completed this year. Regional commands will be engaged in planning and leading troops, while administration and support will remain with the military districts.
Based on the results of the experiment, a decision will be made whether it is necessary to form similar commands in the southern and western strategic directions. But the first step has already been taken: in the past year, interdepartmental (that is, common for all security forces) logistics and technical support systems have been intensively created - all security forces will have the same bases and warehouses, medical units and educational institutions.
To the existing forces - strategic deterrence and general purpose - a unified aerospace defense (ASD) will soon be added. Also a kind of third front. The concept for the development of East Kazakhstan region “until 2016 and beyond” was adopted in April of this year. Now it is being tested in practice. While threats of aerospace attack are being predicted, then the latest missile attack warning, missile defense and space control systems will be adopted. Funds for their purchase will be allocated within the framework of the State Armament Program for 2007-2015. The president approved this program a little over a month ago. Almost 5 trillion rubles have been allocated for it. In the 2007 budget, the state did not spare money for national defense - 820 billion rubles, and for equipping the armed forces - more than 300 billion.
In order to wisely manage these substantial sums, a unified system for ordering weapons, military equipment, property and food is being formed for all Russian security forces. In particular, a Center for orders and supplies of weapons, military and special equipment has been created. Only civilian specialists will work in it. And next year, on the basis of the center, it is planned to organize a federal agency for the procurement of weapons, military, special equipment and materiel. Financial flows will go through this new structure. Only a unified pricing policy, army financiers calculated, would save half a billion rubles a year.
From “hardware” the Minister of Defense smoothly moved to “personnel”. And first of all, he proudly announced: “They are no longer punished for an honest report in the Russian army!” This refers to commanders' reports on the number of violations of discipline. Sergei Ivanov gave orders in this regard back in February. At first, the result was the opposite - the number of registered violations and crimes increased by 8%. But the number of so-called non-combat losses dropped by almost half over the year. The head of the military department called his recent opponent, the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, as witnesses.
They are fighting in the Ministry of Defense and with the “soldier farm laborers”. There was also an order from the minister in this regard, as a result of which more than fifty commanders, including three generals, were prosecuted this year. Three more are awaiting their fate - they are being investigated. “We are not hiding anything! - exclaimed Sergei Borisovich. “In general, the Russian armed forces are probably the most open in the world.” And, apparently, they are going to become even more open. Recently, the head of the Public Chamber, academician Evgeniy Velikhov, approached Sergei Ivanov with a proposal to create a public council under the Ministry of Defense. “The idea is very timely, and most importantly, useful. I immediately supported her,” said the speaker. And yesterday, according to him, he signed the corresponding order to create this “public military chamber.” The Council will become an advisory body.
Moreover, the military department supported the creation of “parental inspections.” Parents of conscripts will now be able to come to the military unit any day and see what is there and how it is. They will even be able to attend meetings where discipline issues are discussed and participate in the work of draft boards at military registration and enlistment offices. The Minister of Defense hopes that this practice will help avoid eternal bribes for “sloping” from the army and successfully identify malingerers.
In the coming year, the army's transition to contract recruitment will be completed. As a result, two thirds of the armed forces will become professional. This will be followed by another step - the transfer to contract of all sergeants and foremen, as well as the crew of surface ships. In just over a year, military training centers at civilian universities, where officers for the armed forces will be trained, should be fully operational. Today, 1,450 future officers are studying at military departments; next year there will be 3,300.
In short, there are more than enough innovations for one year in the army. The Russian army is trying to break away from the Soviet mentality. This is best demonstrated by the decision of the Ministry of Defense to eliminate “as a class” the symbol of the Soviet army - construction battalions, the notorious construction battalions. There was even a famous joke about them: they are such ferocious troops that they are not even given weapons.
In the next two years, all contract construction organizations of the Ministry of Defense will be corporatized. Partly due to this, the military intends to provide those who are entitled to permanent housing by 2010, and by 2012 - official housing. As the Supreme Commander-in-Chief demanded.
At yesterday's meeting, Vladimir Putin also demanded that objective criteria for career promotion be determined. One of them, according to the president, is this: the officer passed the hot spots or not. Vladimir Putin called for saturating the army and navy with “high-precision weapons, modern means of communication and electronic warfare”, and paying serious attention to promising research work, “especially in the field of strategic weapons, aviation, reconnaissance and airspace control systems.” All this requires huge financial costs, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief specified. And he immediately reassured the military: there are funds for defense.