Translated material
Post modernism
The Russian defense industry is ready to improve NATO weapons
A round table on the topic “Modernization of weapons systems” was held at the head office of the federal state unitary enterprise Rosoboronexport. This is already the sixth such meeting, which in itself indicates the relevance of the problem. However, the composition of the participants also testifies to this. Among them from the Russian side are representatives of the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Energy, and the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation. Since the round table was held within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council, the guests of the Russian arms dealers were senior officials of the North Atlantic Alliance, a delegation of representatives of NATO member countries and middle managers of leading Western European firms. More than three dozen military-industrial companies were represented on both sides.The main presentations were made by Deputy Head of Rosoboronexport Viktor Komardin, Deputy Assistant Secretary General of NATO Patrick Ardoin, and Director of the Alliance's Defense Investment Department Richard Williams. They all agreed that joint modernization of weapons and military equipment (WME) of Russian and Soviet production, which are in service with some NATO countries, is necessary. These include aircraft and armored vehicles, ships, conventional weapons, communications equipment, and air traffic control systems. There was also talk about the disposal of artillery ammunition. Many specialized scientific and technical enterprises in Russia and companies from some European countries have confirmed their readiness for this kind of work.
Today, the modernization of Russian weapons and military equipment takes place mainly without the participation of their developers and manufacturers. As a result, the number of accidents of such modernized equipment is growing. There are cases when a shell exploded in the barrel of a tank gun and the crew died, when a floating infantry fighting vehicle suddenly began to sink and the personnel were barely saved. “We do not keep such statistics. But we have data that, for example, aviation systems fail because the modernization was carried out without the main contractor,” said Viktor Komardin. In addition, according to him, units and parts of unlicensed production are often used. Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Alekseev, who participated in the event, gave another example: the Bulgarian Arsenal plant produced Kalashnikov assault rifles under a license that did not allow the sale of this specific product to third countries. The license expired long ago, but production was not stopped.
Until now, an agreement on the protection of intellectual property and classified information has not been signed with half of the NATO member countries. Although such agreements are mandatory when concluding agreements on military-technical cooperation with any country. There are no similar agreements with Lithuania, Latvia, Canada, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, or Norway. Negotiations are underway with the USA and Great Britain. The Russians never tire of repeating: an equal joint entry of Russian and European enterprises of the military-industrial complex into the market of services related to the modernization of weapons and military equipment supplied to Central and Eastern Europe, with the supply of spare parts and even with joint research and development work is necessary .
The position of NATO representatives on these issues can hardly be called unequivocally positive for Russia. Patrick Ardoin, for example, hastened to declare that NATO does not make decisions on modernization - “this is a decision of specific countries of the Alliance.” That is, there is no single policy in this sense. It's a different matter for the Russians. Rosoboronexport, following its intended goal, does not impose only Russian companies on foreign customers - agreements are signed so that Western companies can also be involved in repairs and modernization.
The Russian state mediator offers NATO countries various options for cooperation on modernization. Today, programs are being implemented to modernize MiG-29 aircraft, Mi-17 military transport helicopters, and Mi-24 combat helicopters. In addition, the Russian side works in cooperation with Western European companies to fulfill contracts in third countries, for example, in India and Malaysia, where equipment from Western companies is installed.
The third area of joint activity is the creation of new weapons systems in England, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Spain. “Experience shows that various weapons systems are successfully integrated into the unified weapon system of the North Atlantic bloc. We would like our weapons to also be successfully integrated into this modernization system,” said Viktor Komardin.
By the way, there is already a program called by Rosoboronexport: “Our weapons on a Western platform.” We are talking about the adaptation of weapons to certain carriers, the integration of certain blocs of Western or Russian production into Soviet and Russian weapons systems.
The round table participants exchanged views on the problems of integration and interoperability of technical systems for various purposes, possible joint R&D, collection and processing of information, after-sales service, weapon life cycle management, and logistics support. Rosoboronexport is confident that NATO expansion, although not welcomed by Russia, nevertheless opens up new opportunities for cooperation. If only because neophyte countries are unlikely to rearm in a short time. It is clear that it is more economically profitable to modernize existing weapons to NATO standards - this costs four to six times less than purchasing new weapons.
Rosoboronexport specialists claim that such modernization, among other things, significantly increases the combat capabilities of weapons. In addition, the state mediator hopes that in this case it will be easier to protect the intellectual property rights of Russian developers.