VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Prime Minister Putin's introductory remarks:
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Two big events took place in Voronezh today. First, the governor has made Voronezh his permanent place of residence. I believe this is a good sign, promising that his work here will be long and successful.
Second, the chief designer at Sozvezdiye, which we have toured, turned 40 today. Mr Potapov, I would like to wish you all the best.
Ladies and gentlemen, today we are continuing our series of regular meetings on the development of the Russian defence industry to address our objectives for the large-scale re-equipment of the Army and Navy. In addition, as we always do, we must look at the defence industry's influence on the technological development of the economy in general, and its civilian industries in particular.
We have already discussed the state of affairs in the armoured vehicle, tank, naval, missile, artillery and space industries. Today's agenda focuses on progress in creating high-tech command, reconnaissance and communications systems.
Military experts in Russia and abroad rightfully refer to these systems as one of the deciding factors for ensuring the combat effectiveness of a modern army, and the experience of recent armed conflicts has shown this to be true.
The strategic and tactical command capabilities of the armed forces are of primary importance, as is the reliability and flawless performance of communications systems and the extensive use of electronic warfare and reconnaissance systems. These factors allow for the effective use of high-precision weapons. To be more exact - and you all know this - high-precision weapons cannot be used at all without these systems.
Ultimately, it is impossible to conceive of an effective transition to a modern organisational structure without these systems.
It is not by pure chance that we have made the development of command, communications and reconnaissance systems one of the priorities of our defence programme, with considerable budget appropriations planned for these purposes.
I would like to stress that we need to modernise existing units and systems fundamentally. We must admit that they have become obsolete, with their technological and technical conditions often leaving much to be desired. This is why our short-term objective is to provide the armed forces with new-generation equipment, making a big step forward. I want you to be guided by this objective.
Russian companies have good science and technology capacities, which must be applied prudently to achieve this.
We have toured one of the leading radio-electronic companies, the Sozvezdiye Group, where the most cutting-edge command, communications and reconnaissance systems are developed and manufactured.
A few dozen other defence companies also work on similar projects. I ask you above all to ensure that you coordinate your work with them clearly and develop common approaches and requirements for new products.
In addition, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that a number of decisions have not yet been implemented. For example, a general designer has still not been appointed to supervise the development of the Armed Forces' automated control system. No integrated structure has been set up to work out and put into practice a common science and technology policy in defence industry. No comprehensive programme has been developed to accumulate funds or minimise and optimise public spending to make it more effective.
Let's discuss these issues in more detail.
