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
"Today we will discuss 2010 defence spending, which has reached more than 1.17 trillion roubles, 8% more than in 2009. Defence spending has been increased considerably to support defence companies and related industries. But the most important thing is to accomplish our strategic objective: reforming the Russian Army and the Navy, improving their combat readiness and mobility."
“One more priority is to upgrade domestically sourced production. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with our shipbuilders using foreign technology and components. But we realize full well that in perspective we must develop a modern domestic industry to develop components, which would allow us to fill orders for related industries.”
“We must make similar breakthroughs in military shipbuilding. It is absolutely necessary to develop a long-term programme as soon as possible. It should meet the Navy's requirements and include current objectives based on 30-year forecasts. This is our minimum programme. a meeting on providing the Navy with new weapons and military hardware at the Admiralty Shipyards.”
"We often say that the Russian Armed Forces must become more compact, mobile and combat-effective and that the proportion of modern hardware in the equipment mix should be brought to 70% by 2020. This fully applies to the Navy, whose provision with new equipment we will discuss today."
“As the military transitions to its new, modern structure, it needs to be divested of its so-called non-core assets, or in the case of the Armed Forces, its non-core activities. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop a system for maintaining armour and automotive equipment at the manufacturer's plants. Maintaining separate auto services and tank repair plants is an unjustified and inexcusable extravagance in today's conditions. What is more, experts from the plants where the hardware is produced are better qualified to do this work. And they will receive additional funding.”
“The development of such modern and robust hardware directly depends on the unity and clarity of scientific and technical policies. Therefore, as soon as possible we need to consolidate the results of scientific research and design work, identify the most promising solutions and come up with a unified plan for future design work. I mean engines, weapons, ammunition, observation and aiming devices, as well as automated control systems.”
“The main goal of the defence industry is to supply our own military. Today we need to look to the future and keep in mind that science and technology for defence needs are developing at a rapid pace all over the world. And in the modern world, tanks and other armour, as before, remain one of the main components of any military. The manoeuvrability of forces is achieved primarily by reliable military vehicles.
"We are conducting a sector-by-sector analysis of it - including conventional weapons, rocket and space technology, the navy, anti-aircraft defence and so on. And there are lots of problems associated with the need to modernise our leading companies, because we cannot use 1950s-era equipment to produce modern weapons for our defence capacity. All of these issues are resolvable. We're resolving them and will continue to resolve them."
"As for weapons purchases and sales, we are No. 2 in the world in terms of volume of sales to foreign markets, and of course, we don't need to buy weapons from abroad to provide for our defence capacity."
“Next year state defence orders will be boosted considerably, specifically to 1.75 trillion roubles. We hope that this decision will not only allow us to begin the upcoming modernisation of the defence industry, but will also provide significant support to related companies and encourage the introduction of high technologies and the manufacture of cutting-edge materials and components. This will result in a considerable increase in the efficiency of the rocket and space industry. All the more so, because in 2010, defence companies are to supply over 30 ground-based and sea-based ballistic missiles and 11 space shuttles to the Armed Forces.”
