The radiation chemical and biological defense forces celebrate the 102nd anniversary of its Foundation on November 13. Military chemists are responsible for eliminating the consequences of the use of weapons of mass destruction and are involved in the fight against man-made disasters. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, military chemists have been at the forefront of the fight against this virus, preventing its spread, both in Russia and abroad. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Federation's national security service for the protection of the Armed Forces, spoke about the activities of these special forces
Igor Anatolyevich, units of the RCB protection troops took part in the fight against coronavirus in Italy, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. What practical experience was gained during these trips?
Igor Kirillov: Specialists of the RCB protection troops were working on indication and disinfection, being directly in the centers of biological infection caused by COVID-19. A huge amount of practical experience was gained in planning and conducting both preventive and final disinfection of objects, terrain, roads, various equipment and materials, and new ways of performing tasks were tested.
Let me remind you that more than five hundred social institutions were disinfected in 140 localities of foreign countries. More than three million square meters of internal premises, more than three hundred units of various equipment, more than fourteen thousand sets of personal protective equipment, equipment and inventory of medical institutions were processed.
Now the troops continue to provide assistance to the subjects of the Russian Federation at socially significant sites, and help fight the spread of coronavirus infection in Armenia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Has the fight against coronavirus infection made adjustments to the training of cadets and students of the rcbz Academy?
Igor Kirillov: Do the activities to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus infection have required changes in the organization of the educational process, and clarify the content of disciplines on which there is training of listeners and cadets of the military Academy of NBC protection.
In the context of the pandemic, the RCB protection troops have to solve new tasks of conducting diagnostic studies, collecting field material on the territory of foci and carrying out disinfection measures in them, and evacuating patients with particularly dangerous infections, which is not possible without highly trained specialists.
In this regard, in educational programs and curricula of the disciplines which is carried out training of listeners and cadets of the military Academy of NBC protection changes aimed at improving the quality of training on bio-security. Thus, the curriculum for engineering cadets includes a new academic discipline "Fundamentals of biological protection".
After studying this discipline, students must know the characteristics of biological weapons, the procedure for sampling from the environment, methods of group indication of biological agents, possess methods for identifying biological agents, conduct serological, molecular biological and immunochromatographic studies.
Taking into account the flow of new technology is widely and successfully used divisions of troops NBC protection measures to combat the spread of novel coronavirus infection in the cadet training program command and engineering field of study changes to its qualitative development.
Are special protective equipment being developed for the rcbz troops that can protect a person one hundred percent from the effects of viruses?
Igor Kirillov: You know, no matter what protective equipment is developed to protect a person from pathogenic infections, even the most advanced of them can not be constantly located. The presence of so-called "collective immunity" in the population can provide protection from the occurrence of disease foci and their spread. This immunity can only be ensured by mass vaccination of the population, and an effective vaccine is necessary for its implementation. Equally important is the availability of diagnostic tools that allow you to accurately and quickly analyze and identify the pathogenic infection.
Taking part in measures to combat the spread of coronavirus, specialists of the research organization of the Russian defense forces together with specialists of the NGO "Syntol" in February 2020 developed a set of reagents for detecting the RNA of the coronavirus 2019-nCoV by real-time polymerase chain reaction "PCR-RV-2019-nCoV".
The world's first COVID-19 vaccine was developed and registered in August 2020 with the direct participation of the research organization of the RCB protection troops and the main military clinical hospital named after academician N. N. Burdenko.
In addition, experts of NBC defense forces participated in preclinical studies of safety, immunogenicity and protectively vector vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, developed by the fgbi "NICAM them. N. F.Gamalei" Ministry Of Health Of Russia. The complex of studies carried out allowed us to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the developed drug, which allowed the developer to start its clinical trials in June 2020.
Our units were directly involved in the disinfection of various objects, in the selection and analysis of samples using modern samples of special equipment of the rcbz troops. These are the UTM-80M universal heat engine, the ARS-14KM auto-filling station, the KDA kit and the MKA PBA disinfection complex, which were used not only on the territory of Russia, but also abroad. In particular, when providing assistance to Italy, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Abkhazia.
I want to emphasize that the high efficiency of modern samples of our special equipment has been confirmed when performing tasks in epidemic foci caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus infection.
What types of new weapons and equipment should be added to the rcbz units in the coming years?
Igor Kirillov: In the coming years, it is planned to complete the development and delivery of new models of equipment to the troops.
For example, to identify and assess the radiation, chemical and biological situation, advanced RCB reconnaissance vehicles RHM-8, RHM-9, as well as sets of advanced instruments and tools for RCB reconnaissance, analysis and control will be delivered.
To ensure the safety of troops during operations in conditions of infection - promising means of individual and collective protection-combined-arms filter protective kit OFZK, isolating-filtering breathing apparatus IFDA, isolating breathing apparatus for crews of armored objects IP-7, universal filter-ventilation kit for military fortifications FVK-200U.
To reduce the visibility of troops and objects - a complex for remote control of the smoke outlet KDUD and smoke bombs developed for it UDSH-2, kdsh-K and kdsh-RL.
The troops will also be supplied with the TOS-2 heavy flamethrower system on the Ural wheeled base chassis and new unguided long-range rockets for the TOS-1A and TOS-2 systems.
What types of advanced weapons are being developed for the rcbz troops?
Igor Kirillov: As part of the implementation of the state defense order, industrial enterprises in the interests of the RCB protection troops are developing special tools such as the multifunctional robotic complex of the RCB protection MRK-rcbz, which will include ground-based robotic platforms and unmanned aerial vehicles. The complex will be designed for conducting RCB reconnaissance on the ground and carrying out measures to eliminate the consequences of the use of weapons of mass destruction by the enemy in wartime, as well as accidents at dangerous objects in peacetime.
Flamethrower-incendiary weapons have proven their effectiveness, including in Syria. Now the troops receive the latest TOS-2, which proved their effectiveness during the exercises "Caucasus-2020". Do you plan to further upgrade heavy flamethrower systems, increasing their power and range of use? Are new cbts being developed to replace existing ones?
Igor Kirillov: Industrial enterprises in the framework of mass production perform work on the modernization of BM-1 combat vehicles of the TOS-1A heavy flamethrower system. They will increase the protection against anti-tank weapons, increase the range and accuracy of fire, and the area of destruction of the target with one ammunition. Through the use of new unguided rockets and modern sighting and navigation systems, the rate of ammunition expenditure will be reduced and the time for preparing and performing fire tasks will be reduced.
Are there plans to upgrade or replace the rocket-powered infantry flamethrowers and urban-combat flamethrowers currently in service with the rcbz troops?
Igor Kirillov: Currently, in the interests of the RCB protection troops, work is being carried out to create a new flamethrower kit with ammunition for various purposes. The kit will be equipped with a modern all-day sighting system and will increase the combat capabilities of flamethrower units of the RCB protection troops. It is assumed that the kit includes the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to hit targets from the upper hemisphere.
Alexander Stepanov
