TSAMTO, August 15. The head of the Main Department of Innovative Development (GUIR) of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Alexander Osadchuk, at a briefing for journalists announced the summary results of the first day of the work of the MVTF "Army-2023".
"The current forum is the ninth. And this year it is a real parade of world-renowned innovations, where we see more than 28.5 thousand developments presented by 1.5 thousand defense industry enterprises. These are the enterprises that have successfully passed the tests of global crises and demonstrate high productivity and autonomy, as well as resistance to existing challenges and threats," A.Osadchuk said.
He also noted that this year at the forum, along with the products supplied under the state defense order, developments made by defense industry enterprises and research organizations on an initiative basis were presented. A significant part of such projects and solutions meet the presented tactical and technical requirements by their characteristics and are successfully implemented in the interests of troops participating in a special military operation.
The Forum has rightfully earned high authority and recognition, has become one of the world's largest exhibitions of innovations and modern military products, has made a serious contribution to the development of military-technical cooperation.
"I would like to note that more and more foreign military-industrial companies are becoming participants of the forum. Their number exceeds the figures of last year by 2.5 times," said the head of the GUIR of the Russian Defense Ministry.
Representatives of 82 foreign countries are taking part in the forum today. The national expositions represent six countries (Belarus, Vietnam, India, Iran, China, Pakistan).
About 77 thousand representatives of the military-industrial complex, scientists, developers and testers of the latest weapons, representatives of the state customer and military experts took part in the first day of the MVTF "Army-2023". The composition of participants and guests testifies to the growing interest in the exhibition both at the Russian and international levels.
A unique feature of 2023 was the simultaneous holding of several major international events at the forum sites at once: the XI Moscow Conference on International Security, the events of the Second International Anti-Fascist Congress.
The opening ceremony of the Army-2023 forum was attended by representatives of delegations of defense departments of 82 foreign states, including 19 states at the level of the head of the defense department, 19 states at the level of the Chief of the General Staff (Deputy Minister of Defense), 1 state at the level of experts, and representatives of foreign embassies in the Russian Federation Federation and military diplomats accredited in the Russian Federation – 43 states.
On the first day of the forum, 14 bilateral meetings were organized and held, of which: six – by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Alexander Fomin, with representatives of the military departments of Myanmar, Pakistan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Djibouti; 3 – by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov (Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso-Burkina Faso); 5 – through the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia (Mali, Uganda, Bolivia, Burundi, Djibouti).
The guests of the forum took part in a plenary session led by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation – Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov, viewed the exposition of the forum, in the opening ceremony of the forum with the participation of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus, Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin.
"Let me remind you that this year 260 scientific and business events are included in the scientific and business program of the forum. At the same time, the dominant topics of the scientific and business program are artificial intelligence technologies and the diversification of the military-industrial complex, the latest control systems, intelligence, precision weapons and robotics," said the head of the GUIR of the Russian Defense Ministry.
Special attention at the forum sites is paid to the topic of unmanned aerial vehicles. This direction is actively developing today in both the military and civilian sectors. In fact, we are talking about creating a new independent, knowledge-intensive and high-tech industry.
"On the first day of the forum, nine scientific and business events were held, which were attended by 892 people, including the heads of the central military administration bodies of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, deputies of the State Duma and the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, general directors of enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex, representatives of the business community and the financial sector" – cited statistics A.Osadchuk.
He noted that the center of attraction of specialists and experts was a specialized exposition of promising models of weapons, military and special equipment, which presents the main elements of promising reconnaissance and firing artillery complexes.
"The forum participants are particularly interested in the exposition of artificial intelligence technologies, radio-electronic and information technologies; the exposition of the best developments of the Military Technopolis ERA, scientific companies, research and educational organizations of the Ministry of Defense, as well as promising developments of military and special equipment weapons, samples of high-tech dual-use products within the framework of the exhibition "Products of leading defense industry enterprises Russia", formed on the basis of demonstration and exhibition pavilions," added the head of the GUIR of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.
In turn, those who wish to get acquainted with the peculiarities of the production of innovative civilian products are given the opportunity to visit the exposition "Diversification of the Defense Industry of Russia", presented in a separate pavilion, as well as a thematic exhibition dedicated to advanced achievements in the field of domestic artificial intelligence technologies, launched for the first time at the forum. This exhibition is presented under the motto "Time for results!". It demonstrates the best practical developments and technologies in various industries and fields of application, including in certain regions of Russia. Organizations with the best practical results will act as exhibitors of the exhibition.
Along with expositions of advanced weapons, military and special equipment, as well as new technologies, special attention is paid to the topic of unmanned aerial vehicles – a direction that is not only actively developing in the civilian sector, but is also rapidly transforming taking into account changes in the nature of armed struggle within the framework of a special military operation. The level of production of drones of various classes and means of combating them, the development of a system of pilot training centers and calculations, as well as the scale of combat use of UAVs have reached a serious scale. At the same time, we are talking not only about the aerial use of UAVs, but also the practical actions of troops using drones on water and on land.
Within the framework of the Dronbiathlon championship, an expanded set of events will be held for the first time, including a static exhibition of unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-aircraft systems, a scientific and business program with the participation of representatives of federal executive authorities, leading industrial enterprises, scientific and business elites, as well as heads of leading schools for training volunteer FPV pilots. The championship program includes competitions and master classes on practical tasks for piloting FPV drones in a complex electronic environment, reconnaissance and target destruction using methods tested on the line of combat contact.
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Today, on August 15, the forum program will be focused on the work of specialists. Within the framework of the forum, a series of bilateral meetings of the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry with representatives of defense departments, as well as bilateral meetings organized through the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia, are planned.
The events of the XI Moscow Conference on International Security will be held in Patriot Park with the participation of heads of military departments, representatives of the expert community from different states, as well as representatives of international organizations.
57 events are planned to be held within the framework of the scientific and business program, the main ones are: session of Section No. 1 of the Artificial Intelligence Congress "AI Technologies. Best implementation practices"; meeting of the interdepartmental working group "Regional control centers as a mechanism for ensuring integrated development and security of the subjects of the Russian Federation".
In addition, the guests of the forum will have the opportunity to visit the objects of the Patriot Park: training and training complexes of the Armed Forces, objects of the multifunctional fire center, objects of the center for military tactical games and others, the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reports.
