TSAMTO, August 21. The International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2023" completed its work in the Moscow region on August 20. During the seven days of the forum, its events were attended by 1 million 93 thousand 285 people.
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.
The events of the MVTF "Army-2023" took place from August 14 to 20 at the main exhibition site of the Russian Ministry of Defense – the Patriot Convention and Exhibition Center, as well as at the facilities of the Central Military-Patriotic Park of Culture and Recreation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, at the Alabino training ground and Kubinka airfield.
The structure of the forum provided for a static exposition, dynamic and scientific and business programs, as well as protocol and cultural and artistic events.
The forum was attended by delegations of defense departments of 83 foreign countries. During the forum, 29 bilateral meetings were organized and held. 83 foreign companies participated in the exhibition, which is more than twice the figure of last year. Six countries (Belarus, Vietnam, India, Iran, China, Pakistan) presented national expositions.
From August 15 to 17, the forum was open to specialists, delegations of foreign countries participating in scientific and business events.
From August 18 to 20, the doors of the forum were open to the public.
The static exposition was formed in the pavilions and outdoor areas of the Patriot Convention and Exhibition Center and Kubinka Airfield.
About 1.5 thousand domestic and foreign enterprises and organizations presented over 28 thousand samples of military and dual-use products in the form of full-scale samples, mock-ups and advertising and information materials.
In the pavilions of the Central Exhibition Complex were formed:
- exposition of manufacturers of radio electronics and trace element base;
- thematic exhibition "Military Education – in the service of the Fatherland", where advanced training systems in educational organizations of the Ministry of Defense of Russia were demonstrated, taking into account the experience of using troops, including in special military operations and exercises;
- exposition "Military Construction Complex" dedicated to the contribution of military builders to the development of the socio-economic infrastructure of the Republic of Crimea and new regions of the Russian Federation;
- the exposition "Military Medicine" with a demonstration of advanced technologies used by military medical institutions in the treatment of combat injuries.
Expositions "Diversification of the Russian Military-Industrial complex" were formed on the open site of the Patriot Exhibition Center, in a temporary pavilion, as well as a thematic exhibition dedicated to advanced achievements in the field of domestic artificial intelligence technologies, which was launched for the first time at the forum. This exposition was presented under the motto "Time for results!". It demonstrated the best practical developments and technologies in various industries and fields of application, including in certain regions of Russia. The organizations with the best practical results were the exhibitors of the exhibition.
The main elements of advanced reconnaissance and firing artillery complexes were demonstrated at the specialized exposition of promising weapons, military and special equipment. The exposition included intelligence and control subsystems linked to a common contour with the means of destruction. Ammunition used by firing means was also presented.
This year, the exhibition of developments of the Military Innovative Technopolis "ERA" was presented with 99 exhibits and was divided into five clusters "Artificial Intelligence Technologies", "Unmanned aerial vehicles. Robotic complexes", "Critical information infrastructure. Technological independence", "Intelligent learning systems, digital twins", "Advanced technologies of integrated security and medical support". The exposition was not only a platform for demonstrating innovative developments, but also a center for holding thematic events of the business program and professional consultations.
On the basis of six Demonstration and Exhibition Centers, the exhibition "Products of the leading enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex" was held, at which key enterprises of the defense industry of Russia demonstrated promising developments of weapons, military and special equipment, as well as samples of high-tech dual-use products.
Large-scale expositions of the state corporations Rosatom and Roscosmos were deployed at the exhibition grounds.
The Russian Geographical Society took part in the events of the forum. In 2023, the stand was dedicated to the key areas of the RGS activities, as well as projects implemented in cooperation with partner organizations and, first of all, with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Forum visitors were able to get acquainted with the unique artifacts that were found on the ships that died in the Gulf of Finland during the Tallinn breakthrough.
An exposition was formed in the aviation cluster at Kubinka airfield, where modern samples of military aviation and air defense equipment, new and promising samples of aviation weapons, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles were presented. Master classes on the assembly of aircraft models were organized for visitors.
In order to inform about the upcoming Army International Games-2024, the Polygon Club was deployed. 22 thematic sites were presented on its territory, where 35 competitions of professional skills of military personnel planned within the framework of ARMI-2024, including various gaming, information zones and recreation areas, were demonstrated.
During the forum, the final stage of the All-Russian computer sports competitions among cadets of law enforcement agencies was held at the site of the Polygon Club. A total of 119 teams from 65 higher educational institutions of Russia took part in the competition.
The sensation of the forum this year was the site of the Dronbiathlon Club, which included an expanded set of events: 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 pilots of FPV drones. The championship program included competitions and master classes on practical tasks for piloting FPV drones in a complex electronic environment, reconnaissance and target destruction using methods tested in a real combat situation. 51 manufacturing companies presented their samples at the exhibition site in the Demo Center of the Patriot Park. More than 100 exhibits were shown to the guests at the forum, master classes were held at which the drone assembly process was demonstrated. The exhibition area occupied more than 1.5 thousand square meters.
A dynamic display of weapons, military and special equipment of Ground and Airborne Troops took place at the Alabino training ground during the Army-2023 forum. A total of 10 episodes were played, during which foreign and Russian specialists, military attaches of the participating countries of the forum demonstrated the combat capabilities of modern models of the VVST.
The forum hosted for the first time the Festival of the All-Russian Society of Inventors and Innovators "Science and Inventions for Life". The project was aimed at popularizing science and invention in Russia, as well as at finding, demonstrating and supporting developments and solutions created by Russian scientists and inventors.
Participants and guests of the forum were able to visit the exposition of captured weapons and equipment captured during a special military operation. The exposition itself was formed in August 2022 and during the year of its existence it collected more than 870 samples of weapons and military equipment. Most of the exhibits are weapons and equipment of the Ukrainian military–industrial complex. Visitors of the exhibition could see the modernized T-72AMT tank used by the AFU, armored personnel carriers BTR-3E and BTR-4E, armored vehicles for various purposes and patrol boats. The exhibition demonstrated Ukrainian armored vehicles "Varta", "Kozak" and "Triton", a lightly armored boat "Kalkan-P" with the tail number BG-309, developed by the former Ukrainian plant "Liman" for the needs of the Coast Guard of Ukraine. The burned Australian Bushmaster armored car, the American M-113 armored personnel carrier, the Swedish CV90-40 BMP, and the French AMX-10RCR wheeled tank aroused special attention of visitors to the exhibition. Most of the Western captured equipment at the exhibition were British combat vehicles: Hysky and Mastiff armored cars, the AT105 Saxon car. The description of the exhibits indicated where and under what circumstances they were captured.
Traditionally, a meeting of graduates of the Military Innovation Technopolis "ERA" was held. About 80 people who have been serving in the military innograd since 2019 have become participants of the event. As part of the meeting, graduates and the management of technopolis addressed the audience, and a "Job Fair" was organized, at which domestic enterprises, including residents of technopolis, were represented.
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 II International Anti-Fascist Congress.
The scientific and business program of the forum provided for 260 events on topical issues of the development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the military-industrial complex of Russia and international military-technical cooperation, taking into account modern conditions.
The landmark events of the scientific and business program were:
- Congress "Diversification of the Russian Defense Industry";
- Congress "Strategic Leadership and Artificial Intelligence Technologies" under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko;
- conference "Army and Society. Mental Security Strategy";
- anniversary scientific and technical conference "Kurchatov Institute for the Defense of the Fatherland. History, modernity, future" under the leadership of the president of the SIC "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk.
On August 17, an agreement was signed between the Main Department of Innovative Development of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Consortium of Robotics and Intelligent Control Systems. The document is aimed at the development of scientific and technical cooperation, the implementation of joint programs, the implementation of technology transfer, experimental and development work, the development of human resources in the field of robotics and its components.
On August 19, representatives of the 51st organization, including federal executive authorities, the ERA Foundation, Kalashnikov, Almaz-Antey Concerns and leading manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles, within the framework of the Dronbiathlon club, took part in the plenary session of the conference "Unmanned Aviation – dual-use technologies in the conditions of war and peace". The event was organized by the Main Department of Innovative Development of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. The main purpose of the meeting was to coordinate the efforts of regional centers and manufacturers of unmanned multirotor aircraft systems in the interests of improving conditions for operator training, development and mass production of UAVs, integrated development and popularization of operator training schools in the interests of their own.
Eight events of the scientific and business program on the subject of Aerospace Forces were held at Kubinka airfield. The experts discussed the issues of electromagnetic compatibility of avionics, communications of the manned aviation complex, as well as issues of information support for the operation of military complexes.
During the Army-2023 forum, seven award ceremonies were held for participants of the largest weapons exhibition. The laureates of the MVTF "Army-2023" were honored in 15 different nominations.
Within the framework of the Army-2023 forum, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation signed and awarded state contracts to enterprises of the military-industrial complex in the amount of more than 400 billion rubles. 11 state contracts were signed and 9 were awarded at the forum. As a result of their implementation, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will receive more than 2.5 thousand new samples of weapons, military and special equipment and over 1.8 million units of weapons of destruction.
Participants and guests of the forum were able to visit the unique objects of the Central Military-Patriotic Park of Culture and Recreation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation "Patriot": the largest exposition of historical and modern equipment at the Museum Site No. 1, the Center of Military tactical games with a wide variety of tactical team games and master classes, a national treasure - a collection of armored vehicles in Technical in the center of the Patriot Park, the Main Temple of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Multimedia historical and memorial complex "Memory Road", the open-air museum "Field of Victory", the military-historical complex "Partisan Village".
Creative collectives of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, soloists of Moscow, the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army named after A.V. Alexandrov performed in front of the audience of the forum, and a military-patriotic rally was held, the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reports.
For reference:
The International Military-Technical Forum "Army" has been held since 2015. The representative of the organizer of the forum is the Main Department of Innovative Development of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.