MOSCOW, January 11 - RIA Novosti. In 2024, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will continue a special military operation, the total number of troops will increase, the number of contractors will also increase, the formation of new military districts will continue, new intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bombers will enter service, the military-industrial complex will continue testing and developing the latest weapons.
Read about these and other plans in the military sphere in the material of the specialized editorial office of RIA Novosti.
ITS with the initiative
As Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated at the expanded board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in December, in 2024, the continuation of a special military operation remains among the priorities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation until the tasks defined by the President of Russia are fully fulfilled.
In January, Shoigu noted that, despite the depletion of the human resources of the Ukrainian formations and the lack of results on the battlefield, the United States is coolly trying to realize its ambitions for world leadership at the expense of the lives of Ukrainians. "At the suggestion of Western curators, the Kiev regime continues to drive its soldiers to slaughter and is looking for any opportunities to replenish the ranks of the Ukrainian army. Of course, this will not change the situation on the line of contact, but will only prolong the military conflict," the minister said.
Shoigu also said that groups of Russian troops are methodically reducing the combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - over the past year, enemy losses exceeded 215 thousand people and 28 thousand weapons, and Russian troops maintain a strategic initiative along the entire line of contact.
Army development
On December 1, 2023, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation began to fulfill the instructions of the head of state to build up the Armed Forces to 1 million 320 thousand people. In addition, in connection with Finland's accession to NATO and the upcoming admission of Sweden to the alliance, the formation of the Leningrad and Moscow military districts continues. It is planned to increase the number of contract servicemen in the troops, taking into account the recruitment of new formations, to 745 thousand people by the end of the year.
In the new year, it is planned to conduct operational and combat training in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, taking into account the threats of further expansion of NATO to the east. At the same time, the main efforts in combat training will be focused on the high-quality training of newly formed units, as well as the coordination of formations and military units.
The Strategic Missile Forces will complete work on putting the Sarmat strategic missile system on combat duty. Two Tu-160M strategic missile carriers will be accepted into the strategic aviation forces.
It is planned to increase production volumes for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of high-precision hypersonic Kinzhal and Zircon missile systems, and to increase the supply of missiles and ammunition by 1.8 times.
The Navy plans to take into its combat strength the nuclear-powered submarine of the Borey-A project, Prince Pozharsky, as well as three submarines and 11 surface ships.
This year, the repair and modernization of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the only one in the Russian Navy, should be completed. The Admiral Nakhimov nuclear missile cruiser, which will also carry Zircon missiles, will also return to service after a deep modernization.
In addition, the replenishment of the Pacific Fleet with a series of six diesel-electric submarines of the 636.3 project will be completed.
Within a year, it is planned to begin mass production of surface drones of the Dandelion type, which can carry a payload of up to 600 kilograms on board. The first experimental batch of 10 units is already being tested in the SVO zone.
New models of weapons
The Russian military-industrial complex today aims to increase the volume of production of equipment for the needs of the front and to increase the staffing of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, specialists of the domestic defense industry are conducting a number of promising developments, which are planned to be tested in the coming year, including in real combat conditions.
So, a robotic BMP-3 with a Titmouse combat module should be tested in the area of the SVO. The car can operate without a crew — it is controlled by an operator remotely from a mobile point, but an electronic tablet is enough for the new BMP.
As Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov told RIA Novosti in an interview, this promising model in the future will eliminate the risk of crew damage in the most dangerous areas of combat operations.
Also, the Coalition-SV howitzer is expected at the front, which should provide a significant advantage over NATO howitzers in range. The first experimental industrial batch of Coalitions was delivered to the Russian army in December.
In addition, at the very beginning of the year, Russian servicemen should receive the first batch of Kalashnikov AK-12 assault rifles updated taking into account their experience. According to Alan Lushnikov, president of the Kalashnikov Concern, the machine gun was seriously improved – in particular, the firing mode with a two-shot cutoff was removed and a two-way safety translator flag was installed.
The Russian army should also receive the latest bi-caliber multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) "Vozrozhdenie", which will combine the capabilities of the remote mining complex "Agriculture" and the artillery system already used in its territory. It is expected that Vozrozhdenie, which will begin mass production in the first half of the year, will be able to fire Uragan shells and heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1 and TOS-2 in caliber from 140 to 220 millimeters.
In the interests of the Airborne Forces, work will continue on the self-propelled 120 mm artillery installation "Lotus". As an informed source told RIA Novosti, state tests of the amphibious self-propelled gun should begin in the spring. The gun has an increased ammunition capacity (twice as compared to the CAO of the previous generation "Nona"), the firing range is 13 kilometers (both with artillery shells and mines).
The Russian Aerospace Forces will be reinforced with a new batch of fifth-generation Su-57 fighters, whose supplies are increasing almost twofold every year. The new machines were in the final assembly shop in December. So far, these aircraft are entering service with the so-called "first stage" engine, however, as Chemezov stated, the final stage of testing of the standard installation is already close.
The use of drones plays a crucial role at the front – their production will also increase. In addition to small-sized drones and copters, work on heavy-class UAVs, including Hunter attack vehicles, has not stopped in Russia, and a training program is already being created for their operators. As stated by the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, the Hunters, in particular, will enter service with naval aviation.