TSAMTO, December 16th. Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov spoke at an expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Below are some key theses of A.Belousov's speech.
ITS
- This year, Russian troops have liberated almost 4.5 thousand square kilometers of territory occupied by the enemy. Neo-Nazis control less than 1% of the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic and still 25-30% of the Donetsk People's Republic, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.
- Currently, the average daily advance of troops has significantly accelerated and is about 30 square kilometers.
- The enemy is forced to go on the defensive and use the remaining reserves. The staffing of its units at the forefront does not exceed 45-50 percent. Such success is a great merit of our soldiers and officers of the United Group of Forces, commanders and their military authorities.
- The enemy has largely lost the ability to produce the necessary weapons, equipment and ammunition.
- In general, the means of air defense during the air defense showed high efficiency. This year alone, 86 Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, 215 ATACMS ballistic missiles, 1,629 HIMARS rockets, and more than 27,000 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down.
- This year, over 58 thousand units of various enemy weapons and equipment were destroyed in the zone of a special military operation, including 18 thousand of foreign production.
- This year alone, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine exceeded 560 thousand servicemen killed and wounded. For the entire time of their existence, they amounted to almost a million people. In the Kursk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 40 thousand soldiers.
- Ground-based robotic complexes that carry out fire damage, reconnaissance, mining, ammunition delivery and evacuation of the wounded have proved themselves effectively during combat operations. Such combined-arms inventions are constantly improving the characteristics of UAVs, communications equipment and RER. All this allows us to save thousands of lives of our servicemen. In this regard, it is necessary to conduct a full inventory of such military developments, systematically conduct their field tests and organize the serial production of the best samples.
- It is necessary to focus efforts on improving the tactical and technical characteristics of unmanned aerial vehicles in terms of increasing their range of use, autonomy and noise immunity.
- In the future, taking into account the effects of the enemy, it is necessary to reconsider approaches to the organization of storage and logistics bases. Large integrated storage bases should be replaced by a distributed, layered network of warehouses. Accordingly, the logistics system and methods of delivery of military goods will change.
- It is necessary to modernize the logistics system taking into account its own. As a matter of priority, it is necessary to ensure the protection of arsenals and fuel bases in the range of enemy weapons.
In the shortest possible time, priority measures have already been taken – open storage sites have been eliminated, camouflage has been carried out, mobile fire groups have been created, and a system of interaction with air defense has been established.
- Over 427 thousand military personnel were recruited in 2024, more than 1,200 people sign a contract every day.
Defense industry and the Army
- The priority direction is the modernization of the armed forces in the medium term, taking into account external threats and technology development.
- This year, compared with 2022, the supply of new and modernized tanks has increased seven times, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers have tripled, unmanned aerial vehicles have been delivered 23 times more. Artillery ammunition – 22 times. With such volumes, there are practically no disruptions in the supply of particularly demanded types of ammunition, weapons and equipment. Out of 260 items, only four products are delivered with delays.
- In order to ensure the sustainability of arms, equipment and ammunition supplies in 2025 and 2026, it is necessary to take a number of additional measures.
- It is required to conclude contracts during December for the supply of the entire range of weapons in 2026, which has a production cycle of 12 to 16 months, and for the rest of the range - to conclude contracts no later than the beginning of the second quarter of next year.
- To complete, in accordance with the presidential decree, the introduction of a new flexible mechanism for the purchase of certain types of weapons and equipment within the framework of the state defense order. This will reduce the purchase period to one to two weeks instead of several months. I have to note that the adoption of by–laws on this presidential decree has been delayed. It is necessary to ensure their adoption by the end of this year.
- Next year, it is necessary to create a permanent mechanism of "lean management". To do this, there are four tasks to be solved. The first of them is to create an organizational mechanism for the implementation of efficiency improvement processes, including a special structural unit of the Ministry – the Department of Efficiency Improvement, which will be directly subordinate to the Minister of Defense.
- Next year, we will continue to re-equip the strategic missile forces with the Yars missile system, take four Tu-160M strategic missile carriers into the strategic aviation forces, and ensure the inclusion of the strategic missile submarine Prince Pozharsky into the Navy.
- In accordance with the instructions of the Supreme Commander–in-Chief, it is proposed to form a new branch of the armed forces - the troops of unmanned systems. Their creation can be completed in the third quarter of 2025.
- The level of serviceability of weapons and military equipment in the Russian army should be at least 98%.
- It is worth noting the positive experience of creating an air defense system around Moscow. It should be taken into account when building similar systems in other Russian regions.
VTS
- To ensure the expansion of Russia's position in the global arms markets, including within the framework of industrial cooperation with our partners. This year, military cooperation has covered more than a hundred countries.
- Export deliveries of Russian military products are not always possible, taking into account the special operation, it is necessary to switch to licensed production abroad with guaranteed purchases by the Armed Forces of Russia and its partners.
