Russian President Vladimir Putin has set a goal to increase the share of modern weapons in the nuclear deterrent forces to 88% in 2021. The Head of State compared the speed of changes in the armed forces with the speed during the races of "Formula 1".
"It is absolutely unacceptable to stand still today. The speed of change in all areas critical for the armed forces is extremely high, it's not even Formula 1 - the speed of change is cosmic," Putin said at a meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. "We will stop at least for one second and immediately start to fall behind," the supreme commander warned.
Therefore, according to him, "already in 2021, the forces of nuclear deterrence should reach the level of modernity in 88.3%."
"We know exactly what needs to be done, and in general-purpose forces in 2024, we should reach the level of 75.9%, that is, almost 76%," the president said.
Level of equipment of the Russian troops with modern weapons
According to the president, the indicators of equipping the Russian troops with modern weapons demonstrate the ability of the army to guarantee the security of the country. "By mid-December 2020, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the Russian armed forces is already more than 70% for general-purpose forces, and in nuclear forces - 86%," the head of state said.
He stressed that "thus, the army and the nuclear triad have reached a level that allows us to guarantee the security of Russia."
Putin cited data from the Defense Ministry's leadership on how the Russian army was equipped with modern weapons in previous years. "During the Soviet Union the Soviet army forces, the so-called modernity, that is, the number of modern at that time equipment was 54% for the general-purpose forces, strategic nuclear forces - 65-70%, which is considerable, is a good indicator," he said.
He also gave figures for 2000. "The level of modern weapons for general-purpose forces has fallen to a critically low level of 12%, and for nuclear deterrence forces - to 35%." "I remember very well my first conversations on this subject with Defense Minister then [Igor] Sergeev, a very decent man and a highly professional rocket scientist. He told me then: "What can I do? Even for the maintenance of nuclear forces, there is not enough money, " the president shared his memories.
Development of all components of the nuclear triad
The president instructed to focus on the development of all components of the nuclear triad. "I instruct you to focus on solving the following key tasks. The first is the maintenance of high combat readiness of nuclear forces, the development of all components of the nuclear triad. This is fundamentally important in order to guarantee the security of our country and maintain strategic parity in the world," the head of state said.
According to him, Russia's approaches in this area "are purely defensive in nature and are set out in the document adopted in 2020 - "On the foundations of state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence."
The President assured that the authorities would continue to actively develop the Armed Forces, increase their combat readiness and efficiency.
Putin also noted that the Russian Armed Forces should be ready to respond quickly to the deployment of medium-and shorter-range missiles near the borders of the Russian Federation. "It is equally important to strengthen the potential of non-nuclear deterrence forces, especially precision weapons. We do not intend to produce and deploy medium-and shorter-range missiles in the European part of Russia and other regions of the country. But we must be ready to respond quickly to the deployment of similar means by Western countries near our borders," the head of state stressed.
He added that in case of emergency, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation should "carry out all retaliatory measures, and in the shortest possible time." "I have no doubt that we will do this, both in relation to the locations of the relevant systems that will threaten us and in relation to their control points," Putin concluded.
Effectiveness of the Ministry of Defense
The President highly appreciated the professionalism and efficiency of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2020 in a difficult world situation.
"The outgoing year has been difficult and difficult for everyone, the world is facing an epidemic of the coronavirus infection, it would seem that time itself requires the leaders of states, the entire world community to take the utmost responsibility, to join forces, but, unfortunately, this was not always the case," the head of state stated. "We have seen how new and long-standing regional conflicts have flared up and escalated, and actions aimed at undermining global stability have been taken," the Russian leader said.
According to him, "in this difficult, largely unprecedented situation, all the tasks set were carried out by the ministry of defense, units and divisions of the army and navy professionally and effectively."
Development in any environment
The President is confident that the Russian Armed Forces have sufficient potential to demonstrate their ability to develop in any conditions in 2021.
"The past year has been difficult and difficult. The armed forces, the entire armed component of the state, everything connected with it, have shown their high mobilization readiness and not just viability, but the ability to develop in any situation. You did it. I hope for the same positive work next year," Putin said.
The President thanked all the military for their service.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS