Military Technical Cooperation
In Novo-Ogaryovo (Moscow Region) Vladimir Putin held a
meeting of the Commission for Military Technical Cooperation with Foreign
States. One of the most important thoughts that were made at the meeting was
about what the defence industry companies that were granted the right to engage
in foreign trade are assuming all responsibility for the quality of their
products and compliance with the contractual terms of their foreign supplies.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin at that meeting says: ‘As you may know, on
June 28 the Kremlin hosted a gala reception in honour of distinguished graduates
of military academies. It is no exaggeration to say that they are the backbone
of our Armed Forces, highly skilled professionals with the most advanced
military knowledge. I would also like to note that this year over a thousand
army service personnel from 30 countries graduated from Russia’s schools of
higher learning. About 8,000 foreign students study in Defence Ministry schools,
with about a third of them from the CSTO member-states.
There is growing demand in the global arms market for qualified military
specialists. In this context the training of military personnel, teaching them
to operate Russian weapons and equipment, and building up the export of military
services, should remain a major component of the military technical cooperation
system.
Furthermore, competition in the world arms market is obviously growing; you know
this better than anyone does. The combat efficiency of arms is a decisive
criterion for potential buyers. I would like to note that Russian weapons have
demonstrated reliability and wide-ranging functionality during the
anti-terrorist operation in Syria, something we have discussed. It is necessary
to carefully analyse this combat experience both for upgrading existing systems
and for developing new and advanced combat hardware.
At the same time, it is necessary to enhance the military industrial cooperation
framework itself. For this purpose, major structural changes have been made to
the Russian defence industry. Major defence holdings have been brought together
under one administration for the convenience of cooperation, production upgrades
and higher financial stability.
Several major groups were granted the right to foreign trade, which
significantly increases their independence in talks and accelerates contractual
work. Moreover, this measure is supposed to make military industrial cooperation
easier and more convenient for foreign customers as well. I am referring to the
opportunity to directly negotiate with arms manufacturers and to conduct the
entire scope of operations from marketing to maintenance and repair of supplied
equipment. In other words, these conditions provide for more efficient
cooperation between the Russian defence industry companies and their foreign
partners for the sake of further innovative development of the domestic
industry.
I will emphasise that the defence industry companies that were granted the right
to engage in foreign trade are assuming all responsibility for the quality of
their products and compliance with the contractual terms of their foreign
supplies. However, the Commission and other involved agencies should still be
monitoring these activities. It is important to prevent any disruptions in the
new procedure and to carefully monitor the operations.
I already spoke about the current use of Russian weapons, particularly in the
fight against terrorists in the Syrian Arab Republic. I would like to thank both
the military personnel, and the designers and developers of one of our latest
missile systems, Kh-101. This missile system has proved highly reliable. It is
indeed the most advanced weapon with high precision and capacity, and a range of
4,500 km, which is quite good. A weapon of this class must be in the centre of
our attention and the attention of our defence agencies and industrial
companies.
All our decisions on supplies of arms to external markets are based on the
current international situation in various regions – in order to prevent any
imbalances and to avoid an escalation of conflicts. On the contrary, our weapons
must be used to contain conflicts at the early stages.’
