Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says the Russian Aerospace Force
rearmament will raise missile destruction capability.
MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry considers as its major goal to maintain and support the current level of Russia’s military security, the ministry’s head Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday.
"I
want to stress that we have no plans of being drawn into a new arms race,"
Shoigu said giving a lecture for the top officials of the ministry and
representatives of the public.
The minister said the most important condition for meeting this goal is the readiness of the personnel to implement the tasks in the current environment. "This largely depends how the state cares about the servicemen," he said.
The role of the deterrence factor with time may be shifted from
the nuclear sphere to the non-nuclear one, which is likely to ease
international tensions and strengthen confidence-building measures, he
said.
"First and foremost this will be achieved with the help of high
accuracy weapons," Shoigu said in a lecture for the top personnel of the
Defense Ministry and public figures devoted to crucial issues of
defense-building policies, their current aspects and prospects.
"By 2021 the combat capabilities of Russia’s strategic non-nuclear
forces are to be increased four-fold, which would allow for coping with the
task of non-nuclear deterrence to the full extent," Shoigu said.
As follows from what he said, general purpose forces will continue to play a major role in maintaining military security.
"They will be responsible for addressing the bulk of the tasks
crucial both in peace and wartime in the process of localizing and terminating
armed conflicts, as well as struggle against international terrorism," he
said.
Nuclear force
Shoigu stressed development of the strategic nuclear force remains an
indisputable priority of the Russian Defense Ministry.
"Currently the strategic missile force and sea-based nuclear
deterrence force are being equipped with advanced missile systems and
long-range aircraft are being upgraded. This will increase the share of modern
weapon systems to 72% by 2021, thus keeping the nuclear deterrence potential at
the required level," he said.
At the end of 2016 it was announced that advanced weaponry already
accounted for 60% of the nuclear triad. A year earlier the rate was at a level
of 51%.
Russian
Aerospace Force rearmament
The minister believes advanced combat airborne systems will increase the
firepower capability of Russia’s Aerospace Force for destroying cruise missiles
by 1.5 times.
"The Aerospace Force rearmament with advanced combat airborne complexes will raise their firepower ability to destroy cruise missile by 1.5 times," the defense minister said.
According to the defense minister, "the buildup of the radar field
will allow reliably detecting various types of aerial targets."
"The Navy is receiving modern multipurpose surface ships and
submarines armed with cruise missiles," the defense minister said.
"By 2021, the Navy’s forces will make up the basis of the grouping
of long-range precision weapon carriers," the defense minister noted.
Possible deterioration
Russia’s military organization should develop considering a possible
deterioration in the international situation, the minister said.
"Today’s condition of the state’s military organization corresponds to the requirements set to it. Its development should proceed with account taken of the possible deterioration in the international situation and the continuous improvement of the systems of foreign states’ armed struggle," Shoigu said during a lecture on the army and society.
These
factors are taken into account to plan the directions of the Armed Forces
development. In this process, the Defense Ministry plays the role of the
coordinator of inter-departmental interaction in solving defense tasks, Shoigu
said.
"The
National Center of Russia’s Defense Control has been established to carry out
comprehensive monitoring and analyze the military-political and strategic
situation in real time and to ensure prompt decision-making on exercising control
of the country’s military organization," the defense minister said.
Source: ITAR-TASS 12-01-2017
