The participants in the conference considered two issues: the fulfillment of contracts to service and repair weapons and military and special-purpose equipment by the Spetsremont Company at military units of the Southern Military District; and efforts to create an infrastructure for deploying components of Iskander-M missile systems at missile brigades of the Land Forces.
Sergei Shoigu drew the attention of the participants to the fact that, in 2012, Spetsremont had handled less than 30% of the Southern Military District’s equipment that was scheduled for repairs and servicing. According to the minister, this indicator was less than 10% in 2013. Deputy Defence Minister Yury Borisov told Sergei Shoigu that the current situation would be rectified. He said repair teams would be reinstated at military units, that medium-level maintenance and major overhauls would be handed over to industrial enterprises along with assets, and that the spare-parts issue would be resolved, especially with regard to equipment that had been withdrawn from production.
Speaking about the creation of an infrastructure for the new military equipment that was arriving to units, Sergei Shoigu noted that construction of facilities ensuring the development of the Armed Forces under the new reform concept had been launched for this purpose within the framework of state defence contracts. The Defence Minister set forth a number of priorities, which would be addressed in the process. Specifically, he emphasised the need to synchronise the delivery of new equipment with the construction of infrastructure facilities at deployment sites.
Sergei Shoigu noted that there were plans to equip all missile brigades of the Land Forces with Iskander-M missile systems by 2018. For this purpose, the necessary full-scale projects have been launched since early 2013.
Sergei Shoigu also urged a drastic reduction in the current scale of carry-over construction, which he estimated at 314 billion roubles, ordering that it should be reduced to 20 billion roubles by November 2013.
The telephone conference participants also examined other issues, including those linked with the coordination of projects during the creation of the Angara launch vehicle.
Source: Defence Ministry
