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Opening remarks by the President at the Military-Industrial Commission meeting

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good afternoon.

We are holding another meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission. We decided to hold it here, in Izhevsk, a leading centre of the Russian defence industry.

Today Russia marks Gunsmith Day, and I would like to congratulate all veterans and current workers of the defence industry on their professional holiday and thank them for their responsible and conscientious approach to their work.

We are surely proud of the achievements of the designers, engineers and workers who make an invaluable contribution to ensuring the defence capability and security of Russia, and to equipping the Army and Navy at the highest technical level.

Today, the domestic defence industry is creating up-to-date and largely unique weapons and equipment, actively increasing production volumes in order to better provide for units and formations participating in the special military operation, and increasing the output of civilian products, which are in growing demand both in Russia and abroad.

And, of course, today we pay tribute – I would like to stress this once again – to the veterans of the industry, the many generations of gunmakers, whose hard work and talent have helped forge the defence capability of the Russian state for many centuries.

Once again, I congratulate defence industry workers on this holiday. I wish everyone good health and new impressive results for the benefit of the Fatherland and our nation.

The Governor [Alexander Brechalov] said that today here in Izhevsk, an entire holiday programme was held at the highest level. I hope that this made a good impression on everyone involved. And we will continue to do everything to make people feel that they are at the centre of the country’s attention.

Colleagues,

Today, as part of the first item on the agenda, we will analyse compliance with this year's schedule of delivery of highly sought-after armaments, military and special equipment, and will also identify priority tasks for 2024.

This is a critically important topic which is directly related to addressing the strategic task of providing supplies to the troops participating in the special military operation in full and on time.

Notably, the Working Group of the Military-Industrial Commission is constantly monitoring compliance with the supply schedule. The Coordination Council under the Government is also active in this regard and is promptly resolving issues as they arise; I must note that the results are in. We met in Tula before the New Year and discussed with many of our colleagues present in this audience the issues that we considered the most important, and I would like to repeat this phrase – the results are in.

In the first eight months of this year, defence companies have maintained a stable operating rate and not only complied with supply schedules but also managed to increase the output of some military products manifold. The output of major armoured vehicles has doubled compared to last year while the production of the most in-demand weapons has tripled.

At the same time, we need to boost the production of counter-battery and air defence equipment. We have discussed this, and I have issued a number of instructions to supplement the 2024 delivery schedule with the corresponding items.

Today, I would like to discuss what other positions and areas need to be reinforced and what issues remain unresolved.

To reiterate, in general, defence companies should put in more effort to develop their production capacities, introduce advanced technologies, and, as before, pay extra attention to the quality of military products.

The second item on the agenda will have us review the drafting process for the 2025–2034 State Armament Programme. We should, of course, look to the future and beyond the horizon. I have noted many times that this is one of the key strategic planning documents, which is of fundamental and decisive importance for strengthening Russia's defence capability and security.

The systemic and consistent implementation of the state programme makes it possible to improve the technical and combat potential of all security agencies, to develop and launch serial production of advanced weapons and materiel.

The new state programme is being drafted by the Defence Ministry in conjunction with state customers and relevant federal executive bodies. Based on the corresponding decision that I made, the programme will start operating in 2025. However, due to a number of factors, the need for weapons, military and special equipment have increased significantly, and everyone is clear about those factors. This is connected with the conduct of the special military operation, unprecedented sanctions pressure on Russia and the growing size of our Armed Forces, which includes the creation of new units and formations.

Therefore, it is necessary to specify the baseline data for drafting the programme and its resource support volumes. As you are aware, a number of financial issues remain unresolved. I propose discussing them and making a balanced decision based on available economic capabilities. As you are aware, we are now finalising the budget for next year and the next three-year period.

The third and last item on the agenda is to consider candidates to be empowered as general designers to create weapons and military equipment, as well as candidates for the positions of heads of priority technology areas.

I expect that the general designers and heads of priority technology areas that will be approved today will prove themselves and back up their high status with new results, help promote more effectively the most important national defence and security projects and take the lead in developing advanced technologies which will shape the future and the new look of the Russian Armed Forces.

Let us get to work.

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