Russia must be ready for global conflict threat: official

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Russian industrial complex must be ready to mobilize quickly in case of a potential regional or global conflict, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said, according to RIA Novosti.

“The nature of modern warfare has changed completely, and the escalation of tensions [leading to a military conflict] occurs much faster. That is why we cannot afford a slow economic response in times of [military] emergency,” Rogozin said at a meeting with defense industry officials in Russia’s Far East.

Rogozin, who oversees the country’s defense industry, urged Russian defense firms to strictly follow their mobilization assignments established in line with the state arms procurement program, as the current reform of the state defense order planning makes mobilization plans more compact and less costly.

Industrial mobilization is the transformation of industry from its peacetime activity to the industrial program necessary to support the national military objectives. It includes the mobilization of materials, labor, capital, production facilities and contributory items and services essential to industrial production in times of war.

Rogozin also said that the ongoing state defense order reform has already brought positive results, as in 2012 the defense order was fulfilled almost completely for the first time in nearly a decade.

Russia's ambitious 2011-2020 arms procurement program stipulates the upgrade of up to 11 percent of military equipment annually and will allow the country to increase the share of modern weaponry in the armed forces to 70 percent by 2020. Russia allocated about 908 billion rubles (about $30 billion) to state defense order spending in 2012.