РНБОУ National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

Oleksandr Turchynov: The task of the "Ukroboronprom" State Concern is to provide the Army with military equipment, which will break the back of the enemy

The task of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom" is to provide the Army with military equipment, which will break the back of the enemy.

This was stated by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov, speaking at celebrations on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the founding of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom".

Mr. Turchynov noted that the Concern includes leading defense enterprises known not only in Ukraine but also far abroad.

NSDC Secretary also acknowledged that the Budapest Memorandum, which should have guaranteed Ukraine protection and inviolability of borders, "in reality turned out to be a piece of paper that nobody, most regrettably, was going to fulfill". According to him, "they were trying to appease the aggressor instead of stopping him strictly".

"In such circumstances, our country had to rely solely on its own. The revival of the domestic defense industry was the key to Ukraine's survival", - Oleksandr Turchynov stated noticing that the Concern's enterprises managed to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard and other military units with high-quality weapons and military equipment.

"The front passed not only along the delimitation line. The front passed through scientific institutions, design bureaus, production departments, where Ukrainian weapon was created, thanks to which our heroes managed to stop the military aggression and partially liberate the Ukrainian territory, - the NSDC Secretary underlined. - Over the last two years, the "Ukroboronprom" Concern has made the way that many similar enterprises make during decades". "We had no time for the slow start, for traditional conversations and discussions, we had to work day and night, and our scientists, industrials, designers properly completed their tasks", - he said adding that for the time being the concern applies innovative approaches, attracts young talents, and creates new jobs.

Mr. Turchynov also informed that the volume of production at the Concern's enterprises has tripled over the last two years.

"Today, the task set before our manufacturers, designers and scientists is to create modern and high-quality weapons and military equipment, which is in no way inferior to Russian analogs. We must provide the Armed Forces with military equipment, which will break the back of the enemy!", - Oleksandr Turchynov stated.

Another important task, to the NSDC Secretary's conviction, is to recover the position of Ukrainian producers of weapons and equipment on world markets. According to him, weapons and military equipment of domestic production are tested on the battlefield, and therefore the demand for them will increase. "The overriding priority of our defense industry is to ensure the situation when "Ukrainian weapons" are mentioned - everyone understands that those are the best weapons. These weapons are our victory", - he said.

Mr. Turchynov also expressed his opinion that the Verkhovna Rada should make the decision, which it has been holding back on for a year, on the return to the state budget of the arrested money stolen by Yanukovych's allies, as it is "the responsibility of deputies before the Armed Forces, our manufacturers, our country".

He thanked the scientists, designers, engineers, workers of the defense enterprises that "protected our country together with our heroic military".

Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine presented state awards to the best representatives of plants of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom".

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak, the National Guard Commander Allerov, members of Parliament, the "Ukroboronprom" leadership and heads of over 100 plants of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom".

A model of the new multifunctional unmanned aircraft complex "Gorlitsa" and a sample of the unmanned tactical multipurpose armored vehicle "Phantom" were demonstrated to the participants of the event.

The multipurpose aircraft complex "Gorlitsa" is produced at the "Antonov" State Enterprise in cooperation with the leading enterprises of Ukraine. This will be the first domestic unmanned complex which, in particular, can carry powerful means of destruction. The practical distance of its flight will be over 1000 km.

The unmanned tactical multipurpose armored vehicle "Phantom" is a remote-control mini armored personnel carrier. Day and night aiming complexes will allow delivering fire at any time for a distance of over 1 km. "Phantom" can transport ammunition equipment, evacuate causalities from the battlefield and carry out combat missions.

Moreover, new powerful combat modules for armored vehicles were presented such as the new 60-mm mortar produced by the NATO standards, domestic air and anti-tank missiles produced of domestic components, sniper weapons, and armored force vehicles.