Expert Leonkov appreciated Shoigu’s words about the best army in the world: “That’s how it is”

The main idea from the speech of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the final meeting of the Board of the Military Department: our army is “the most prepared and combat-ready in the world,” having weapons tested in combat conditions. Military analyst, editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Alexey Leonkov, in a conversation with MK, explained why the Minister of Defense gave such an assessment of the combat capability of our army.

According to him, this assessment is based on the interim results of the SVO.

– With the help of the Ukrainian proxy army, the collective West is waging a real war with Russia – more than 50 states that supply Ukraine with weapons, military equipment, transmit intelligence, and plan military operations. And all this help turned out to be in vain – Ukraine was unable to win a tangible victory, and the West almost strained the combat readiness of its armies by supplying Ukraine with unlimited quantities of various types of weapons.

The tactics that the West recommended to the Ukrainian army turned out to be not as effective as its strategists at NATO headquarters had hoped. But they could not find a new tactic that would allow Ukraine to at least somehow change the line of combat contact.

According to Leonkov, there is now a decline in arms supplies from NATO countries and an increase in the cost of these products. In Russia, the opposite processes are taking place.

– The potential of our defense-industrial complex is growing, the state defense order is being fully implemented, taking into account the added positions based on the experience of conducting the SVO. The training of personnel in real combat operations is growing. New types of weapons are appearing and existing ones are being modernized.

Relatively speaking, our army in 2022 had one combat potential, and now it is several orders of magnitude higher. The combination of all these points allows our Minister of Defense to say that our army is the most prepared.

A military analyst explained why NATO countries have become more stingy on military equipment and weapons for Ukraine than they were, say, last year.

– In the early 2010s, the military-industrial complex of NATO countries, having filled its warehouses and arsenals, practically stopped the mass production of many types of weapons, military equipment and ammunition. The West expected that for a long time it would be engaged in small local conflicts, which would allow them to use their stockpiled arsenals sparingly.

But by betting on the Ukrainian army in the confrontation with Russia, the West miscalculated. This army was armed four times with all the required military equipment, military equipment, ammunition, and other special weapons, including non-lethal weapons. But they never achieved the desired results.

The SVO showed that many types of equipment supplied by the West do not give the desired effect. Over the past 13 years, the West has depleted its military-industrial complex to such an extent that it is now unable to quickly increase the production of weapons and military equipment.

In addition, against the backdrop of the economic crisis and rising prices, the production of military equipment in the West has become approximately four times more expensive. This also affected the volume of military production.

According to Leonkov, the West has not reset its arsenals for Ukraine and is trying to increase the production of certain types of equipment, but this requires a lot of effort, time and expense.

– This is due, in particular, to the fact that in the West there is a lack of qualified technical personnel. Over the past 13 years, many workers at Western defense enterprises have lost their qualifications and found themselves behind the fence.