OREANDA-NEWS. Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Premier of the Russian Government have visited defense and machine-building production facilities of Basic Element Group located in Nizhny Novgorod Region and held a meeting of experts on the issue of modernization and development of scientific and technological potential of the Russian defense industry complex.

During his visit to Gorky Automobile Plant Mr. Rogozin inspected the latest developments in the field of production of dual-purpose vehicles (which can be used by Army as well as medical and maintenance services), design and technological achievements of the production facility. Manfred Eibeck, CEO of Russian Machines Corporation, and Bo Andersson, GAZ Group President, also showed to Mr. Rogozin the results of production capacity modernization that was carried out within the last few years. As Mr. Rogozin pointed out, “operations related to modernization and implementation of up-to-date production system introduced by GAZ produces a favorable impression and this invaluable experience should be replicated in terms of approach, engineering and organization matters”.

Also Deputy Premier visited Arzamas Machine-Building Plant where GAZ experience related to production processes improvement was already launched. In the process of the visit the offsite meeting was held on the subject of ‘Soft-skin wheeled vehicles’ in which Oleg Bochkarev, Deputy Chairman of Military Industrial Committee under the Government of the Russian Federation and Major General Sergei Yerygin, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Security Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Head of Armaments Directorate, took part. During the meeting the issues of fulfillment of the State Defense Order in terms of supply of soft-skin wheeled vehicles, the status of R&D work on creation of integrated interspecific wheeled platform and other issues related to the Russian Army technical upgrading.

After the meeting Dmitry Rogozin pointed out to the journalists: “Product range we were shown today at the plant is a component part of the State Defense Order. And this production needs further improvement. Increase in volume, quality improvement, implementation of new design concepts in defense industrial complex is possible only when cutting-edge technologies and new generation design engineers are in place that create new vehicles outclassing the foreign equivalents. The Government, on its part, is ready to provide assistance in the field of technical upgrading and support the development of sound competition in the industry. On balance, we should produce not only the larger quantity of combat vehicles but rather the fighting equipment capable of gaining the battlefield supremacy”.