Last week (between June 5 and 9), the seventh international show of military hardware, technologies and armament of the ground forces VTTV-Omsk-2007 was held in Omsk. Despite the opinion of skeptics that the show would fail, the traditional Siberian military forum confirmed its leading place among similar domestic events.
Also expressed in the greeting telegram addressed to participants of the show by President of Russia Vladimir Putin was the following: “During the period of its existence, the show acquired the deserved reputation and recognition of specialists. Every year it demonstrates the broadest range of exhibits, enables our foreign partners to get acquainted with the best models of domestic military hardware and to make sure of their advantages, broad functional capabilities and perfect characteristics.”
About 150 foreign representatives within 40 delegations from 38 countries participated in work of the show. One of the main events of the show was a demonstration of firing and operational characteristics of armament and military hardware at the testing range of the 242nd training center of the Airborne forces where about 40 pieces of modern armored vehicles were represented.
Domestic manufacturers presented a special handheld recoilless six-barrel mortar named GAL with humanitarian capabilities. This novelty is used as special means for neutralization manpower in confined and open premises and transport vehicles, as well as for breaking doors and walls if there is a need for quick movement of special units during the releasing of hostages and conducting special operations. The mortar can be used for launching humanitarian containers weighing up to 6 kilograms with payload (food, medications, etc.) at distances of up to 800 meters.
Manufacturers also demonstrated the SR-1 pistol and RSL-1 revolver, 9-mm cartridges 7B30 with a bullet having increased armor piercing capacity and 5.45-mm cartridge 7N24 with an armor piercing core, a 14.5-mm cartridge with modernized incendiary bullet of instant action MDZ-M and a 12.7-mm cartridge with armor piercing – incendiary – tracer bullet B-32.
The show also included firing exercises of guns of T-90S and T-80U tanks. Tanks T-90S and T-80U and airborne combat vehicles BMD-2 and BMD-3 demonstrated their running properties on a special range and also showed their capabilities of negotiating artificial and natural obstacles including waterways.
The Omsk-based production association, Polyet, demonstrated a full-size model of the rocket of the next generation, Angara, for the first time in Russia. Universal rocket modules for rockets of the Angara series will be made completely by Polyet. The company already started taking measures enabling it to produce 60 universal rocket modules a year. According to the presidential decree, at the beginning of 2007, Polyet was included into the state space rocket research and production center named after M. Khrunichev, a vertically integrated holding for the production of spacecraft and rockets.
Siberian Instruments and Systems demonstrated unique modules developed by engineers from Omsk specifically for satellites of the Russian global navigation system GLONASS, namely electric drives for turning devices of solar batteries and turning devices for shutters of the satellites.
The fourth international technological congress “Military hardware, armament and modern technologies in creation of military and civil products” was held in the framework of the business program of the show in Omsk.
The congress included four sections. One of the main sections called “Nanotechnologies for creation of new materials in the interests of defense” was headed by correspondent member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Vladimir Lokholobov. The congress also covered topics called “Development, production, modernization, operation, scrapping of aviation and space rocket equipment,” “Intellectual systems for monitoring and adaptive real-time control of sophisticated technological objects (at example of a heat and power station),” “Multipurpose tracked and wheeled vehicles of the ground forces: development, production, modernization, repair and maintenance,” “Transport technological vehicles and dual-purpose automobiles,” “Radio technology, electronics and communication,” “The role of terminology in development of research and technological and military industrial complexes.”
According to organizers of VTTV-Omsk-2007, about 100,000 people visited the show. Fruitful negotiations were held with representatives of more than 400 organizations, 26 agreements and 52 protocols of intent were signed.
