Defense Ministry: Quality of Russian Military Products Goes Down

26.01.2012 Russian defense ministry marks continuous quality degradation of Russian military products, deputy defense minister Alexander Sukhorukov told reporters.

"For instance, in 2010 Defense Ministry prepared over 6,800 reclamation reports which is 20% more than in 2009. Number of damage claims was 7,100 in 2011 which is 3% more than in 2010", he said.

According to the deputy minister, those facts indicate degradation of output quality. In this regard, defense ministry offered to make amendments to the governmental resolution regulating issuance of licenses, "beginning from development and ending with utilization of armaments".

"A new requirement was introduced; a company claiming for receipt or re-issuance of license must have effective quality management system. If the company has neither such system nor certificate, its director must submit a conclusion of external audit certifying that quality control system effectively functions. Earlier, things were different", explained Sukhorukov.

He added that a new clause regulating responsibility for violation of defense production requirements was added to RF Administrative Offenses Code on Jan 18, 2012. "Administrative responsibility is rigorous both for officials (up to RUR 50,000 fine) and legal bodies (up to RUR 1 mln fine)", specified Sukhorukov.