MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The military science information system of the Russian Armed Forces is near to crisis, a source in the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency Tuesday.
"Experimental labs of the Defense Ministry's research institutes are consistently aging, procurement for the institutes has critically dropped, few labs, test benches, and simulators have been recently made operational, to say nothing of young and middle-aged commissioned officers leaving service because of underpayment," he said.
Scientists are aging as well, and shortage of personnel in positions requiring advanced-degree qualification reaches 50 to 60 percent, he also said.
According to the Defense Ministry, the last ten years have seen the number of defense research institutes reduced from 43 to 33, with the corresponding personnel reduction form more than 21,000 to 14,000. The military reform requires that the structure of scientific research in the Russian Armed Forces be streamlined. Along with the General Staff Military Science Committee, similar bodies have been created in armed services and branches, as well as main and central directorates of the Defense Ministry.
However, many matters of concern in this department are still undertreated, the source said.