Throughout the history of Russia, its military could be described as somewhat outmoded or even antediluvian. Efforts to modernize it have largely been ineffective, but this week Russian Defence Minister and General of the Army Sergei Shoigu issued demands to bring up to 70 percent of the equipment used by the troops to modern standards by the end of 2020.

“We must fulfill the state defense order by 100 percent and reach the 70 percent indicator in modern times while maintaining a high level of equipment serviceability,” Shoigu said on Wednesday summing up the results of Russia's single military output acceptance day.

History of Failed Modernization 

Imperial Russia went into World War I with the largest army in Europe but one that lacked rifles for all its soldiers. While the Soviet Union did make some progress in modernizing Russia, the Red Army was still undergoing major reforms when World War II broke out.

Stalin’s purges of the Red Army during the late 1930s also worsened matters. Individual progress was still made but not because of the Soviet industry, but rather in spite of it.

The Soviets developed the T-34 tank, which was among the best main battle tanks of the war, while the PPSh-41 submachine gun was another example of excellence. However, those were exceptions to the rule, and the same rule book was used throughout the Cold War.

The Red Army would make progress and develop a reasonably reliable weapon and that was considered good enough. That is why most Soviet armor was often little more than an update of the past series, and why even in 2020 The Russian Air Force continues to fly the Cold War-era propeller-driven Tu-95 bombers.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation had no real modernization efforts in the 1990s in part because the talk of military reform in the 1980s never materialized.

Accident Prone Army 

The lack of reforms and modernization has cost lives, but not just on the battlefield. As Business Insider reported last summer, Russia's military has a very bad track record when it comes to serious accidents. That had been the result of a willingness to take risks with outdated military infrastructure, and that has created an environment where accidents then become more likely.

This has included accidents aboard submarines, ammunition dump explosions and missile engine explosions among other incidents.

New Equipment

The fact that Russia is making these calls public could suggest real progress could be made this time.

Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko suggested that the share of advanced weaponry would reach 70 percent, following the fulfillment of the defense procurement plan in 2020.

“The fulfillment of the 2020 defense procurement plan will make it possible to increase the share of advanced weapon systems to 70 percent,” Krivoruchkno told state media. “The plans have been 44 percent fulfilled for the delivery of aircraft, 59 percent for helicopters and 30 percent for multi-purpose vehicles. The plans have been fulfilled 30 percent for the repair of missile and artillery armament and 43 percent for multi-purpose vehicles.”

The Russian military has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which did delay the 75th Anniversary Victory Parades, originally scheduled for May but pushed back to last month. However, Russia has announced it is going forward with its scaled back International Army Games 2020, which will coincide with the International Military-Technical Forum “Army 2020” arms fair. 

“I hope that we will finish the year the way we began it, complying with the schedule, and no coronavirus will impede us to end this year worthily and achieve all the targets that were mapped out, put all the facilities into operation and receive all the hardware, equipment, armament and munitions that we need,” Shoigu added. “No coronavirus will prevent us from completing this year with dignity, achieving all our goals, entering all facilities, receiving all the equipment, military hardware, weapons, ammunition we need.”

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.