Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Jan. 14 / Trend D. Azizov /
"At present, Uzbekistan has a modern, small in number, mobile, well-equipped national army. It is capable to reliably protect the stability and security of the country, inviolability of its borders, peace and tranquility of our people," Uzbek President, Commander-in-Chief of the Uzbek Armed Forces Islam Karimov said due to the Day of Defenders of Homeland, marked in Uzbekistan on January 14 and the eighteenth anniversary of the Armed Forces.
However, the Uzbek president said that a complex and rapidly changing political situation in the region and the world, strengthening the potential and real threats and security challenges associated primarily with an increasingly difficult situation in Afghanistan, the expansion of drugs aggression, the international terrorism, extremism and other threats require a comprehensive strengthening of the combat readiness of our Armed Forces and strengthening measures to protect the state borders.
The president considers it necessary to ensure constant mobilization readiness, mobile units and units of the Armed Forces, their ability to promptly and effectively neutralize the possible challenges, threats and attempts to violate the sanctity of borders.
The Uzbek President pays special attention at acceleration of implementation the tasks to re-equip the army with advanced weapon system, combat equipment, modern facilities.
"It is necessary to improve and expand the scope of international military-technical cooperation with foreign partner-countries to prepare and implement a comprehensive program of measures designed for 2010 - 2015", Islam Karimov said.
"To learn military art is the requirement today. It is an essential component of all work to modernize our army," the President said.
It is important to ensure full functioning of the army as a well-organized mechanism to achieve these objectives. It is a battle complex, ensuring the timely revealing and covering vulnerabilities in the system of national defense.
The President stressed that the main task is the radical improvement of the system of training, retraining and advanced training of officers and sergeants, improvement given modern requirements and standards of the military academies' and sergeant schools' activity. Military schools are to become leaders, major military research centers of the Armed Forces.
Advanced weapons systems and equipment, methods of command and control, tactical methods of combat operations are prepared on this basis.
Special attention should be focused on a consistent and systematic improvement of social conditions of living and service of sergeants and officers, unconditional fulfillment of state programs for providing military men with houses, construction and renovation of military camps, creation of conditions meeting all modern requirements and standards ", the Uzbek President said.