Military science is a supporting base on the basis of which the national security of the country can be ensured, the role of science can be restored and its prestige in society can be raised. 

The development of the theory of weapons and military equipment, as an integral part of military science, poses the need to improve the products of the domestic defense-industrial complex. And with a competent solution to the problems of diversification, a significant increase in the satisfaction of needs with domestic goods and services can be achieved. This requires rethinking the issues of the place, role and significance of military science in the system of ensuring the national (military) security of the country, primarily in developing a rational (in terms of invested resources) and effective (in terms of achieved results) military-technical policy.

Of particular relevance for the country's defense are the achieved and predicted results of military science - design and technological achievements for the development and creation of weapons and military equipment, as well as the results of intellectual activity of military and dual-use. In this regard, the main goals of military science in the interests of ensuring the country’s defense capability should be:

• preparation for the forecast period of a draft optimal military-technical policy that adequately responds to challenges and threats to military security under financial and other restrictions;
• maintaining the scientific and technological level of development of weapons and military equipment, guaranteeing the required military-technical support of the armed forces, other troops and military formations, their highly efficient and reliable functioning in peacetime and wartime.

The following tasks of military science can be identified as the most important:

• forecast for the development of weapons and military equipment for the foreseeable future;
• comprehensive analysis and assessment of the scientific, technical, production and technological capabilities of the military-industrial complex and other structures involved in the development and production of weapons and military equipment;
• preparation of draft documents for long-term program-target planning for the development of weapons and military equipment;
• justification and preparation of a draft list of necessary research and development work to ensure balanced and asymmetrical development of the weapons system of the Armed Forces, other troops and military formations [1].

According to the egov portal, as of January 2022, a total of 647 organizations accredited in the field of science were registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Among them, only 11 organizations deal with issues in the field of military science, including the defense industry (Diagram 1)[2].

Diagram 1 – Distribution of organizations accredited in the field of science by field of activity

This indicates a shortage of scientific and technical base, acquired scientific reserves and low prospects for intellectual security in the field of defense industry. 

The key point for military science is the achievement of scientific and technological security - first of all, ensuring independence from foreign states in the creation and use of promising technologies and components in the development and modernization of weapons and military equipment.

In this context, it is fair to assert the increasing importance of the following principles of the development of military science:

• unified state management of military science, interdepartmental coordination of work on the development of military science and the concentration of existing capabilities (concentration of intellectual, financial, organizational and infrastructural resources) to support research and development in the interests of creating advanced weapons and military equipment;
• priority - consistent concentration of efforts on military-technical support of the primary, new and traditional tasks of building the armed forces, other troops and military formations, their mobilization deployment during a threatened period, as well as during military conflicts of varying intensity;
• adequate asymmetric counteraction to highly effective modern and promising weapons systems, taking into account their life cycle;
• balance between the tasks assigned to military science and the financial and economic capabilities of the country;
• flexibility and ability to adjust planned targets for the development and modernization (availability and replenishment of modernization reserves) of weapons and military equipment in the context of dynamically changing threats to military security; 
• program-target planning for the development of samples, complexes and systems of weapons and military equipment, their rational unification and standardization;
• the feasibility of the development of weapons and military equipment based on ensuring at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex the scientific, technical, production and technological potential necessary for the creation of promising weapons and military equipment;
• continuity - the development of new types of weapons and military equipment, taking into account the accumulated experience in creating weapons;
• military-economic efficiency - optimal compliance of the created weapons and military equipment with the tasks, structure and composition of the armed forces, other troops and military formations within the framework of budget financing of defense costs and ensuring state security;
• systemic justification and purposeful expansion of the scientific and technical reserve for the creation of weapons and military equipment of subsequent generations;
• ensuring the adaptability of the mobilization base of the military-industrial complex to changes in military-political and economic conditions, including scientific, technical, production and technological capabilities;
• compliance with the requirements of scientific and technical safety and environmental conservation in terms of ensuring various types of safety - nuclear-radiation, chemical, biological, technogenic, information and others; 
• diversification - rational use in the creation of weapons and military equipment, and dual- and civilian-use products of the scientific and technical potential of military science and the production and technological potential of enterprises of the military-industrial complex, the development of dual-use and civilian technologies to increase the financial and production sustainability of research and development organizations and enterprises engaged in the production of weapons and military equipment [3].

These principles should become the basis for the further development of weapons and military equipment in the Republic of Kazakhstan to develop an interconnected system of requirements for the level of development of systems, complexes and models of weapons and military equipment for the long term. When preparing a draft of the main directions for the development of weapons and military equipment, a large complex of work is carried out, which should be based on the results of research obtained or systematized by military science. In particular, for example, it is necessary:

• analyze the conditions and factors, trends in the development of military technologies and dual-use technologies in Kazakhstan and abroad;
• assess the possibilities of accomplishing assigned tasks by groupings of troops (forces) in probable military conflicts with various options for their technical equipment;
• formulate the leading and secondary trends in the development of weapons and military equipment arising from the research results for the forecast period;
• justify the tactical and technical requirements for advanced weapons that meet the needs of the armed forces and other security forces, taking into account the long-term perspective.

Taking these principles into account, it is worth paying more attention to planning the development of military science. Since in the long term this affects the development of new modern weapons and military equipment. 

Today, insufficient attention to the importance of science in the field of military art and military technology leads to the fact that military science is practically reduced to a minimum, which does not allow not only the creation of military technologies, but also simply conducting experiments for the purpose of conducting exploratory research. 

To develop military science and increase its role in increasing the scientific potential of Kazakhstan, it is necessary to solve one of the primary tasks - the formation and training of young personnel. In the future, it is these personnel, focused on obtaining new knowledge in the field of military art and military technology, that will determine the direction of Kazakhstan’s science and achieve success in the technological sphere, because the defense industry has always been the locomotive of scientific achievements in developed countries.

In this regard, it is necessary to increase the number of gifted and interested scientists engaged in fundamental, predictive and applied research and research organizations, which will accelerate the achievement of an acceptable level of modern development of basic military and industrial technologies. It is also necessary to expand the frontier of research and development to create a scientific and technical basis in all promising areas of research.

Thus, the development of a competitive environment in the system of development of weapons and military equipment among enterprises and research organizations of the military-industrial complex can increase motivation in a sharp jump in the effectiveness of the samples being developed and interest in the creation of weapons and military equipment using innovative and breakthrough technologies. And the provision of material resources, equipment and weapons to the armed forces, other troops and military formations will contribute to the creation of an interconnected system for the development of military science, as well as a scientific and technical basis for the development of weapons and military equipment.