RUSSIAN MILITARY > Russia to Allocate $730B for Armaments by 2020

Thursday, July 7, 2011 [Full article]

photo courtesy of DoD

Russia plans to acquire eight ballistic-missile submarines as part of a $730 billion armaments upgrade plan extending through 2020, Voice of America reported on Wednesday (see GSN, April 21).

The procurements declared by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, which are also expected to include 600 flight assets and S-400 and S-500 air defenses, would boost Moscow's military holdings of up-to-date armaments to 70 percent of the total stockpile by the end of the effort.

Russia's highest priority is to upgrade its strategic nuclear deterrent, but it must also make changes to other weapons and equipment, defense expert Pavel Felgenhauer said. "Then there's of course the air force, the air defense system, the army -- actually, everything needs rearming because right now they say that (only) 10-15 percent of our weaponry is modern," he said.

Russia's defense spending is 10 times its level from a decade ago, but the modernization effort still lags, Felgenhauer said.

"Now the present defense minister says that there was massive misappropriation of funds," the analyst said. "The Russian defense industry, which is also downgraded, and its capabilities are much smaller than in Soviet times, responded to more funding by just raising prices. They are producing the same several fighters or missiles, but for a much bigger price" (Anya Ardayeva, Voice of America, July 6).

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov received instructions from President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday to present a declaration within three days on the government's execution of this year's military acquisition plans, RIA Novosti reported.

The Defense Ministry has held up the finalization of deals for strategic nuclear weapons purchases and other acquisitions, placing the 2011 plans at risk, top missile designer Yuri Solomonov told the newspaperKommersant. The arrangements were originally expected to be in place by April 15; Medvedev pushed the due date back to end of May, though, and early that month criticized the defense sector over the slowdown (see GSN, May 11).

Medvedev on Wednesday pressed the defense minister to "find out what is going on."

"If the reports about the disruption of the state defense order are true, then those responsible for this should be punished regardless of their ranks and posts," Medvedev told Serdyukov in a video discussion. "I expect you to report back in three days" (RIA Novosti, July 6).