Russian Arms: Bad Quality and Overpriced

average american

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Russian Arms: Bad Quality and Overpriced

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 140

July 21, 2011 03:11 PM Age: 16 hrs

The Russian defense industry is in crisis; its officials blame the defense ministry for withholding funds, while Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov in turn accuses arms producers of making weapons of questionable quality and charging unjustified high prices (EDM, July 7). Russia's ruling tandem of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have called for tempers to be calmed and for all to work together to allow rearmament plans to be implemented.

At the same time, Medvedev agreed that the defense ministry must not procure "trash," but must receive the best quality for its money and import foreign [Western] weapons as a measure of last resort (Президент России, July 12). Two weeks ago, Medvedev threatened to "execute" troublemakers within the defense industry and sack leading bureaucrats responsible for defense industry problems that are preventing rearmament. Up to now nothing drastic has happened, but the crisis continues to fester.
This week Russia's Federation of Independent Trade Unions and the Association of Defense Industry Unions demanded that Medvedev, Putin and parliament prepare legislation to ban the "regular" procurement of weapons abroad. The unions deny Russian-made weapons are overpriced and accuse the defense ministry of withholding money from deeply indebted defense enterprises and of trying to reduce wages. Unions have been infuriated by the procurement of two helicopter assault Mistral-type vessels in France for 1.2 billion Euros ($1.7 billion) (RIA Novosti, July 19; Kommersant, July 20). Serdyukov's decisions to seek weapons and defense technologies in the West is seen by many in Russia as an insult to national pride and is opposed by the defense industry, which does not want Western competition in slicing the multibillion defense procurement budget, inflated by galloping oil prices.
While this crisis continues, Russian arms exports seem to be a success story. A decade after Putin created Russia's arms trading monopoly Rosoboronexport, arms exports have grown from some $3 billion to $10 billion in 2010. A senior official in the arms trade told Jamestown, speaking in Moscow on condition of anonymity, "in 2011 our estimate is to sell some $11 billion, but the end result may be $12 billion, since by mid-year some $7 billion worth has already been shipped." The figures which the Russian arms-trading authorities publish from time to time are not the actual earnings from arms trade, but the sum of weapons physically exported from Russia, as reported to customs offices. Of course, not all weapons that leave Russia are paid for in time, or fully, or ever.
It turns out that Venezuela "is not paying anything" for billions of dollars worth of arms, including Su-30 fighters, helicopters, antiaircraft missiles and tanks. The flamboyant President Hugo Chavez has offered in exchange drilling rights to develop Venezuela's vast oil wealth, but Russian arms producers and traders not connected directly to the oil industry do not understand what to do with the offer or how to seek financial recovery. According to the official, unneeded Russian weapons are "rotting in Venezuela after Chavez saw them at a parade on national day." With Chavez fighting cancer, Moscow is bracing itself to losing a prominent buyer and never being repaid.
The Assad regime in Syria is equally facing a bleak future, according to the same official: "If he continues to kill civilian protesters, he will fall and we will lose a major arms export market and will not be repaid for the weapons already shipped." In such circumstances the losses by Russian arms traders and producers are often secretly refurbished with taxpayers' money from the federal budget.
According to the official, though in fiscal terms the outflow of Russian arms has almost tripled in 11 years, the actual number of types and quantities of weapons has hardly changed at all – only the prices have tripled for export, as well as for the Russian defense ministry. At the same time, according to the official, the quality of Russian weapons has been falling dramatically "including seemingly fully reliable old Soviet weapons." Reclamation of faulty Russian weaponry has snowballed and includes everything – air, sea and land weapons.
In an interview, Russia's top government official in charge of the arms trade Mikhail Dmitriyev – the director of the Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation – explained that the multibillion arms export "package deal" with Saudi Arabia has been stalled for several years because of "pricing problems" (Kommersant, February 24). It turns out Moscow has effectively priced itself out of the deal by asking too much: more than 40 million Euros ($56.9 million) for outdated Mi-35 attack helicopters, $7 million for a T-90 tank and $17 million for transport Mi-17 helicopters. The production price of the T-90 is apparently just over $2 million and for a Mi-17 – $4 million.
The Pentagon signed a deal with Rosoboronexport last May to buy 21 Mi-17 helicopters for $375.05 million ($17.9 million per item) for use by the Afghan air force (ITAR-TASS, May 29). The deal was stalled for some time in the US Congress, since in 2006 Russia sold a batch of Mi-17's for some $6 million each. Finally, the Pentagon pushed the deal through, when Saudi Arabia backed out, showing Moscow who the truly rich people are.
The windfalls from arms exports Russia is still receiving are not used to modernize the defense industry, but are misappropriated, according to the official. The creation by Putin of enormous integrated defense industry holding corporations like Rostekhnologii headed by Sergei Chemezov, Putin's former comrade from the Soviet-era KGB, did not help improve the quality of produce or deal with unwarranted price increases. In fact, the arms trading monopoly Rosoboronexport has been privatized and fully integrated into Rostekhnologii. The holding corporations are demanding the lion's share of arms export dividends, depriving industrial plants of finance resources and becoming directly involved in highly sensitive issues, like the approval of "commissions" [bribes] to foreign procurement officials. Immediate government intervention and sweeping reforms are needed to stop the decay of defense industry. But the crony capitalism built by Putin cannot self-reform into something radically different. Discontent is growing and penetrating the top bureaucracy.

The Jamestown Foundation: single[tt_news]=38203
 

Defcon 1

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Although the article is biased, it is true that the number of customer countries of Russia have been decreasing slowly. Although I wonder how the author found out that the Russian figures for export are not exact. Either he is very well connected, or just a paid propagandist.
 

average american

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Old saying where theres smoke their fire and there is quite a bit of smoke comming from Russia about the quality of theiri military equipment even including their ex secretary of defense. When it takes 3 times as long as expected and costs 4 times as much to refurbish an aircraft carrier (which is not really rocket science) and it still dont work, there has to be a problem.
 

p2prada

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Gorky's issues aren't technological. It is management. The entire management aspect of the carrier's refurbishment was messed up right from the beginning.
 

Akim

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Old saying where theres smoke their fire and there is quite a bit of smoke comming from Russia about the quality of theiri military equipment even including their ex secretary of defense. When it takes 3 times as long as expected and costs 4 times as much to refurbish an aircraft carrier (which is not really rocket science) and it still dont work, there has to be a problem.
The point is that in Soviet Union on territory of Russia did not build aircraft carriers and amphibious ships independently, but helicopters,fighters and submarines , there build perfectly.
 

pmaitra

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Military Channel: Top Ten Tanks- # 1: The T-34


Viva Sovietskaya Soyuza! Za Stalina! Za Rodina!

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pmaitra

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Discovery Channel: TOP 10: Combat Rifles - AK 47 (NO.1)


Viva Sovietskaya Soyuza! Za Stalina! Za Rodina!

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pmaitra

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Launch of the Zarya Control Module


International Space Station Assembly Sequence

 
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pmaitra

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Buran The Soviet Space Shuttle


Buran strapped onto the Energiya Booster Rocket Complex, the most powerful lifter built, EVER!



And a comparison of size between the US Space Shuttle and the Soviet Space Shuttle:

 
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pmaitra

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Introducing the Terror of the Skies, the Attack-Transport Combo, Mil Mi-24/35 Krokodil (Крокодил), also called the Flying Tank (летающий танк), NATO: Hind.

 
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Akim

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Buran The Soviet Space Shuttle

The program "Energy-Buran" was just a copy of the American "space shuttle." Party guidance counted up, that Americans with his help can attack Moscow and no air defense and missile defense will not help to stop it. But earlier in the USSR in the 60-70's was actively developed program "Spiral." These space fighter were put in orbit by conventional rockets "East" and "Union" and based also space stations "Salut". Was performed of many manned flights in the air one flight on a suborbital orbit. But been the program closed. Although was not no case of emergencies.

 

pmaitra

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^^

Thanks for the update Akim.

As for <<"East" and "Union">>, they were better left as Vostok and Soyuz, because, they are proper nouns in this context. I am not blaming you. I know it's the translator who did it. :)
 

Akim

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^^

Thanks for the update Akim.

As for <<"East" and "Union">>, they were better left as Vostok and Soyuz, because, they are proper nouns in this context. I am not blaming you. I know it's the translator who did it. :)
I did not write through a translator. Just to be understandable name. Forgot give Russian transcription.
 

Armand2REP

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I do not count what Ðœi- 24(35) obsolete. Name to me the helicopter of the same class in the west. Such is not present.
Mi-24 looks pretty obsolete compared to this...

 
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pmaitra

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^^

Do you know the effect burning tires can have on the Black Hawk?
 

Akim

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Mi-24 looks pretty obsolete compared to this.
MI-24 (35) takes a middle position between Attack Helicopters and multi-purpose. Why there is no such in the West. Because, it was developed for other battle tactics. Of course in the original-it is obsolete, but in a modernized version, with new engines, with composite armor, French avionics and a new set of armament,he presents a formidable rotary-wing machine.
 

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