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Russia will use domestically-built arms and purchase military equipment only in those fields where there are flaws, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin has said. "The national defense sector will shoulder the production of most arms. The purchase of military equipment abroad will be made only in those fields where there are flaws," Ria Novosti quoted Vladimir Popovkin as saying to Ekho Moskvy radio on Saturday. The deputy defense minister said there were "flaws" in the production of sophisticated arms, including unmanned aircraft. He said this year Russia’s defence ministry would import drones and that work was already in progress...

Russia warned on Friday that it could revive plans to base missiles on NATO's doorstep amid growing controversy over new proposals for a US missile shield in central Europe. Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said Moscow could still decide to station the missiles in Kaliningrad -- a western Russian exclave nestled between Poland and Lithuania -- if it felt its security was under threat. "If there is no additional threat to Russia's security, then we will not base Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad," Russian news agencies quoted Serdyukov as saying on a visit to Finland. "But if an additional threat appears, then...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has approved the sale of one Mistral-class warship to Russia; and France is now considering Moscow’s request for three more of that class of helicopter-carrier and amphibious-assault ship. The Russian Navy’s First Deputy Chief of Staff, Vice-Admiral Oleg Burtsev, broke the news on February 5 in Moscow about Sarkozy’s approval of the first warship procurement (Interfax, February 5). The French defense ministry confirmed this on February 8 and announced the Russian navy’s request for three additional ships (Le Monde, February 9). The announcements seemed timed by Moscow and Paris to undercut US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’...

The constitution of the new democratic Russia adopted in 1993 contains a special clause that the nation must have a public military doctrine to mark the end of the time of communist tyranny. A provisional military doctrine was adopted in 1993 and in this document Russia rejected the use of military force to solve international disputes, a notion that is today scorned by the pro-Kremlin press (Izvestiya, February 8). In 2000, the then President Vladimir Putin signed Russia’s first permanent military doctrine, but in fact the text was prepared during the rule of his predecessor Boris Yeltsin. The 2000 military...

Fears are spreading from the Baltic to the Black Sea that Russia may be on the move again. According to experts, Moscow has put out feelers to some half a dozen Western European nations in bids to acquire advanced military hardware. If it bears results, the potential multibillion-dollar Russian shopping spree would be the first of its kind since the end of the Cold War. By far the biggest splash has been made by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin when he used a visit to Paris last November to publicly place an order for a state-of-the-art French warship. But Russia has...

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Friday signed a new version of its main military strategy document which named NATO expansion as one of the chief threats to the country's security. The document, published on the Kremlin web site, listed first among "chief outside military threats" the fact that NATO is attempting to "globalise its functions in contravention of international law." It also cited attempts to bring "military infrastructure of NATO members closer to Russian borders, including by expanding the bloc." Russia has bristled at moves by former Soviet republics such as Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO and relations between...

The Russian defense ministry wants to kick off the acquisition of a reconnaissance and attack medium-range UAV this year. But whether any supplier other than Tupolev will step forward to bid remains to be seen. Tupolev is one of the nation’s traditional unmanned aerial vehicle designers, and it is already working on a concept—known by its Russian acronym of BAK SD—to meet the requirement. Alexander Bobryshev, Tupolev’s president, says participating in the bidding process is one of his top priorities. “We are taking our stock [of unmanned technologies] now and plan to develop this direction.” Other possible competitors include Sukhoi....

Development of strategic nuclear forces remains the top priority for the Russian military. Within the nuclear triad, the military has a big stake in reinforcing naval strategic forces, although the other two elements, ground-based missiles and strategic bombers, are also being modernized. The navy accounts for approximately 40% of the defense ministry’s budget, according to Vice Premier Sergey Ivanov, who discussed spending in mid-2009. “It’s much more than is spent on strategic missile forces, space forces and the air force put together. It’s hundreds of billions of rubles,” he said, adding that the navy’s money will be mainly spent for...

The number of strategic bombers performing routine patrols could be doubled if the Russian General Staff makes such a decision, the commander of Russia's strategic aviation said Tuesday. Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans, the Black Sea and along the borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States in August 2007, following an order from then-president Vladimir Putin. "As a rule, up to four strategic bombers perform patrol flights simultaneously. However, under specific circumstances and on orders from the General Staff, their number could be increased to up to eight aircraft," Maj. Gen. Anatoly...

Three years after deciding to start production, the Russian Air Force received the first two production models of the Su-34 fighter-bomber. The original plan was to put 24 aircraft into service by 2010. It was hoped that they would eventually be able to buy a hundred. Apparently one goal of undertaking serial production was to encourage foreign purchases. No luck there yet. The 45 ton Su-34 is a replacement for the 43 ton Su-24 bomber, which is beginning to show its age (over twenty years). There are 300 Su-24s on the books, but most of these are not fit for...

Russia will work on a new generation of nuclear missiles to ensure its nuclear deterrent remains effective, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. Medvedev said the new missiles would be developed in full accordance with arms agreements made with the United States. "Of course, we will develop new systems, including delivery systems, that is, missiles," Medvedev said in an end-of-year interview with state-controlled television channels. "This process will be continued, and our nuclear shield will always be efficient and sufficient to protect our national interests," Medvedev said. The Kremlin chief said Russia and the United States were close to a...

Pentagon officials are keeping an eye on a delivery by the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association in Russia of three new Su-34 “Fullback”, two-seat, fighter bombers last week. It is part of an effort to create an operational force of 24 aircraft by the end of 2010. Future goals are a complete air regiment of 44 aircraft by 2010 and a total force of 200 Su-34s by 2020. Borts 04 and 05 went to Lipetsk AB combat training center – Russia’s “Top Gun” school – which is 270 mi. southeast of Moscow. Their arrival was the subject of a Russian television...

The recent Bulava launch failure has implications for US-Russian arms control talks (EDM, December 17) and will determine whether the Russian defense industry is capable of delivering advanced weapons systems at qualitative levels competing with analogous systems produced abroad. The issue involves the quality of such systems, their relative costs, and the time for their research, development and deployment. This year the Russian defense ministry has selectively answered that question negatively and has bought advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) from Israel and entered into discussions with France over the purchase of a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, which so far has...

US-Russian nuclear arms reduction negotiators seem close to concluding a follow up strategic arms reduction treaty (START). The Russian press reports that Washington has agreed to serious concessions and that the new START treaty will be signed soon. The new verification measures will be less intrusive and “based on trust.” The US military control mission will be permanently removed from the Votkinsk missile factory in Udmurtia in the Urals. The US is reported to have agreed to allow Russia in the future to cipher telemetric data of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launches. Both sides will be allowed 700 to...

The latest test of Russia new Bulava SLBM (Sea Launched Ballistic Missile) was a spectacular failure. The test took place off the northern coast of Russia early on December 10th. The failure resulted in a brilliant light show, in the pre-dawn sky, that was visible to many in Norway. At first the Russians denied that the spectacular lights had anything to do with them. But within a day, they admitted it was Bulava failing its 13th flight test. Last August Russian political and military leaders became upset (make that VERY upset) at the inept development of the new Bulava missile....

Russia plans to replace most of its older (Cold War era) ICBMs in the next five years. But all of these older missiles will not be retired until 2020. Currently, Russia has 538 ICBMs in service, 71 percent of them the most modern Topols (SS-25 and SS-27). Only 56 are the most modern, Topol-M design. About a dozen of these are the road-mobile versions, that avoid destruction in a first strike, by constantly moving around on the roads 200-300 kilometers northeast of Moscow. The 54 foot long transporter for these 46 ton missiles is a 16 wheel vehicle, using a...

A mysterious blue spiral light that appeared in the skies above Norway was likely the result of a failed test launch of a jinxed new Russian missile, the UK’s Mail Online reported. Several newspapers in Moscow today ran a story explaining that the Bulava missile was test-fired from the Dmitry Donskoi submarine in the White Sea early on Wednesday but failed at the third stage. However, earlier reports from Moscow denied a missile launch yesterday and even early today there was no formal confirmation from the Russian Defense Ministry. Some speculators felt the lights were connected with the aurora borealis,...

It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for...

Russia has launched its Su-35 fighter-jet program. Russia's Sukhoi Co. has begun implementing a contract to deliver the Su-35 to the Russian Air Force. Under the contract signed in August 2009, the Russian Air Force, in the largest purchase in 20 years, would acquire 48 Su-35 fighters. "Long-term contracts for the fighter aircraft delivery to the Russian Air Force and foreign customers allow Sukhoi Co. to provide for a steady work load of its serial plants by combat aircraft production and shift from modernizing aircraft in the Russian Air Force inventory to manufacturing new products," Sukhoi said. In a statement...

Russia is getting another five S-400 (also known as the Triumf/Triumph or SA-21) missile battalions in the next year. Russia already has two battalions, with the first one entering service two years ago. Belarus is buying the S-400, and part of a battalion was sent to the North Korean border recently (to make a political point, not that the Russians fear a missile attack from North Korea any time soon.) Within the next six years, Russia plans to buy 18 S-400 battalions, while exporting as many as possible. An S-400 battalion has eight launchers, each with four missiles, plus a...