Posted on 02/05/2010 1:35:36 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Norwegian military intelligence believes that the number of Russian military aircraft operating off the Norwegian coast will decline this year. The reason is logistics. The new Russian defense budget has cut fuel purchases for the air force. No fuel, no flying. The Russians are doing this because, despite lower oil prices (for Russians main export) and the aftereffects of the global recession, Russia has to rebuild its' armed forces. By cutting fuel purchases, more money is available for new equipment. A year ago, former Russian president, and current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, announced that, despite the current recession, and low oil prices, Russia would continue the big spending begun two years earlier, to rebuild the armed forces. This was a popular move, and considered necessary for "restoring Russia's place in the world" (becoming a superpower again), and making the "Red Army" (a Soviet era term) once more a feared force.
Russia can't become a superpower again, because all those nuclear weapons are great for defending the country, but you need non-nuclear forces to throw your weight around. Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, Russia has lost over 90 percent of its combat power. It was disarmament by starvation (massive cuts in the defense budget) and neglect (the military leadership tried to hold on to more equipment than they could afford to maintain or operate, making the situation worse.) Digging out of the hole is going to cost a few hundred billion dollars and over a decade of effort. The government increased the annual defense budget to $38 billion three years ago, and is spending over $25 billion a year (for the next six years, and the last two) to rebuild the conventional forces. It takes time to rebuild fleets and armies.
(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...
GDP about 2 trillion
8.2% unemployed
Labor force is about 75 million compared to US 155 million.
They are nuts if they think they will be a superpower again.
Minor spelling point. I rarely see "its'" in any publication. There is no such word. The possessive pronoun is spelled "its." Usually, one sees this misspelled as "it's" but that is the contraction of "it is."
Class dismissed.
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