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Russias weaponry shows signs of age
By Vladimir Isachenkov
ZHUKOVSKY (Russia): At a oncesecret airfield outside Moscow, test pilot Sergei Bogdan proudly introduces reporters to what was billed as the latest in Russian military aircraft technology, the Su-35 fighter jet.
But the plane is only an upgrade of a 20-year-old model and it cant match the speed and stealth of the latest US fighter, the F-22 Raptor, which entered service in 2005.
Former President Vladimir Putin, now Russias powerful prime minister, has boasted of new weapons systems and of strengthening the armed forces, raising fears in the West of a Cold War-style military build up. Flush with oil money, the Kremlin is in the market for new weapons.
But Russias own state-run defence industries, experts say, face a crumbling manufacturing base and pervasive corruption; they have produced little in the way of advanced armaments in the Putin era.
The Victory Day parade in Red Square in May was intended to showcase the nations military might. Instead, Russias arsenal showed its age. Most of the planes, tanks and missiles that rolled past Lenins tomb dated to the 1980s or were slightly modernised versions of decades-old equipment.
Bogdan, affectionately patting his Su-35 in a hangar at Zhukovsky flight test center outside Moscow, hailed its agility, advanced electronics and new engines. Its very light on controls and accelerates really well, he said.
But Alexander Golts, an independent defence analyst, said the Su-35 is just one example of how Russian weapons industries are taking old designs out of mothballs and trying to sell them as new.
The Soviet Union saw a tide of new weapons designs in the late 1980s which didnt reach a production stage, Golts said. They can be described as new only in a sense that they werent built in numbers. Russian officials have spent two decades trying to build a so-called fifth generation fighter jet equivalent to Raptor, but the plane still hasnt made its maiden flight and analysts are skeptical the first test flights will take place next year as promised.
Mikhail Pogosyan, the director of the Sukhoi aircraft-maker which is developing the new fighter, admitted that the company has a long way to go. But he added the pace of construction could accelerate soon.
I dont think that we are lagging behind in a critical way, he said when asked whether Russia was falling behind the US in fighter design.
As work to build the new plane drags on, another major weapons program also faces hurdles. The new Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile designed to equip nuclear sub marines has failed repeatedly in tests. Prospects for its deployment look dim.
The loss of technologies and the brain drain have led to a steady degradation of military industries, said Alexander Khramchikhin, an analyst with the Institute for Political and Military Analysis.
Russias economic meltdown after the Soviet collapse put many subcontractors out of business, rupturing long-established production links. Assembly plants were left to rely on limited stocks of Soviet-built components, or forced to try to crank up their own production.
Now when we finally get state orders, plants often cant fulfil them due to the lack of components, Valery Voskoboinikov, a government official in charge of aviation industries at Russias Ministry of Industry, recently told parliamentary hearings.
Despite Putins pledges to modern ise military arsenals, during his eight years as president the military purchased only a handful of new combat jets and several dozen tanks.
Commentators say Russias military technologies have slipped so far behind the United States and other Western nations that the countrys share of the global arms market could start shrinking soon.
Russian arms sales have grown steadily in recent years, reaching a post-Soviet record of more than $7 billion last year, according to official statistics. Russia accounted for a quarter of global arms sales in 20032007, coming a close second after the United States, according to the latest report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.But Russia already has suffered several recent, highly publicised failures in arms exports, in which the broken subcontractor chain and swelling production costs were widely seen as key factors.
Russia recently failed to fulfil Chinas order for 38 Il-76 transport planes and Il-78 tankers, leading to the suspension of the deal. Earlier this year Algeria returned the MiG29 fighter jets it bought from Russia, complaining of their poor quality.
The system has been broken all the way down, said Anatoly Sitnov, who oversees the aviation industries in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Russias aging work force presents another challenge. Many highly skilled workers left defence industries in the 1990s for higher-paid jobs in the private sector, and the arms industrys meager wages have hampered the recruitment of younger workers.
The average age of Russias aircraft industries workers is now 45, and that figure is still rising. There is an acute shortage of key specialists: turners, welders, millers, Voskoboinikov said.
Obsolete equipment has hurt efficiency. The last major modernisation of defence plants occurred in the early 1980s, and many machine tools used in these factories are even older.
The government has responded by creating huge state-controlled military conglomerates, like the United Aircraft Corporation, saying they will streamline manufacturing. Critics say they will stifle competition, encourage corruption and further weaken Russias arms industry.
We built good planes in the past because we had a competition between aircraft makers, Svetlana Savitskaya, a Soviet cosmonaut who is now a lawmaker, said during parliamentary hearings.
Pulling all of them together under one roof will end competition and destroy what we had. But it could make it more convenient for some to steal government funds. AP
Test Page for Apache Installation
By Vladimir Isachenkov
ZHUKOVSKY (Russia): At a oncesecret airfield outside Moscow, test pilot Sergei Bogdan proudly introduces reporters to what was billed as the latest in Russian military aircraft technology, the Su-35 fighter jet.
But the plane is only an upgrade of a 20-year-old model and it cant match the speed and stealth of the latest US fighter, the F-22 Raptor, which entered service in 2005.
Former President Vladimir Putin, now Russias powerful prime minister, has boasted of new weapons systems and of strengthening the armed forces, raising fears in the West of a Cold War-style military build up. Flush with oil money, the Kremlin is in the market for new weapons.
But Russias own state-run defence industries, experts say, face a crumbling manufacturing base and pervasive corruption; they have produced little in the way of advanced armaments in the Putin era.
The Victory Day parade in Red Square in May was intended to showcase the nations military might. Instead, Russias arsenal showed its age. Most of the planes, tanks and missiles that rolled past Lenins tomb dated to the 1980s or were slightly modernised versions of decades-old equipment.
Bogdan, affectionately patting his Su-35 in a hangar at Zhukovsky flight test center outside Moscow, hailed its agility, advanced electronics and new engines. Its very light on controls and accelerates really well, he said.
But Alexander Golts, an independent defence analyst, said the Su-35 is just one example of how Russian weapons industries are taking old designs out of mothballs and trying to sell them as new.
The Soviet Union saw a tide of new weapons designs in the late 1980s which didnt reach a production stage, Golts said. They can be described as new only in a sense that they werent built in numbers. Russian officials have spent two decades trying to build a so-called fifth generation fighter jet equivalent to Raptor, but the plane still hasnt made its maiden flight and analysts are skeptical the first test flights will take place next year as promised.
Mikhail Pogosyan, the director of the Sukhoi aircraft-maker which is developing the new fighter, admitted that the company has a long way to go. But he added the pace of construction could accelerate soon.
I dont think that we are lagging behind in a critical way, he said when asked whether Russia was falling behind the US in fighter design.
As work to build the new plane drags on, another major weapons program also faces hurdles. The new Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile designed to equip nuclear sub marines has failed repeatedly in tests. Prospects for its deployment look dim.
The loss of technologies and the brain drain have led to a steady degradation of military industries, said Alexander Khramchikhin, an analyst with the Institute for Political and Military Analysis.
Russias economic meltdown after the Soviet collapse put many subcontractors out of business, rupturing long-established production links. Assembly plants were left to rely on limited stocks of Soviet-built components, or forced to try to crank up their own production.
Now when we finally get state orders, plants often cant fulfil them due to the lack of components, Valery Voskoboinikov, a government official in charge of aviation industries at Russias Ministry of Industry, recently told parliamentary hearings.
Despite Putins pledges to modern ise military arsenals, during his eight years as president the military purchased only a handful of new combat jets and several dozen tanks.
Commentators say Russias military technologies have slipped so far behind the United States and other Western nations that the countrys share of the global arms market could start shrinking soon.
Russian arms sales have grown steadily in recent years, reaching a post-Soviet record of more than $7 billion last year, according to official statistics. Russia accounted for a quarter of global arms sales in 20032007, coming a close second after the United States, according to the latest report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.But Russia already has suffered several recent, highly publicised failures in arms exports, in which the broken subcontractor chain and swelling production costs were widely seen as key factors.
Russia recently failed to fulfil Chinas order for 38 Il-76 transport planes and Il-78 tankers, leading to the suspension of the deal. Earlier this year Algeria returned the MiG29 fighter jets it bought from Russia, complaining of their poor quality.
The system has been broken all the way down, said Anatoly Sitnov, who oversees the aviation industries in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Russias aging work force presents another challenge. Many highly skilled workers left defence industries in the 1990s for higher-paid jobs in the private sector, and the arms industrys meager wages have hampered the recruitment of younger workers.
The average age of Russias aircraft industries workers is now 45, and that figure is still rising. There is an acute shortage of key specialists: turners, welders, millers, Voskoboinikov said.
Obsolete equipment has hurt efficiency. The last major modernisation of defence plants occurred in the early 1980s, and many machine tools used in these factories are even older.
The government has responded by creating huge state-controlled military conglomerates, like the United Aircraft Corporation, saying they will streamline manufacturing. Critics say they will stifle competition, encourage corruption and further weaken Russias arms industry.
We built good planes in the past because we had a competition between aircraft makers, Svetlana Savitskaya, a Soviet cosmonaut who is now a lawmaker, said during parliamentary hearings.
Pulling all of them together under one roof will end competition and destroy what we had. But it could make it more convenient for some to steal government funds. AP
Test Page for Apache Installation
