Russian military technology fights
back By Yevgeny Bendersky
Over the past 12 years
it has become customary to refer to the
Russian military establishment as decayed,
under-armed, under-trained and under-supplied, thereby in effect writing
it off as second-rate. Russia's long war in Chechnya
seems to reinforce the above sentiments, and current
writings and reports on the Russian armed forces all point to
the dire need for reform and financial assistance
across the board. In essence, current analysis seems
to indicate that Russia stopped being a viable
competitor to the US military some time after 1992. Media
coverage of Russian military technological achievements has
been limited to its fighter-jet crashes at international air
shows, and an occasional complimentary article on a
recent Russian entrant at a military show or exposition.
At the same time, there has been wide
and detailed coverage of US achievements in the
development of numerous military technologies,
especially after the 1991 Gulf War. The United States'
military interest is concentrated on continuing the process
of revolutionizing its military affairs with
new technologies and tactics that were learned in
conflicts and wars very different from the once-possible
war between the US and Russia on Europe's plains.
Meanwhile, the Russian military is forced to make do
with weapons that should have been retired in the late
1980s.
However, even in the current dire
circumstances, Russia never stopped being a powerful
entity that produced state-of-the-art military
technologies - a trend that continued from its inception
as a modern state. While its army, navy and air force
are in dangerously derelict conditions, every part of
the formula for Russia's resurgence as a military
powerhouse is still in place. Russia has been
consistently fielding top-notch military technology at
various international trade shows, and has been steady
in the demonstration of its capabilities.
In spite of financial and economic difficulties,
Russia still produces state-of-the-art military
technologies that continue to impress the world. One of its
best achievements after the dissolution of the Soviet
Union has been its armored fighting vehicle BMP-3, which
has been chosen over Western vehicles in contracts for
the United Arab Emirates and Oman, long located
in Washington's sphere of influence.
Russia's surface-to-air missile systems, the S-300 and its
more powerful successor, the S-400, are said by some to
be more potent than US-made Patriot systems.
The once-anticipated military exercise between the
Patriot and the S-300 never materialized, leaving the
Russian complex with an undisputed, yet unproven, claim
of superiority over the US system. Continuing this
list is the Kamov-50 family of military helicopters that
incorporate the latest cutting-edge technologies and
tactics, making them an equal force to the best
Washington and the West have to offer.
Additional proof of the
strength of Russian military technology is the
recently held joint Indo-American air force exercises
(see India's top guns head for the
US , June 24), the results of
which were widely covered in the media. Russian-made
Su-30 fighters in service with the Indian air
force outmaneuvered US-made F-15 planes in a majority
of their engagements, prompting US Air Force General
Hal Homburg to admit that Russian technology in Indian
hands had given the USAF a "wake-up call". Furthermore,
the Russian military establishment is continuing to
design other helicopters, tanks and armored vehicles
that are on par with the best that the West has to
offer. In addition, Mexico, long a customer of US
military technology, has expressed an interest in a
limited amount of Russian weapon systems.
Part of such success - limited, but nonetheless crucial
to the survival of the Russian military industry -
stems from the fact that even in these difficult times,
some of Russia's military factories and its covert
cities, once the sites of ultra-secret projects, are
still operational and continue to work on essentially the
same projects as before the demise of the Soviet Union:
the development of military technologies that are on par
with or better than those available in the West. Since
the US military will be fighting its future wars
against armies possessing Russian weapons - or
derivatives thereof - Washington should pay closer
attention to what is happening across the wide spaces of
the Russian Federation, for three reasons.
One is the simple fact that the export of weapons
is one of the best ways for Russia to
earn much-needed hard currency. Already Russia
is the second-largest worldwide exporter of military
technology after the United States. As reported
in various magazines, journals and periodicals, at
present, Russia's modern military technology is more likely to
be exported than supplied to its own armies because of the financial
constraints and limitations of Russia's armed forces.
This has implications for America's future combat
operations since practically all insurgent, guerrilla,
breakaway or terrorist armed formations across the globe
- the very formations that the United States will most
likely face in its future wars - are fielded with
Russian weapons or its derivatives. Even if the Russian
government exercises control over the sale and export of
its military technologies, given the present derelict
state of its military and lack of proper checks and
balances, its state-of-the-art technology might end up
in the wrong hands.
The second reason has to
do with Russia's growing assertiveness in its "near abroad",
or the states of the former Soviet Union.
Russia considers these states in its rightful economic,
political and military sphere of influence, and has
acted accordingly in some of the USSR's
former republics, such as Georgia and Armenia.
This justification is particularly applied to oil-and-natural-gas-rich
Central Asian states. Already, Russia is slowly growing
weary of the US military presence in that region and is
seeking to bolster its own presence there through
closer contacts and military bases. For Russia to exercise
its influence fully, it would have to field a
viable, high-tech military force that is capable of
projecting its strength if the need for that arises.
Given the developing competition between the United
States and Russia for Central Asia, the Russian military
will have to field the above-described technologies to
protect and exercise its sphere of influence truly.
The third reason has to do with Russia's current
military doctrine, which adheres to the concept of
multipolarity. The articles of the doctrine state
Russia's conviction that social progress, stability and
international security can only be accomplished in a
multipolar world. The doctrine further states that the
Russian Federation will work toward the establishment of
such a world with all the means at its disposal. Russia
cannot be one of the potential powers in this multipolar
scenario if its military lacks advanced technologies and
if it cannot be considered a state-of-the-art military
force on par with US and Western armies. Therefore, it
is to be expected that Russia will attempt to field its
armies with the country's best military achievements.
If US-Indian exercises were indeed a "wake-up
call", it is conceivable that more such lessons for the
United States can follow. While the US currently spends
more on its military strength than all of its potential
competitors combined, one only needs to turn to history
to remember that it took Russia less than two decades to
build a state-of-the-art navy at the dawn of the 18th
century, with which it took on major powers of the day
and firmly established itself as one of the world's
superpowers. While the current state of the Russian
military is far from where the Russian leadership wants
it to be, the country's support for modern technological
developments, and its historical ability to succeed in a
short period of time in spite of internal economic
weaknesses, should not be underestimated. Russia has yet
the chance and ability to some day rival the most
technologically advanced states.
Published
with permission of thePower and
Interest News Report, an analysis-based
publication that seeks to provide insight into various
conflicts, regions and points of interest around the
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