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Appendix 9C. Developments in the Russian arms industry
Contents
JULIAN COOPER
I. Introduction
II. The Russian arms industry and its administration today
III. The output of the arms industry
IV. Arms procurement in Russia
V. Problems of quality and foreign dependence
VI. Transparency in relation to the military economy
VII. Conclusions: further reforms?
Summary
Since 1991 the huge Soviet arms industry has contracted markedly and the administrative structures for the management and oversight of the Russian military sector have undergone frequent and far-reaching change. Since President Vladimir Putin came to power, military output has recovered to some extent and spending on procurement and research and development has increased, but Russian military production remains dependent on exports. The Soviet legacy is still apparent: the industry remains relatively isolated from the rest of the world with a reluctance to establish transnational partnerships or permit foreign ownership. The level of transparency, while improving, is still short of that accepted as normal in democratic countries.
Julian Cooper (UK) is Deputy Director of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) and Professor of Russian Economic Studies, University of Birmingham.
English