Russian Military Reform Delayed by Financial Crisis

Russia’s agenda for military reform, announced by Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov in October 2008, is facing revisions and delays due to the global financial crisis.

This has also affected the arms industry, as there are fewer customers for the purchase of military hardware, and has consequently damaged Russia’s defense industry, which relies heavily on the international export market.

Boris Obnosov, the general manager of the Tactical Missile Arms Corporation, for example, recently expressed his confidence that the defense industry would pull through the crisis but admitted that this would depend on state assistance in the form of inexpensive loans, tax breaks, and additional state orders. Without this, many Russian defense companies would go under.

Read more