It has a remote-controlled turret, it bristles with state-of-the-art defense systems and its computerized controls make driving it “feel like a video game.” Russia’s Armata tank, which its creator says can be turned into a fully robotic combat vehicle, is the crowning glory of a sweeping military modernization drive that is rumbling forward amid a perilous confrontation with the West over Ukraine.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expensive arms build-up faces major hurdles as Russia’s economy sinks under the weight of Western sanctions and falling oil prices. The 22 trillion ruble (US$400 billion) program, which envisages the acquisition of 2,300 new tanks, hundreds of aircraft and missiles, and dozens of navy ships, was conceived at a time when Russia’s coffers were brimming with petrodollars.
Putin vowed that the military upgrade would go ahead as planned and this year’s military budget rose by 33 percent to about 3.3 trillion rubles. Some observers predict that the Kremlin will inevitably have to scale down the plans amid a grinding recession.
Photo: AP
In one of the first harbingers of the possible curtailment of new arms procurement, a deputy minister of defense said earlier this year that the Russian air force will likely reduce its order for the T-50, a costly state-of-the art fighter jet developed for two decades to counter the US Raptor.
Another problem is also hampering the modernization drive: The sanctions include a ban on the sale of military technology to Russia.
Nick de Larrinaga, Europe editor for IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, predicted that Russia would find it hard to replace Western military know-how.
“They have been relying on Western subsystems: Electro-
optical systems is a good example, but also computer chips and things like that, which Russia doesn’t make,” De Larrinaga said. “How Russia goes about trying to replace these systems is going to be a really big challenge.”
The rupture of military ties with Ukraine dealt another heavy blow to Putin’s rearmament effort. Ukrainian factories had exported a wide array of weapons and subsystems to Russia, and officials acknowledged that it would take massive resources to launch production of their equivalent at home.
Since Soviet times, Ukraine specialized in building helicopter engines and Putin said that Russia was setting up a capacity to produce them at home.
It could be even more challenging to substitute another Ukrainian product: ship turbines. Kiev’s refusal to deliver them has derailed the commissioning of new Russian navy ships.
Last month, the Armata starred in the Victory Day parade on Red Square, becoming an emblem of the country’s resurgent military power. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of weapons modernization, likened Russia to a “big Armata” and claimed that the new tank is 15 to 20 years ahead of Western designs.
Speaking on a TV talk show, Rogozin also used armor as a symbol to issue a bold threat to the West — showing how military hardware can also be a powerful weapon in the Kremlin’s propaganda war.
“Tanks don’t need visas!” Rogozin declared, in a reference to Western travel bans and economic sanctions against Russia.
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