- The government has already given military-industrial enterprises several hundred billions of rubles in support, and will continue to do so, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov declared, news agency Interfax reports.
Targeted support is already being given to certain enterprises, whose production is competitive, knowledge-intensive and strategically important for Russia.
- In spite of the financial hardships in the world, Russian producers of arms and military equipment steadily conquer the global arms market, Ivanov said.
Russian arms exports exceed 8 billion USD in 2008, news agency RIA Novosti reports. The country has also secured 33 billion USD worth of firm orders for arms deliveries. Russia has doubled annual arms exports since 2000, becoming the world’s second-largest exporter of conventional arms after the United States.
Russia exports weapons to about 80 countries. Among the key buyers of Russian-made weaponry are China, India, Algeria, Venezuela, Iran, Malaysia and Serbia.
The most popular types of weaponry bought from Russia are Sukhoi and MiG fighters, air defense systems, helicopters, battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. Russia also maintains traditionally strong positions in the sales of small arms and light weapons, and anti-tank and surface-to-air missile systems.
Russia has three major military-industrial enterprises in the far north – Sevmash and Zvezdochka in Severodvinsk outside Arkhangelsk, and Nerpa in Snezhnogorsk outside Murmansk. Sevmash is currently modernizing an aircraft carrier to be sold to India.
