Russian navy to get big budget boost

June 8, 2009 · Posted in Blogroll, Uncategorized 

 Ares reports that the Russian navy, and particular its submarine force, is to get the lion’s share of the defense budget in the forthcoming years.

[…] more than 40% of the Defense Ministry budget will be spent on the navy, with emphasis on strategic nuclear forces.

“It is much more than is being spent on strategic missile forces, space forces and the air force combined. It is hundreds of billions of rubles”, said Ivanov, adding that the navy funding will be mainly spent for strategic nuclear submarines.

The focus on submarines comes as little surprise for those who have been watching the Russian navy’s budget over the lean years of the 90s and early 2000s; even when the funds were reduced to a trickle, submarines would snatch almost all of it (this BTW explains, to a significant extent, the collapse of virtually the entire surface fleet).

What is a surprise is that, overall, the navy is getting a significantly larger chunk of the overall budget this time around. Traditionally (including most of the Soviet period) the bulk of the budget was shared between the Strategic Rocket Forces, the Army and the Air Force, with the Navy getting the leftovers. It is possible that this shift signals a realization, from the Russian leadership’s part, of the growing importance of the naval arm in light of the emerging importance of the Arctic regions, as well as the new opportunities for influencing the trade routes emanating from China (it will be particularly interesting to watch the division of assets between the Northern and Pacific fleets in the coming years).

Interesting times indeed.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Russian navy to get big budget boost”

  1. Tukey on June 8th, 2009 3:46 pm

    Ares got it wrong, am afraid. Ivanov said we’re spending 40% of the budget *NOW*.

    Which means the budget is so tiny it is eaten alive by very few subs, Solomonov’s Bulava and rotating doors.

  2. Tukey on June 8th, 2009 3:51 pm

    Remember, future budget hinges on oil prices and demand for oil/gas in the world. If it doesn’t materialise, if the Chinese start buying eco-friendly cars… 🙂

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