In 2010, Russia began hyping up potential joint ventures with Israel and France to produce UAVs. While Israel did indeed provide Russia with nearly $150 million worth of “relatively outdated” UAV technology, they did not provide for the study and transfer of that technology, which was clearly what the Russians were expecting as part of the deal.

Furthermore, the 2011 joint venture with Italian manufacturer Iveco to produce the M65 “Lynx” armored vehicle stipulated that 50% of the components be produced in Russia. Unsurprisingly, this did not happen.

As one of the largest exporters of conventional arms in the world, one would imagine that Russia’s defense industry is doing quite well. However, that is not the case.

Facing a shortage of skilled workers, many Russian defense firms are at productive capacity while the rest are teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. To add to this, the Russian military industrial complex lacks breadth or solid market position and desperately needs to improve on technological capabilities.

A 2009 report from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs titled “Russia’s Military Capabilities, ‘Great Power’ Ambitions and Reality” explained:

Russia’s nuclear capabilities can be said to constitute the only effective military pillar of the “Great Power” claim.

In the past, the Russian Ministry of Defense has been quick to use the threat of imports to stimulate improvements in the quality of domestic production. However, without a proper arms procurement plan in place, this has done very little except contribute to the defense industry’s poor market position and subsequent financial hardships.

After 2012 report on the (long) history of importing military technology and how that has effected the security of Russia over the years, the MoD started to take imports seriously and Russia has been working towards this new plan ever since.

As Orwell mentioned earlier, the English intelligentsia (intellectuals) spent the better part of a decade, from 1933-1939, (the “Pink Decade”) praising the USSR and their model of Communism.

This was in spite of the many atrocities that grew out of Stalin’s regime, including the Holodomor, which was estimated to have resulted in the deaths of 2.4-7.5 million people by 1933.

In fact, it wasn’t until the Nazi-Soviet pact was signed in 1939 that the English intelligentsia changed their tune. After the outbreak of WWII 9 months later, noted leftist W.H. Auden wrote:

the clever hopes expire/of a low dishonest decade