Russian Defense Minister General Viktor Shoigou presented its project to create a city dedicated to Research, to the development and production of Defense equipment, like the military technopoles of the Soviet era, such as Nijni Novgorod. A pilot project, called 'Era', has already been launched on the shores of the Black Sea, near the city of Anapa, an attractive choice for Russian engineers and scientists. M Shoigou's goal is to attract talent from the best Russian schools and universities, and to provide them with an environment that promotes interactions and productivity, while mastering security and logistics issues.
If the “Proof of Concept” is effective, General Shoigou plans to replicate the project.
The Russian Defense industry is the main exporting industry in Russia, with the exception of the oil/gas industry. It employs 1,2 million people, for a turnover estimated at $30 billion per year. It is also one of the rare areas of Russian excellence. You only need to see the success of the S-400 anti-aircraft systems, the Su35 multi-purpose fighters or the T90 battle tanks in export this year to be convinced of this.
It is also a pillar of national reconstruction in the government's narrative, and the successes of Russian equipment, in external operations, during military competitions or exports, are very regularly covered in national television news. Tank or combat aircraft biathlons are even broadcast live on certain national channels, and commented on like sporting events.
Finally, it is one of the main economic and social levers of the State, which thus controls certain economic cycles in the country, in particular by investing revenues from the country's energy exports.
In fact, and as in the United States, the Russian Defense Industry is considered a central actor in the economic action of the State. While the army budget will be further reduced in 2018, the budget dedicated to the design and acquisition of defense equipment will be increased. The Russian GPV 2019-2027, the equivalent of our LPM, has thus defined a budgetary trajectory bringing annual investments in defense equipment to more than $30 billion per year, or nearly 50% of the total army budget. .
This very high ratio (France 20%), demonstrates without a doubt that Russia applies the principles of Positive Value Defense, offsetting the army budget with tax revenues generated by the Defense industry. This is how a country with the GDP of Spain manages to pose a significant threat to all of Europe, which has a GDP 12 times higher, and a population 4 times larger, than Russia.