November
26, 2006: Russia will increase military procurement by 23.2 percent, to $11.28
billion, in 2007. About half of this is going to big ticket items, like ICBMs,
nuclear subs and warplanes. Next year, the United States plans to spend some
$70 billion on procurement. Russia's defense budget is less than a tenth of
what the United States spends. Russia had begun a disarmament program in the
1950s, but a "revolt" by the generals in 1964, led to the overthrow
of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. This absurd operation was kicked off when
corrupt politicians made a deal with the military leadership, to help
overthrow Khrushchev. The politicians basically promised the generals and
admirals a blank check, as long as the military stayed out of politics, and let
the politicians enjoy themselves. Everyone had a grand time until, two decades
later, it was noted that, diverting all the money to military spending, and not
replacing civilian factories or infrastructure, had left the country an
economic basket case. Saner, and less corrupt, leadership took over, but it was
too late. The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, and Russia (which was now had
about half the population of the old Soviet Union) began to rebuild its
economy. While doing this, the military budget was slashed over 80 percent, and
is only now recovering.
