Experts and analysts have actually reaffirmed the statements made by US officials, who before the parade of Russian troops in Moscow were speaking in the same spirit, - that Russia can go ahead and show its old hardware, and Washington does not see any problem with that. "The US does not expect a show of new weaponries in Moscow", said a White House representative a few days ago.
A parade on May 9, 2008, (Victory Day), thought of as an effective propagandistic action, justified itself only partially. A Russian ordinary person, who for many years have not seen any parades and live military equipment, convoys of tanks and missile installations, certainly got impressed. But for the experts and the West, Moscow's parade of 2008 was only the confirmation of widely-known secret - Moscow does not have any new modern-day weaponry.
Thus, according to Russian military analyst Alexander Goltz, Armed Forces of Russia have been serving propagandistic functions instead of defensive ones for many years now. The last military parade on the Red Square has confirmed this particular trend. In his interview to Radio Liberty, he pointed out:
"The military equipment, which is called "modern" in Russia, for example, SU-34 aircraft, "Iskander" or "Topol-M" missiles are all designed in the mid- or late 80s. For obvious reasons, this military equipment was actually not manufactured in the 90s. And all of a sudden today the Kremlin's leadership saw an opportunity to produce this military equipment, developed 15-20 years ago. That is exactly why it is called "modern" these days, because the Russian army did not have such equipment back then. But is it really modern? Certainly not.
"The question number two is whether Russia can produce even this kind of military equipment. A couple of weeks before the parade Sergei Ivanov, first Vice-Premier, made a rather sensational statement. He said that Russian industry scrupulously avoids producing military equipment, only 65% of the contracts have been signed. This is because the industry is simply not ready for the production of military equipment and armaments to the extent required by country's leadership.
"The problem is that in the 90s the system of subcontractors had disappeared - those who provided the manufacturing facilities, where the final stage in assembly of aircraft, missiles and tank components was conducted. When an order is small (1-2 aircraft, 10 tanks), all components can be produced at the plant where the final stage of the assembly is taking place. As the order increased, it turned out that there was no place to get the components from. And a paradoxical thing happened. More and more money is being spent on armaments, but in return the country gets fewer and fewer pieces of military equipment ".
"Military equipment at the parade shows that we are showing muscles and start posing a threat to the outside world," leader of the movement "For Human Rights" Lev Ponomarev said in his interview to BBC. - "To whom we are demonstrating our might, to Georgia? I do not think that the demonstration of military equipment would be somewhat meaningful in Russia or in any other country. At the parade everything will look spotless, but all of the real problems the army will keep being obscured".
Kavkaz Center
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