peperez
Charter Member
The Ru Federation had severe financial problems in the early 90's and much of their military fell into disrepair. Now, with more oil money coming in, they have more to devote to maintenance and weapons development. Putin and his successor pressed for that, Eltsin didn't. Nunn-Lugar helped by pouring in resources to keep their nuclear and chem-bio scientists from going rogue and help them secure their nuclear materials and help convert production facilities to peaceful products.
I'm pretty sure that the strategic bombers, based in Ukraine were "bought" back by the Russians for debt forgiveness before START went into effect. Nuff said... I don't want to hijack Pepe's thread. :salute:
I work as a Defence and International Affairs specialist. My interest areas are Far East and Ex-Soviet countries. So, I follow Russian changes with close interest. They really bought back the Tu-160 Blackjack. Now, the Russian Federation is reorganizing its Armed Forces. The idea is have a slimmer but more professional force. They are refiting its Su-27, Su-24, Su25, Su-30 and MiG-29 fighter force; are receiving new Su-35 and Su-34 and new UAVs. Lots of detail at RIA-Novosti site.
By the way, you can hijack my post anytime when you have important info to share...
Cheers
Pepe

