The Syria War Is Showcasing Russian Arms, Promoting Sales

Companies in the Russian defense industry are beginning 2016 with optimism: The contracts in their portfolio exceed $50 billion, and the military campaign in Syria has been excellent advertising for Russian armaments.

In an article published last week in Kommersant–Dengi magazine, writer Ivan Safronov analyzed the internal (economic) and external factors which will impact armament exports in the new year. He also predicted which countries will buy arms from Russia in 2016, and in which quantities.

Following are excerpts from Safronov’s article:[1]

Adopting To The New Economic And Political Realities

“…According to the Federal Authority on Military Technical Cooperation (MTC),[2] the export of Russian weapons has increased dramatically during the last 11 years, from $5 billion to $11.3 billion. However, even though Russia has arms contracts with some 60 countries, most of the revenue comes from five or six major players. Although the sales figures for 2015 has not been officially announced, we know that as of December 1, $11.6 billion worth of military equipment was exported. Existing contracts for future military sales total $57 billion.