Development of Military-Technical Cooperation

President of Russia Vladimir Putin in recent years has paid much attention to the development of military-technical cooperation with foreign countries. In November in Moscow Kremlin he held a special meeting of the state Commission for Military Technical Cooperation with Foreign States. In addition, the issues of military-technical cooperation and arms exports became one of the themes of Vladimir Putin's autumn meetings with the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry and enterprises of the country's defense-industrial complex.

At the meeting of the Commission for Military Technical Cooperation with Foreign States Vladimir Putin began from the current situation in this sphere and then map further steps to strengthen Russia’s positions on the global market of weapons and military equipment.

Vladimir Putin marked that based on the results of January to September 2017, Russian military-technical contracts portfolio exceeds $45 billion. Under the 2017 plan, Russian military export deliveries will amount to $15.3 billion.

‘Russia is firmly committed to its obligations in the fight against terrorism, chooses its counteragents scrupulously and closely monitors the use of our equipment and weapons by our clients,’ said Vladimir Putin. ‘We must implement our plans in full, and we must also continue to enhance our efficiency in the sphere of military technical cooperation, including by tightening control over the implementation of our contractual obligations.

At the same time, I would like to point out that the Russian producers and suppliers of weapons and military equipment have to operate in difficult conditions and amid unfair competition, which has become obvious and includes hampered financial settlements, logistical obstacles and problems with protecting intellectual rights. Taken together, this results in increased spending and complicates the work of the Russian parties to military technical cooperation.

Arms exports are a huge responsibility for any country. Despite this, we have strengthened the economic and financial stability of our defence companies and increased their technological and production capacities over the past few years, which allows them to increase exports and improve the quality of exports, both military goods and high-tech civilian goods. In this context, I would like to remind you about the importance of diversifying our defence sector.

Of course, we must strengthen ties with our strategic partners, but we also need to develop contacts with new clients. We certainly want to profit commercially from the sale of our military products, yet the interests of global and regional security and stability will always be our top priority.

Russia is firmly committed to its obligations in the fight against terrorism, chooses its counteragents scrupulously and closely monitors the use of our equipment and weapons by our clients.

Russian producers and suppliers of weapons and military equipment have to operate in difficult conditions and amid unfair competition.

Meanwhile, we have taken note of several alarming trends, which have been growing stronger lately. I am referring above all to the frequent violations of international law by some players on the weapons market, as well as direct threats made to sovereign states.

We see an imitation rather than a real fight against terrorist groups, and uncontrolled arms deliveries are growing in scale. Weapons that are delivered to the so-called moderate opposition here or there today can resurface in the hands of radicals and terrorists tomorrow.

It appears that the hot spots and conflict zones have become a profitable business for certain parties and links in the ramified grey network of arms deliveries to counties and regions with unstable military and political situation. As I have said, arms exports are a huge responsibility for any country, and all players on the global arms market must be aware of this.’

It should also be noted that the issue of arms exports was raised in Sochi at the meeting on resource support for Armed Forces technical refurbishment, which was the final session in a series of meetings Vladimir Putin with Defence Ministry and defence industry officials. President of Russia said about MTC:

‘The potential of our military-industrial complex and the ongoing arms improvement, which I just touched on with regard to the use of such weapons in combat, is the reason Russia remains a leader in military exports and why it can strengthen its cooperation in military technology with other nations at a faster pace.

In 2017, Russian arms have been delivered to 59 countries. Stable military contracts have been concluded with 80 countries. What is important is that the stock of orders of Russian military products is not declining. This is a result, among other things, of the timely steps taken by the government to fund military-industrial companies, issue loans or otherwise assist them.

Still, we need to plan for the risks and assess the negative impact of the possible use of the external limitations that are already in place, and of the possible imposition of new limitations. We need to plan and undertake measures that will help us to respond to such a scenario quickly so that no harm comes from this possible outside influence.’