ArmChairCivvy wrote:"MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Serial production of Russia's state-of-the-art Armata tanks is scheduled to begin next year, the head of Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) machine building company said Tuesday.
"This will be next — 2018 — year, but we need to cut back tests," UVZ CEO Oleg Sienko told reporters.
The Russian Defense Ministry unveiled Armata tank at the May 9 Victory Day military parade in Moscow in 2015."
However, up to 2014 the company, producing not just tanks but rolling stock, was headed for bankruptcy. That was averted (for the sake of that forthcoming Victory Day parade) by the following tactics:
"One of the first who has already begun to "download" the money from the budget allocation under the pretext of state guarantees was the general director of "Uralvagonzavod" Oleg Sienko.Tak October 8, 2014 it was reported that the leadership of the corporation "Uralvagonzavod" asked the Russian government to provide enterprises state guarantees for loans in the amount of 35-50 billion rubles.
Siyenko "cover up" the federal program?
But what are "Uralvagonzavod" much needed additional 50 billion rubles? !! According to the most Siyenko these additional funds are necessary for the enterprise implementation of the federal program (OP) "Development of the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation until 2020".
Did not need to roll far back to see how much has been pocketed for the difference between the smoke-and-mirrors 2300 units and the real, all 100 units. Obviously, the army has some say, too, because they wanted a full redesign; not to cut back tests.
RE: the above " obviously unrealistic and a pipe-dream"
- yes, smoke screen for some not insubstantial public monies disappearing
- unrealistic, but good propaganda value (actually producing the shoot-in-the-foot effect as dormant Western tanks projects have been reactivated/ accelerated)
- Wunder Waffe tanks and stealth
fighters disappearing. the carrier de facto inactivated (and replacement somewhere in the 30's if at all) ... other than the army and SF "kontraktniki" who constitute a real capability increase, most of the stuff pushed in the press and "other publishing fora" seems to count as a mirage (either disappears altogether, or is just behind the next sand dune)
The mirage in this case is the next oil price rise, bailing out the finances of a middle size economy that has the appetite for weapons of a superpower... the planning assumptions may have been adjusted after this story broke:
" reflects the many changes Shell and its competitors have made in response to dramatic shifts in markets over the past few years. Oil boomed, peaking near $150 a barrel, then within two years went bust, down to the $30s, and is now hovering around $50. “We are getting fit for the $40s, with the way we are going,” Van Beurden said, referring to oil prices. Shell is operating under the assumption that crude will be “lower forever,” he said
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)
http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph ... rines.htmlThe Russian Navy’s special operations forces (SOF) will receive the newest P-650 special-purpose midget submarines. These ships display just 720 tons and will be able to covertly deliver special-purpose and SOF groups to the shore and retrieve them. The submarine was designed by the Malakhit Special Marine Engineering Design Bureau. According to experts, it will be a response to the introduction of submarines converted by the U.S. Navy into SOF platforms, the newspaper Izvestia reported.
