When Quality Matters: ‘Russia’s Successes Fuel Interest in Our Weapons’

In 2015 Russia sold 14.5 billion dollars’ worth of arms and plans to earn a record $56 billion this year and next, defense expert Igor Korotchenko said in an interview with Radio Sputnik.

India and Iraq were the main buyers of Russian-made arms, Korotchenko said, adding that next year Algeria was expected to join the club of Russia’s traditional clients with the purchase of a number of Sukhoi Su-32 bombers and Antei-2500 air-defense systems.

The Rosoboronexport state arms trader also plans to fulfill contracts earlier signed with Egypt and China.

The Russian arms exporters’ portfolio may grow even fatter with the launching of a plant in Nizhny Novgorod to build the state-of-the-art S-400 and S-500 anti-aircraft missiles.

Igor Korotchenko, who is editor-in-chief of the Natsionalnaya Oborona (National Defense) journal, attributed the growing interest in Russian-made weapons to this country’s recent advances as a self-sustained player on the international scene.

“The export of Russian weapons has been steadily going up over the past few years, both financially and geographically. The successes we have made as a self-contained world power has fueled a great deal of interest in countries willing to pursue an independent foreign and domestic policy. The more confidently Russia acts in the world, the more countries will be lining up to buy our weapons,” Korotchenko said.