In December Beriev Aircraft Company reported that the Russian Air Force cleared for service a modernized A-50U airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft...>>

Russia and India are to start the join development of new transport aircraft for their air forces. The bilateral agreement on development of Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA) was signed in 2007 while in December 2009 it was supplemented by a memorandum defining the partner-companies from both sides...>>

Russian aircraft design company Tupolev plans to return to the development of the unmanned aircraft. In December Alexander Bobryshev, Tupolev’s president, announced that one of the company’s priorities for 2010 is participation in the tender for developing a medium range unmanned aerial vehicle, dubbed by the Russian military as BAK SD (Bespilotniy Aviatzionniy Komplex Sredney Dalnosti). “We are taking our stock [of unmanned technologies] now and plan to develop this direction”, said Bobryshev...>>

At the end of 2009 the Russian Air Force cleared for service a new Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainer. The new aircraft will replace the aging fleet of Soviet-ear Czech L-39 trainers and will also be used for combat missions. Last year the Air Force received the first three serial aircraft, 9 more trainers are to be delivered this year...>>

The Russian armaments continue to enjoy the high demand on the global market. In 2009 Russia managed to increase its defense export, but also made significant deliveries to the national armed forces. The export revenues and generous financial support from the government allowed the Russian defense industry to overcome the consequences of the financial crisis, but further growth will require the expansion of production capacities...>>

The Russian air force aims to introduce a successor to the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack, Tu-95 Bear and Tu-22M3 Backfire in 2025-2030. The new bomber known under the name PAK DA (Prespektivniy aviatitzionniy kompleks dalney aviatzii, or future aviation complex of long range aviation) is being developed now by the United Aircraft Corporation...>>

In January Russian jet maker Sukhoi started the flight testing of the fifth generation T-50 fighter developed under PAK FA program. The new fighter is intended to replace the Russian Air Force’s Su-27 fighter from 2015. The first prototype made its 47 minutes maiden flight from the airfield of Sukhoi’s KnAAPO facility in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on January 29. Two more flights were conducted on February 12-13...>>

The last year’s conflict with Georgia demonstrated that the Russian troops don’t have modern unmanned systems. Now the Russian Defense Ministry tries to improve this situation. It has already purchased 14 unmanned systems from Israel Aerospace Industries, including middle class Searcher МК II UAVs and portable Bird Eye 400 systems. However, according to Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin, purchase of foreign UAVs does not mean giving up the domestic developments. «We do not say that we stop all work in this area in our country,» says Popovkin...>>

Russia and India continue their defense cooperation despite the certain problems. New Delhi turned into the major importer of the Russian armaments, but future plans call for joint development of new weapon systems. In mid-October the defense ministers of the Russia and India, Anatoly Serdyukov and A.K. Anthony met in Moscow to discuss defense-industrial collaboration. The parties planned to agree a final price for the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, being converted by Russia from the Admiral Gorshkov, and signed a new program of defense cooperation for 2010-2020...>>

Russia is defining its military budget for 2010. At the end of October the State Duma, a lower chamber of the Russian parliament, approved in the first reading the federal budget for the next year. According to the draft budget, the spending for the national defense will amount to 1,253 billion rubles (about $43 billion under the current exchange rate). This figure in rubles shows a slight increase by 3.4% compared to 2009, but it’s much smaller than a year ago when the national defense expenses grew by 16% compared to the previous year...>>