With Russia's $650 billion rearmament plan, the bear sharpens its teeth

These pricks are going to horn in on the Arctic. Just watch!

No shit. Wonder if our government is going to take this "Self-Defence" re-armament seriously, and plan/spend accordingly?

Time to wake up and smell the coffee!

Please Mr. Harper, can we have two Mounties in a Canoe?

$650 billion? That's less than the USA's defense budget for just this year. :yawn:

650 billion in new machinery is a significant amount of cash, considering Russians produce their equipment at approximately 1/3 cost of their American equivalent.

That's to be expected, considering any Russian machinery produced after ~1960 has a terrible habit of never working.

That's to be expected, considering any Russian machinery produced after ~1960 has a terrible habit of never working.

Anything will fall apart after decades of piss-poor maintenance. On the contrary to your statement, in my experience Russian kit is easier to maintain and is more reliable when properly maintained than western equipment.

I can give you usefull information - Russia is rolling down. It would be surprice if 50 billion of this money would be used in what the US was giving for. The other part of money will spread over in the pockets of officials. This winter 200 of soldiers (Guys from 18 to 25 years) were frozen in Siberia, because their chief cutted money on clothes. Hundreds of soldiers every year are poisoned with food. In general it can't be called food. In the villiage my grandfather was feeding pigs with stuff made from potatoes, bread and grass. I would rather eat this stuff than their "army food". Soldiers come home as invalids without arms or legs because of using old weapons and grenades.In Soviet Union army was on first place, the best food, best people, best weapons and quality of everything. Every man was proud that he was in this army. Russians ruined the old system and didn't build the new one. I have no doubts that they'll don't do it in the nearest 50 years.

From Brazil, to India, to China to Russia politicians are playing the military game. The USA is in alliance with countries with 80% of the world GDP, just exactly what type of wars they are imaging escapes me.