1. The current defense industry in Russia has completely switched to market rails, and in the wildest form of the market. The prices for its products are in line with the world level, which, of course, cannot be said about the quality. Using their monopoly position, businesses are raising prices and delaying deadlines without any shame. Well, see for yourself, T-90 and Abrams with a "wholesale discount", as Colonel Baranets writes, cost the same. And what about workers' salaries? They differ at times at our enterprise and at the American one. "Abrams" is also 15 tons heavier, and this weight is not from the stupidity of the designers and not busy with river sand, but armor and equipment. Not to mention the fact that the T-90 is not an original development, but an alteration of the T-72, so to speak, "a penny" into a "five". So it would be nice to create competition for our stunners, maybe then they would run for normal money. People buy our cars because they are cheaper, and if not, then foreign cars and with joy.
2. Our military affairs are strongly ideologized, other military men do not want American tanks, not because they are bad, but "because the US bombed Yugoslavia," although this is not their business. Their business is for the army to be equipped with modern technology and to be able to fight at the world level. Lobbying the interests of industry is the business of the Ministry of Economy, politics is in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, there is a moment of fear of retraining and, in connection with this, the possibility of loss of authority among intelligent subordinates. Who needs Budyonny in the era of tank warfare? Guderian has now retrained from the cavalry, but not all fast Heinz here.
3. The maintenance of foreign tanks in the troops is apparently unusual, but does not have any fundamental and insurmountable difficulties. During the V. O. V. the army perfectly mastered both the Shermans and other Airacobras with Spitfires. Not to mention the Studebakers, Dodges and Jeeps (the dream of any commander, jeeps were cool then). The IDF is full of foreign tanks and nothing, they manage. "Abrams" is in service with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Australia. Are ours really stupider than camel and kangaroo drivers?
4. Studebekers, doji and jeep made the automobile revolution in the USSR. The people understood what a modern car is, and the industry was able to reproduce it, even if not immediately. The acquisition of foreign technology may be of the same importance; finally, our eagles will understand what modern war is. Otherwise, we risk, as during the siege of Sevastopol by the Anglo-French-Turkish-Sardinians, to remain with flintlocks and bricks against the rod fitting. When our defense industry is still revived, and the army will understand that guns are not cleaned with bricks, Allah alone knows, and it is necessary to fight at least with Georgia, at least with anyone, somewhere soon.
5. "Abrams", "Leopard" or "Merkava" - it is not fundamentally, which is better, then buy. Or not buy, but make your own in a finite time, and not for the next presidency. But without any "ideological blinkering" (c). In the 30s, Comrade. Stalin did not hesitate to buy Christie tanks, Cardin-Lloyd tankettes, cruisers in Germany and destroyers in Italy. And our submarines of some types were so similar to the German ones that we had to specially change their equipment. I'm not writing about Maxim, Lewis, Shosh, Nagan and Berdan.
