Syria is the testing ground for Moscow’s defence industry
In rebel-held Syria, the roaring sound of incoming jets sends terrified residents scrambling for makeshift shelters. For Russia’s military, the sound signifies a degree of success.
While it is still a far second to the US on the list of global weapons exporters, the war in Syria has marked Russia’s efforts to sell its weapons abroad, particularly in the Middle East.
“Today our military industrial complex made our army look in a way we can be proud of,” said Vladimir Shamanov, a former commander of Russia’s airborne troops who now serves as head of the Russian Duma’s defence committee.
“As we helped the brotherly Syrian people, we tested over 200 new types of weapons. It’s not an accident that today they are coming to us from many directions to purchase our weapons, including countries that are not our allies.”
Russia’s military had not been fully involved in an active conflict for decades, until its 2015 intervention in Syria gave it a chance to show off the weapons it had developed – from the T90 tank to a pair of Su-57 stealth fighter prototypes that were reported to be in Syria last month.
“It’s pretty indicative of how the Russian arms industry has become this main pillar of its economy,” said Yury Barmin, an analyst of Moscow’s Middle East policy at the Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow. “Whether it is good or bad, it’s definitely been something that has been happening. At least the interest in Russian weapons has spiked.”
As he awaits re-election next week, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been boasting about Russia’s military prowess, including nuclear missiles.
This week, Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced it had successfully tested a hypersonic air-to-ground missile it says is more advanced than any.
Weapons Russia is believed to have sent to Syria for the first time include ship-launched cruise missiles, air defence systems, drones, rocket launchers, body armour and various configurations of fighter jets.
In the past year, Russia has signed deals to supply arms across the Middle East.
A spokesman for Rosoboronexport, the government body that oversees weapons exports, said late last year that the Middle East accounted for 20 per cent of Russia’s business.
Moscow is also actively seeking to start arms sales to the head of the Libya National Army, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, whose militia controls part of Libya. Other clients include Iraq, Iran and Algeria.
Those deals are worth more than US$5 billion (Dh18.3bn). That was dwarfed by US sales and contracts in the same period, which included a deal with Saudi Arabia worth more than $110bn and could run to $350bn over the next decade.
While it is hardly cutting into the US market, there is also a political advantage for Russia. Giving traditional US allies an alternative source for weapons gives Moscow more political
leverage in the region as it continues to support traditional allies such as Syria.
Russia has also expressed a willingness to step in when the US government is reluctant to provide support, as happened in the case of Egypt in 2013 after president Barack Obama froze arms sales there because of human rights concerns.
The Middle East has been a major market for arms sales in the past decade.
Arms imports by regional countries rose by 103 per cent between the periods 2008-2012 and 2013-2017, and accounted for 32 per cent of global arms imports in 2013-17, data published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows.
Arab countries were four of the five largest importers of arms from 2013 to 2017, the institute’s data shows.
Saudi Arabia was the world’s second largest arms importer, with imports rising by 225 per cent compared with 2008-2012. Imports by Egypt – the third largest importer in 2013-2017 – grew 215 per cent between 2008-2012 and 2013-2017.
“I’d be nervous of framing this as a Russian issue – Russia is by no means alone in using this as a laboratory to test weapons,” said Chris Woods, executive director of Airwars, which tracks casualties in Iraq and Syria.
“The only thing that might be unique is the number of weapons systems they say they have tested.”