Prospects for Russian military R&D

This report examines the Russian military's options for achieving weapons modernization and new weapons development through either a revitalized state military research and development (R & D) sector or a robust civil scientific and technical (S & T) sector. It considers the likelihood that neither of these sectors will prove adequate to the military's needs in the near term, forcing Russia to turn to the West for military-technical assistance. By investigating trends in the Russian scientific community as a whole, including science funding, higher education, the brain drain, and the evolution of scientific organizations, it assesses long-term prospects for Russian military R & D.