Russian nuclear weapons stand out in defense budget proposal

MOSCOW – Russia plans to gradually increase spending on its nuclear weapons capacities over the next three years, according to the draft state budget currently being debated in parliament.

The funding proposal to upgrade Russia’s nuclear arsenal comes as the military awaits new hypersonic missiles to replace its Soviet-era strategic weapons.

The chairman of the Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, described the budget proposal on October 28 as “balanced” in front of MPs in the lower chamber.

According to the proposal, national defense spending would be about 3.5 trillion rubles ($ 49.3 billion) in 2022 and 2023 and 3.8 trillion rubles in 2024, respectively.

Arming the country’s nuclear arsenal remains a priority for the Kremlin. Kartapolov said that 49 billion rubles will be allocated to the nuclear armed complex annually from 2022 to 2023. The figure for 2024 will be about 56 billion rubles.

“The spike in spending is most likely due to the need to modernize large numbers of atomic bombs produced in the 1980s and first half of the 1990s,” said Ruslan Pukhov, head of the Moscow Center for Strategy and Technology Analysis, said Defense News .

He found that the majority of Topol, UR-100N (RS-18A) and R-36 (Р-36) ICBMs are approaching their retirement age.

“That’s many hundreds of warheads to be dismantled,” he said. “The start of the deployment of new multi-headed, heavy Sarmat ICBMs will require a sharp increase in the production of nuclear warheads and the ongoing construction of submarines with Bulava missiles.”

The Bulava missile was launched from the Knyaz Oleg submarine during a test on October 21 and successfully hit its target.

Russia’s strategic armed forces commander Colonel Sergei Karakayev previously said the country plans to replace all Soviet-era missile systems by 2024. For example, the Russian nuclear forces want to replace the R-36 Voyevoda (Satan) missile with the new Sarmat RS-28 weapon.

Other spending priorities include increasing payments to soldiers under contract. Additional spending will gradually increase from 28.4 billion rubles in 2022 to 44.4 billion rubles in 2023, but will decrease to 1.8 billion rubles from 2024.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in March 2020 that more than 405,000 soldiers are under contract in the Russian military; that’s almost half of all service members.

The draft federal budget for 2023-2024 was passed on first reading in the Duma, which is controlled by the ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin. A second reading of the bill is scheduled for November 23rd.

The bill then goes to the Federation Council, the upper house of Parliament; it will likely pass the law. Then it goes to Putin’s desk to sign his approval.

On November 1, Putin began his annual meetings with senior defense officials to discuss national defense issues. Russian media reported that closed sessions were held on budget issues.

Alexander Bratersky is Russia correspondent for Defense News. He has reported on US-Russian relations, NATO and Middle East affairs, and Russian politics in Syria. He previously worked as a political reporter for the Moscow Times and Izvestia, and as a Washington correspondent for RIA Novosti. He is also involved in stand-up comedy.

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