The picture shows the Iranian "Witness" drone
Recently, according to media reports, the first batch of drones purchased by Russia from Iran have been quietly shipped, including the "Migrant-6" and "Witness" drones. Man-machine; at the same time, India's Brasmore Company also announced that it will provide supersonic missiles to the Russian army, saying that they are "very useful" to the Russian army. Russia's purchase of drones from Iran and missiles from India will inevitably attract attention.
The picture shows the Chinese Phenom 97 UAV
China is now a major arms exporter in the world. It is favored by many countries for its high quality and low price. Among the military weapons exported and sold by China, many are advanced to a level that Russia has not yet reached. Especially in the research and development of drones, it is in a leading position in the world, with outstanding performance and excellent actual combat performance; for example, the Phenom 97 drone is a stealth interference drone, using a stealth appearance similar to the J-20 , designed to penetrate deep into the enemy's rear and destroy the defense line. It is a very powerful drone that integrates surveillance, attack, and interference. On the contrary, Russia, a major military power, is a bit unsatisfactory in the research and development of drones. It needs to rely on advanced technologies from other countries. For example, in the field of large stealth drones, Russia does not currently have a relatively mature product. The "Hunter" combat that has attracted much attention before Drones are still in the experimental stage. It can be said that Russia’s choice to purchase weapons and equipment in China is a good choice. So why doesn’t Russia buy Chinese weapons? Is it because of embarrassment? In this regard, I have summarized the following points:
The picture shows the Russian weapon S-300
First of all, Russia is a country with strong national pride and a relatively xenophobic country. Moreover, Russia is a major arms exporter and buys Chinese weapons. For Russia, it’s a matter of face. In addition, the arms sales relationship between China and Russia has certain particularities. When the People's Republic of China was first founded, the Soviet Union could be said to be China's big brother. Now, although the Soviet Union has disintegrated, Russia has inherited the history and military heritage of the Soviet Union. For a long time, China has unilaterally purchased Russian weapons and equipment, such as Su-35, S300, etc. Under such circumstances, Russia’s purchase of national defense weapons from China is difficult to overcome in terms of national self-esteem.
Secondly, out of the protection of their own military-industrial systems, countries would rather spend more money to buy their own domestic equipment instead of purchasing more cost-effective foreign equipment. Especially from the perspective of long-term development, even if the performance is poor, it will not be taken advantage of by others at critical moments. Although the Russian military-industrial system is developing slowly and is subject to U.S. sanctions, it is still self-sufficient in conventional weapons and some heavy weapons and does not need to purchase them.
The picture shows the export of Russian weapons and equipment
Finally, Russia and China are both military powers, and the sales of weapons are also very good. However, in recent years, Chinese weapons and equipment are very cost-effective and have very strict quality control. , to a certain extent, affects the Russian weapons and equipment sales market. In this case, Russia's purchase of weapons in China is equivalent to admitting that China's military technology is more advanced than it. As a result, Russia's global arms sales market share will be reduced, and its economic development will also be affected, because arms sales are one of Russia's pillar industries.
Generally speaking, the main reason why Russia does not purchase weapons from China is related to Russia's future development. It is a small matter to save face, but it is a big matter if it affects its own military industry. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia's military industry has almost been in a state of resting on its laurels. If it wants to stabilize the country's military industry, it is a good solution for Russia to increase its emphasis on domestic military industry enterprises. Although some of China's weapons and equipment are more advanced than Russia's and are reasonably priced, Russia did not choose Chinese drones or cruise missiles out of so-called face. It can also be seen from this incident that if a country wants long-term development, developing its own military industry is also a top priority.Without strong comprehensive national strength and a solid economic foundation, it is difficult to develop the industry of a big country!
