How the mighty has fallen.
Why the hell would we sell them weapons? That just goes against my life during the “cold war”.
It would be nice if they expanded that out somewhat. Russian airframe manufacturers seem to be doing ok. The new T-50 they’re selling to India is being touted as better than the Raptor. Even if it isn’t, it’s still a very advanced aircraft. This is much more about land-warfare systems and naval vessels. Apart from their tanks, Russia’s land forces don’t have much in the way of advanced weapons systems. And their navy is a rusting joke.
I’d much rather see them buy from other countries. The two alternatives are not pleasant. First, they could completely modernize their own production capabilities. That is bad in that they’ll get advanced weapons, and be able to build more whenever they want. The other alternative is that a supra-national arms manufacturer comes into being, selling anything to whoever can afford it, and having control of the level of technology out of the hands of governments who have a stake in preserving civilization is a bad idea. As long as we’re the ones selling, we can always sell them lower-grade stuff than we have.