USA vs Russia: military spending is misleading

Many look at the numbers with awe and think that with so much spending, no other country can come close when in fact it is actually not that a big difference. The USA 's 500 billions against Russia's 15 billion defense budget.


1: Salaries
The US military employs more people and those people are paid way more. Think about it, every soldier every scientist. A russian scientist may earn what 15k a year whereas a US counterpart easily over 50k.

2: equipment and material
I am sure you have already come across the figure of 10,000 bucks for an army toilet seat. That is the sad reality that the military buys from priviledge contractors and the prices are beyond belief, this beefs up the spending a lot too.

3: fuel
Russia has its own huge natural reserves of oil and gas. I will let you guys guess how much the US military spends a year on foreign fossil fuels

4: doctrine
The US doesnt look at the spending and the Russians try to save as much as possible while remaining efficient. And the military industrial complex needs such spending to keep the country economy afloat and people employed.

5: ongoing wars
Huge money drain, if Russia was waging 2 wars like the US, the budget would be much much higher.

Thats my .02c

The U.S. military also has a nasty habit of canceling projects after money has been poured into them. In Russia, the same people with the same mindset hold onto power longer... And more importantly, their military is run by their MILITARY.

Here in the United States, if you want a project to completion, you better get a WHOLE lot done in the first 8 years. Shamefully, the stranglehold politics has over our country's defense is one of our most sickening and ridiculous weaknesses.

Oh, and of course there's also a big difference in how much something costs to get done when you tell a company, "Make this now," as opposed to what happens to "Please make this... We'll pay anything!"

One thing to consider is that Russia is ex-communist, so their veteran military leaders are disciplined to consider efficiency long before money. The mindset of the people in the military is similar, they aren't there to get paid as much as they are there to fight (whether volunteer or conscript).

I am 100% sure from years of studying both militaries that Russia waits until the US develops a really expensive weapon (carriers/stealth aircraft/etc), then they develop a cost effective weapon specifically designed to destroy these American weapons.

Also, Russia is much more involved in civilian defense. On top of their functional anti-missile shield, they have a series of superbunkers to protect a large portion of their population. Apparently the US only has a handful of civilian bunkers that are not even close to Russian standards. I read this awhile ago and it was an interesting read, but I cannot remember exactly where it was (sorry).

Either you never lived in the USSR, or you must have been very young or something. Your concept of former communist Russia is just dead wrong. Efficiency? Puh-leeze.




Moscow and other large cities have the subway, portions of which can function as bunkers. Defense industry centers have some shelters as well, but it's a huge overstatement that any significant portion of Russian population is properly protected.

I wish I could live in the USSR, but unfortunately I was born in the days of its change.

And it's not wrong at all, it all has to do with the philosophy of communism vs capitalism. In the US, it is all about opportunity and in order to have opportunity you need money. You can be the smartest and most devoted person to ever exist, but it won't mean anything in the US if you do not have money.

In USSR, money means little because communism bypasses that corruption by giving all of the power to the government. The government was in charge of taking care of every individual in terms of job, housing, etc. If you had potential to be something then the USSR made sure you had that opportunity, as long as you were devoted to their cause. Communism is a political ideal based on efficiency, not popularity and lucky opportunity like capitalism.

Sure, the USSR was not perfect in its execution of communism but they were the ones who first implemented it and face it, Russian culture is more about the individual and not big on total government control or maintaining it (which is why they are democratic now). I speak of all this as a Canadian, and I live in a dual capitalist/socialist system. From my experience, the only good that the government has done was the socialist aspect and it is the capitalist side that pisses everyone off. Plus the government tries its best at accommodating anyone with serious potential but if you are a free spirit then they will drop you between the cracks.



I was not exaggerating, it was an actual report that I read somewhere and I wish I had access to it right now to show you. Moscow is indeed a fortress with its massive underground facilities and air defense complexes (S-400), but bunkers were constructed all over Russia during the cold war.

Re-opening of some bunkers (link) I quickly tried looking up bunker stats for both the US and Russia but this is the best I can find. It states that there are 266 bunkers in and around Vladivostok alone.

[edit on 19-8-2009 by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi]