A Russian state-run military research agency has reportedly set a goal of surpassing its US counterpart DARPA, the creator of the GPS and stealth technologies, by developing future generations of high-end weapons and armor.
The Advanced Research Foundation, or ARF, said it is working to create the soldier of the future, as well as unmanned robots and exoskeletons, to replace the outdated combat gear and drones that have come under a lot of criticism as of late.
On January 20, Russia's President Vladimir Putin travelled to the industrial city of Tula 120 miles south of Moscow to chair ARF's meeting on the future of high-precision weapons.
This revival of Russian military industry shouldn't come as surprise considering a whopping rise in funding that the country's war industry has received over the past few years. In 2014, the military is to get $45 billion in state investment, up from some $42 billion in the past year, with a price tag on military gear orders increased by over a third.
The military agency has not disclosed any of its cutting-edge designs during Putin's visit but said it was developing over a dozen of new projects handpicked from a thousand of proposals submitted by both Russian public and companies.
The ARF head of research said that one of the group's priority projects was incorporating advanced medical technology into the soldiers' battle gear, a potential breakthrough in life-saving technology. Another target is the planned 2020 launch of an orbital space plane from the super-heavy Antonov-225 Mriya transport aircraft.
Putin stressed that projects should be ambitious but realistic. "There should be no sand castles, scientific and technological illusions, or groundless fantasies."
The president urged the group to hurry up and tackle its "teething problem" of under-recruitment. He said the agency is in for a hefty influx of state rubles that are to be spent on bringing the country's military technology up to par with that of the States.
According to the media, the ARF will receive 3.3 billion rubles, or $100 million of state funding in 2014, up from last year's 2.3 billions.
Source: Voice of Russia
