Komsomolskaya Pravda
Proportion of Caucasus People and Asians Growing in Russia
The number of Russians in Russia decreased by 8.8 million people between 1989 and 2010, according to a survey conducted by the Higher School of Economics’ Institute of Demography.
The proportion of Ukrainians and Belarusians fell by more than half, whereas the number of Chechens and other Caucasus people nearly doubled.
There were 11 times more Turks, five and a half times more Tajiks, two times more Uzbeks and two and a half times more Kyrgyz, reflecting a flood of immigrants fleeing local wars and economic hardship. Experts warn that the actual situation differs from the census results. According to the 2002 and 2010 surveys, the number of Russians in Moscow has grown from 88.4 percent to 91.7 percent. But a look around Moscow’s streets tells a different story.
Anatoly Vishnevsky, director of the HSE Demography Institute, said the explosive population growth of people from the Caucasus in Russia was a result of rising ethnic and faith awareness and, possibly, Islamic fundamentalism.
The proportion of ethnic Russians is falling due to “a low birth rate and high mortality rate” and also because of self-identification: people are free to register their ethnicity as they choose.
For example, Cossacks, who were a mix of Russians, Ukrainians, Mordovians, Tartars and Kazakhs, claim to be a separate ethnic group. “According to a 1926 census, most of them were counted as Ukrainians, but they were re-registered as Russians in 1939.”
A total of 2.4 million Ukrainians have disappeared from the Russian census lists.
This is logical, Vishnevsky said. “When Ukraine became a sovereign state, many ethnic Russians registered as Ukrainians. The Ukrainians who live in Russia register as Russians. They assimilated decades if not centuries ago. Ukrainian peasants who were resettled in Siberia in the 19th century first registered as Ukrainians, but their descendants say they are Russians.”
The expert explained the decreasing number of Tartars by a declining birth rate due to urbanization and growing education standards.
“The inflow of Azeris to Russia has decreased since the mid-1990s due to economic recovery in Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country,” Vishnevsky said. Three times more Armenians have come to Russia compared to Azeris because Armenia, which is landlocked and has strained relations with Islamic Turkey and Azerbaijan, has always had good relations with Russia and Armenians speak Russian.
The declining birth rate is a major reason behind the aging of the population.
Young Tajiks, Uzbeks and Kyrgyzes come to Russia in search of jobs while the elderly stay home. Chukchi, Evenks and Khanty are also considered to be “young” ethnic groups because their birth rates are high and fewer of them survive to old age.
Vishnevsky believes that the number of Tajiks, Uzbeks and Kyrgyz will continue to grow in Russia, whereas the proportion of economically active Russians will decrease because those who were born during the demographic recession period are now reaching the productive age.
Vishnevsky forecasts a slowdown in the demographic growth of the North Caucasus people due to urbanization and rising education standards.
Izvestia
Russian Defense Ministry to Develop Global Intelligence System in 2013
Russia’s Defense Ministry is completing the discussion of project specifications and financing for a planned multi-positional intelligence and information system (MRIS). The system will go online in late 2013, a ministry source said.
“This system will be capable of detecting and tracking aircraft and warships from a distance of several thousand kilometers. This ‘seeing eye’ is far more effective for long distances than existing air, space or radar intelligence systems,” he added.
Although the system’s technical parameters are classified and cannot be disclosed, the source shared with Izvestia some of its basic operating principles.
“Any civilian or military target in the air or on the ground has several systems that emit radio waves – radar stations, GPS and GLONASS navigation systems, radio-altimeters and other equipment. An airplane also emits heat and other kinds of energy. The fundamental laws of physics apply even to U.S. stealth aircraft like the B-2 and F-22, which are almost invisible to radar. The MRIS system will be able to detect this kind of radiation, determine the coordinates and track target movement,” he explained.
He said MRIS is already capable of tracking several kinds of radiation, but that range is likely to be expanded.
“The system receives signals but emits nothing, therefore the enemy will not know they have been detected,” he added.
MRIS components will be installed in an area of several dozen square meters, for aerials, and will be almost undetectable to air or space intelligence systems.
“The system was first tested in 2009. We used Russian aircraft and warships as practice targets. An MRIS post located in the Moscow Region detected and tracked various types of aircraft above the Barents Sea. Comparing the routes produced by the system with the planes’ actual routes showed an error of only a few meters,” the Defense Ministry official continued.
British Aerospace (BAE) Systems has been working on a similar project for the last few years. Their NAVSOP technology was as secret as the Russian MRIS, and the information only became known last August. Britain officially acknowledged in a press release that conventional GPS technology was not always comprehensive, as evidenced by recent incidents on the South Korean borders, when South Korean ABM equipment failed to detect North Korean missiles.
NAVSOP is a comprehensive solution, and can track targets with mobile phone towers, Wi-Fi access points, radio towers, TV aerials and nearly all sources of radio signals, BAE said. The technology was designed exclusively for military applications.
Russia’s MRIS is a dual purpose system.
Russia is currently far behind with its intelligence and information gathering equipment, said Alexander Konovalov, head of the Moscow-based Institute of Strategic Assessment. “If the MRIS is truly capable of guiding precision weapons with high reliability, it would open up remarkable opportunities for destroying enemies at any location across the globe. This “seeing eye” should be included in all intelligence or information systems produced in Russia,” he said.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Is Izhmash Producing for US?
The United States dominates Russian gun exports
At a news conference yesterday, the acting CEO of Izhevsk Engineering Plant, Alexander Kosov, made a few surprising statements. For one thing, he said the largest export destination for the company’s signature product, the AK Kalashnikov assault rifle, is the United States. He also said that over the past nine months, Izhmash exports have increased 84 percent to Italy, 77 percent to Germany and 62 percent to the United States. Other major importers include Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Pakistan. The company’s revenue has increased twelve-fold since 2010 to reach 483.7 million rubles.
Izhmash products have a reputation for reliability and ease of use. But those who think that buyers in the US or other countries buy automatic AKs from Izhevsk will be disappointed. What they actually buy are smoothbore, single-shot hunting and police weapons.
It’s not so simple when it comes to combat weapons. The Russian Defense Ministry has some 17 million AK rifles in stock (rumors suggest that the actual figure is three times higher), but the fact is, even a large regional war would require only 500,000 to 700,000 weapons. The world’s largest Kalashnikov manufacturer could produce an endless number of rifles but there is no point in making more. What is needed is a modern and improved weapon.
A second prototype of the latest AK branded weapon is now being tested at the state research institute in Klimovsk in Moscow Region, which is the only organization in Russia that approves rifled and smoothbore weapons. The new Kalashnikov is said to have several problems, but that’s what testing is for.
A third prototype, upgraded to eliminate the current glitches, will undergo field tests next summer. The final version will be subject to state certification. Then and only then will it be deployed by the Armed Forces – if they accept it, of course.
One primary requirement is that the new weapon be 30 percent-40 percent more reliable than its famous predecessors such as the AK-47 and AK-74, and the AK-100 and -200 series. Moreover, conscript soldiers, contract soldiers and special forces have very different requirements for weapons. Some need simple but reliable rifles. Others need more sophisticated and highly accurate guns – like the Abakan AN-94. The AN-94 is being produced at Izhmash, but in very small numbers because there is still a shortage of contract soldiers who are qualified to use the weapon properly.
Those 17 million Kalashnikov assault rifles waiting in the wings will not be simply disposed of.
“We’re not going to pass them off to the army either,” Kosov assured.
Some will be exported to compensate for Chinese and Bulgarian pirated weapons, the others will be upgraded. Izhmash also plans to obtain a license to develop new ammunition for the Kalashnikov. A rifle isn’t very useful without ammunition. A powerful and efficient weapon requires an equally powerful and efficient cartridge. But that’s a different issue.
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