Well that's awkward:
The much troubled Russian space program suffered another embarrassing setback in November when the government revealed the results of its investigation into corruption that has crippled efforts to complete construction of the new Vostochny space center (Cosmodrome). Construction of Vostochny has been underway for nine years now and it is still not finished. Costs have risen as a result and are now approaching five billion dollars. The corruption involved 58 (so far) people convicted and punished for stealing $172 million. However about 32 percent of that was recovered before it could disappear into offshore bank accounts or investments.
And this is for the commercial market, presumably where customers care about things like solid construction and efficient operations more than Russia's military can expect to be forced to accept.
Speaking of launching things through space:
In October 2019, Russia engaged in what was apparently its largest announced strategic nuclear strike exercise in its history, Thunder (Grom)–2019. The exercise had many of the usual features of Russian large strategic nuclear exercises: personal involvement by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin in authorizing simulated nuclear strikes; a reported escalation scenario with Russian first use of nuclear weapons; large numbers of live nuclear missile launches; and a reported ending of a massive Russian nuclear strike.[1] As usual, Russian strategic air defenses also played a role in Thunder-2019.[2] The Russian Defense Ministry said that “The exercise was designed to test “the deployment and use of strategic forces against a threat of aggression.”[3] (Emphasis added). This is probably the most candid description of the content of a nuclear exercise since the Zapid-1999 exercise in which Russia, for the first time, announced nuclear first use.[4] The literal meaning of the statement “the deployment and use of strategic forces against a threat of aggression” is strategic nuclear preemption.
Russia needs nukes because they are huge and broke and can't afford an army and air force to protect their long border from real and perceived threats of invasion.
And potential invaders need to believe Russia both has lots of nukes and is almost--but not quite--eager to use those nukes.
So Russian nuclear pronouncements tend to be filled with a lot of chest beating and poo flinging to provoke some underwear changing in foreign rulers and people.
My question is why do we assume Russia's nuclear arsenal is kept up any better than their space program? Or anywhere else. Corruption is a society-wide Russian problem.
I know that Russia has a higher priority on nukes than on commercial space launches, but are the Russians really capable of reducing corruption even in a higher priority defense sector?
Not that I'd be in favor of nuking or invading Russia even if they had no nukes. And practically speaking nobody can safely assume that the Russians don't have some percentage of their nuclear arsenal capable of flying.
