- Russia has overtaken the United States to become the world’s leading conventional arms exporter for the first time, increasing deliveries sixfold over the last five years. Russian exports rose 24% in 2001
Of course, the U.S. coincidently removed its arms embargo against India which currently receives 80% of its weaponry from Russia. Maybe they are threatened by the idea of Russia dominating the global arms industry. The Russians always had a very robust and effective educational system when it came to science and engineering. A seldom reported fact, the CIA often purchases Russian made helicopters because American made helicopters are widely held to be unsafe. Remember all those recent military helicopter and plane accidents? American-made. The CIA refuses to use the American military’s helicopters.