Russia to open military research agency in late 2012

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia’s advanced military research agency may become operational as early as the end of 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said, according to RIA Novosti.

The Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects in the Defense Industry will be similar in its purpose to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the United States.

The new body is expected to boost the development of advanced weaponry and help streamline the arms procurement process in Russia.

“I think that we will wrap up all legal procedures by the end of this year and the foundation will start operating,” Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s defense industry, said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta to be published on Wednesday.

“The agency will provide support for both fundamental research and high-risk projects,” Rogozin said.

He expressed hope that by bringing the fundamental and applied research closer together and implementing the results of this research in concrete weapons development projects, the new agency will help Russia achieve technological breakthroughs in key defense areas as early as in three years.

“We have so many breakthrough projects gathering dust that if we implement only a small part of them we will see a revolutionary leap in Russia’s development,” Rogozin said.

The new agency, which would initially employ 100-150 experts, will be funded under the state arms procurement program until 2020.

Russia’s Vedomosti business daily speculated in July that up to 4.7 trillion rubles ($145 billion), or almost a fifth of the rearmament program’s budget, could be spent for “unidentified” purposes, including “secret weapons development.”