Then there are the warplanes. Neither Russian plane compares favorably to its American counterpart, but they're both first-rate weapons. Military officials struggling with a guerilla insurgency will surely want to spend time reviewing Page 64, and what experts consider to be the world's most advanced armed helicopter, the Black Shark. Russia is too poor to put the Black Shark into production and has been able to build only three prototypes. There's plenty of other hardware available in the Russian catalog.
Naval aficionados can pick from a host of surface warships, minesweepers and submarines.
For now, Russia's export drive faces important restrictions. The United States, as seen in the Turkish helicopter deal, has repeatedly pressed its allies from buying Russian equipment so as to retain market share for American manufacturers. But new Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to crank up export assembly lines, as part of a broader build-up of his country's military forces. At the same time, he needs to fix the armed forces in order to maintain Russia's international credibility and influence. Ken Silverstein is a contributing editor for Harper's magazine.