page_title: Russia
section_title: Military
hierarchical_section_title: Russia / Politics / Military
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Четвёртый день Международного военно-технического форума «Армия-2016». Московская область, парк «Патриот», 9 сентября 2016.
context_page_description: Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Covering an area of 17,125,200 square kilometres, it is the largest country in the world by area, spanning more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. The territory of Russia extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus in the south. With 146.7 million inhabitants living in the country's 85 federal subjects, Russia is the most populous nation in Europe and the ninth-most populous nation in the world. Russia's capital and largest city is Moscow; other major urban areas include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Chelyabinsk and Samara.
  The East Slavs emerged as a recognisable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. The medieval state of Rus' arose in the 9th century. In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium.
context_section_description: The Russian military is divided into the Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service: Strategic Missile Troops, Aerospace Defence Forces, and the Airborne Troops. As of 2017, the military comprised over one million active duty personnel, the fifth-largest in the world. Additionally, there are over 2.5 million reservists, with the total number of reserve troops possibly being as high as 20 million. It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be drafted for a year of service in Armed Forces.
  Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, the second-largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines, and the only modern strategic bomber force outside the United States. More than 90% of world's 14,000 nuclear weapons are owned by Russia and the United States. Russia's tank force is the largest in the world, while its surface navy and air force are among the largest.
  The country has a large and fully indigenous arms industry, producing most of its own military equipment with only a few types of weapons imported. It has been one of the world's top supplier of arms since 2001, accounting for around 30% of worldwide weapons sales and exporting weapons to about 80 countries. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, found that Russia was the second biggest exporter of arms in 2010–14, increasing their exports by 37 per cent from the period 2005–2009. SIPRI estimated in 2020 that Russia is the third biggest exporters of arms, only behind the US and China. In 2010–14, Russia delivered weapons to 56 states and to rebel forces in eastern Ukraine.
  The Russian government's official 2014 military budget is about 2.49 trillion rubles (approximately US$69.3 billion), the third-largest in the world behind the United States and the People's Republic of China. The official budget is set to rise to 3.03 trillion rubles (approximately US$83.7 billion) in 2015, and 3.36 trillion rubles (approximately US$93.9 billion) in 2016. However, unofficial estimates put the budget significantly higher, for example the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) 2013 Military Expenditure Database estimated Russia's military expenditure in 2012 at US$90.749 billion. This estimate is an increase of more than US$18 billion on SIPRI's estimate of the Russian military budget for 2011 (US$71.9 billion). As of 2020, Russia's military budget is higher than any other European nation.
caption: Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27s, a twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "3000", "Image ImageLength": "2000", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS-1D X", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2016:09:10 10:58:00", "Image Artist": "Sergey Bobylev", "Image Copyright": "Ministry of Defence", "Image ExifOffset": "336", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1038", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6745", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/2500", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:09:09 11:11:36", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:09:09 11:11:36", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "352741/31250", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-2/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "600", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "06", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "06", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "900", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "600", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1440", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1440", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "Balashova Olga", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "283011000016", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[600, 600, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF600mm f/4L IS II USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "9110000080"}