By not buying US or European tech for their military. They are still using the ak as the base for their main issued rifle. A weapon made out of stamped metal and loose tolerances that trade off precision for reliability and ease of use. Look up the difference in Russian airfields vs nato airfields. How they design military aircraft is based off an entirely different philosophy than The US. All of which cuts costs. They also use conscription to fill holes in the ranks. If some of the stuff coming out of Ukraine is true (which a good amount probably isn’t) they probably spend way less on training as well.
Russian major exports are weapons, oil, vodka, and caviar. The weapons and oil probably greatly subsidize their own r&d and purchasing their own equipment. But outside of that what is there that’s really made or developed in Russia sold in a global market.
The Russian economy is about as big as Florida, it isn't that big of a hit.
Is that really true?
They have a population of 130 million people, roughly half the US.
How can they sustain "the second or third largest army in the world" then?
By not buying US or European tech for their military. They are still using the ak as the base for their main issued rifle. A weapon made out of stamped metal and loose tolerances that trade off precision for reliability and ease of use. Look up the difference in Russian airfields vs nato airfields. How they design military aircraft is based off an entirely different philosophy than The US. All of which cuts costs. They also use conscription to fill holes in the ranks. If some of the stuff coming out of Ukraine is true (which a good amount probably isn’t) they probably spend way less on training as well.
Russian major exports are weapons, oil, vodka, and caviar. The weapons and oil probably greatly subsidize their own r&d and purchasing their own equipment. But outside of that what is there that’s really made or developed in Russia sold in a global market.