In addition to writing for Aviation Week Network, Maxim holds a key position at Russia's Air Transport Observer magazine (www.ato.ru). In the past he was in charge of several ATO sister aerospace publications and earlier worked for the Moscow-based CAST defense think-tank.
Maxim has a degree on international relations from MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia, and for several years worked at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian military has been sparing in its use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), primarily because the models in service were designed in the Soviet era and are obsolete. Although local manufacturers are years behind the U.S. and Israel in UAV developments, some indigenous systems are being tested.
The August war with Georgia over South Ossetia has led Russian lawmakers to substantially increase defense expenditures. The federal budget for 2009-11, adopted by the Duma at the end of October, shows a 60-billion-ruble (about $2.2-billion) increase in defense spending for 2009 compared to the draft version. The total expenditure on national defense for 2009 now amounts to 1.34 trillion rubles, or about $49 billion, a 31.5% increase over 2008.
The development of a fifth-generation T-50 fighter, known by the Russian acronym PAK FA (Perspektivny Aviatzionny Kompleks Frontovoi Aviatzii, or future tactical aviation aircraft system), has emerged as one of Russia’s most important programs.
