here is another interesting article that deals with Russia's new advanced military build up.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2153669,00.html

A great deal of the reason for this military build up is because...they can....and for a while...they couldn't. The reason they couldn't was due to economics and lack of resources. Without fuel, your jets are grounded. If you lack the natural resources to provide fuel you need to purchase the fuel. If you lack the money to purchase fuel your jets and tanks are going to end up in storage. In addition to fuel, the need for parts can also ground a military. (Syria's inability to purchase parts has led to the grounding of a number of their fighter jets) Such a situation does not only not bode well for maintaining older military hardware; it makes it impossible to develop new hardware as well. For a long time, Russia saw much of its military equipment placed on the shelf due to a lack of resources. With Russia's new found wealth in oil and natural gas, this is no longer the case....