Russia also has to worry about beating India, which also surpassed the Russian economy

what so called real economists know anything about India?. just look at water situation (unclean and deficient water increases health expenditure component of so called GDP), than look at non productive golds investment including imports, than look at dysfunctional labor market (only catering to lower cost for services to West than produce anything of substance}, than look at non productive investments in Dubai property which produce nothing.

http://www.emirates247.com/business/expats-have-different-reasons-to-buy-a-dubai-home-2016-09-06-1.640244
The DLD’s 2016 H1 report states that Indians after UAE locals were the second biggest segment of property investors contributing Dh7.27 billion worth of transactions.

This thread is not about India/Brazil otherwise I would have explain in much more detail an open air toilet. There is no point in comparing Russia with basket cases like Brazil/India.

but it will never catch up to China, look at the gdp growth rate. it is parallel. meaning, they will never intersect

growth rate of what?

http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-debt-soars-into-space-1473755429
Chinese Debt Soars Into Space
Astronomical credit binge exceeds 2009 stimulus; ‘financial Star Trek’

I understand China want to become a world power but its educational system is not geared towards produce high tech military-industrial complex. the few bright Chinese are building social media or ecommerce sites. The military procurement system is complete flop. There was no need to produce single engine J-10 kind fighter that cant be used on Aircraft carrier and than recopy aflanker design for carrier. or twin engine JH-7. creating a draggier Y-20 on small engines that has no power projection ability and certainly not multifunctional like IL-476.

Russia economic and military might is well respected.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/business/economy/2016/05/27/Libya-s-eastern-bank-to-issue-Russian-printed-banknotes.html
Libya’s eastern bank to issue Russian-printed banknotes

Actually China is an exporter not an importer. Russia is an importer
IMF knows a lot about GDP, but you can go to world bank or whatever site you want to use. Chinese economy is far larger than Russias and that is why Russia always comes to China for help

As I mentioned to you before. China does not have real GDP. It is using its labor to assemble stuff based on world wide technology and in the process it has polluted air and water.

Only Russia alone that can protect China from rest of the world. China has to give tourism, loans, investment to Russia. it has no choice.

Russia far more imports Chinese stuff than the opposite

Chinese airlines and tourists use Russian airspace far more than Russians use Chinese airspace.

also Russia is a resource economy. a slave to whatever saudi arabia and the US decide to output for oil.
If the US and Saudis decide to change oil prices, Russia can’t do nothing about it

Russia is not resource economy. It is largest exporter of refined peteroleum products. Its Russia that is increasing oil/gas globally to keep the price lows and destroying every one else economics. How is Vancouver housing bust going for Chinese now?

http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russian-Firm-Seals-1-Billion-Oil-Rig-Building-Deal-With-Iran.html
Russian Firm Seals $1 Billion Oil Rig-Building Deal With Iran

http://seekingalpha.com/news/3202594-reuters-bp-shell-lukoil-reach-deal-restart-iraq-oil-field-investments
Reuters: BP, Shell, Lukoil reach deal to restart Iraq oil field investments

https://sputniknews.com/russia/20160831/1044818976/russia-shale-oil-technology.html
Gazprom Neft has become the first Russian company to apply the full cycle of technologies used worldwide for the exploration and production of shale oil, says the press-release on the company’s website.

no, Russia cannot survive on isolation. doesn’t have enough resources or investment. thats why they were so desperate for Turkey to come back, and bending over for Chinese investment.

Russia high technical level (Bangladesh.Myanamar, Pakistan, Iran all the big Chinese trade partners prefer Russian high tech stuff), supereme control over natural resources, biggest exporter of grains to Middleast, control over trade routes. Only Russia alone can close suez canal and northern route for ships. both bases in Crimea and Syria are at the most effective locations.
Its Erdogan went to Stpetersburg and Turkey is willilng to go along with Russian interests. for Turkey Arabs are disposable to be used against Kurds but Russia is permanent.

China is the world’s largest economy not by trading just western goods, but they trade everything. Everything is made in China, even most things in Russia.
look at this graph. Russia is invisible

China don’t own GDP. You import stuff, refine it based on Japanese/Korean/Western specifications and export it. You don’t control world wide airbases to control trade routes for trade. Chinese need to send mililons of students to West to get educated. it has no indigenous potential to create breakthrough technologies.
Only Russia alone can provide the clean water and natural gas to China in required quantities otherwise coal and other pollution will destroy Chinese health system. it is unsustainable.

what IMF knows anything about GDP?. how much is UAE GDP according to IMF? and that is very simple economy not complex like Russia. how UAE got over $2T worth of soverign wealth funds when GDP is so tiny.

Actually Russia is surviving only because of China.

Actually its China that is solely surviving due to Russia. without Russian airspace how will Chinese people travels around the world for tourism and investments. Its Russian energy and Russian protected pipeline system that enable Chinese bargaining power with Middleast. otherwise it will have to stand in line like Japan/Korea.

Russia foolishly invaded Ukraine instead of doing it through soft power. Got defeated by the west using economic power.

it was demonstration of Russian land power to swiftly occupy a large area. West economic power is worthless as far as Russia is concerned as they don’t compete in same sectors.

It is only staying afloat because of China, and it will be that way for the forseeable future.

It is China that is keep afloat due to Russia otherwise West and Arabs will squeeze all the money from China. Only Russia alone can provide clean air to China.

The two countries are allies, but its quite clear who is the junior partner.
It is no wonder that for many of Russia’s new projects, they are always seeking Chinese assistance and cooperation

Yup its quite clear who is practical leader and who is a follower. Russia demonstrated airpower in Syria with 20,000 sorties. China has neither the will nor the capacity to demonstrate such practical power.
Moreover Russia is now using the former Brtish empire approach of empire building by using others. Turkey is big candidate due to its skills in doing large scale construction projects in Middleast heat and its ready to use military approach. China cant find such partner as its not a leader.

http://www.dailysabah.com/energy/2016/09/02/turkish-russian-joint-fund-to-be-used-in-syrias-reconstruction-akkuyu-nuclear-plant
A Turkish-Russian investment fund is to be established and used in the reconstruction of third world countries and particularly war-torn Syria, as well as in the construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.

Dubious. It definitely can’t beat the whole of NATO and the EU though and China is only made strong by the fact North America and Europe trade with them and create jobs for them, all that can disappear if China’s attitude persists.

EU cannot assemble even 5000 soldiers for high intensity fight. The days of US fighting land battles across a continent are over. the logistics and economics are not there. that’s why the doctorine is leading from behind.

We can beat them without even firing a bullet. The Soviet Union wasn’t defeated by trading with them and creating jobs for them, and that’s the approach we need to take with China.

you did not beat them it is arabs put dollar as reserve currency but with diffusion of financial system it is less of importance. Russia new military power is designed to produce carrots and sticks at same time for West.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/09/03/Russia-s-Putin-sees-Deputy-Crown-Prince-bin-Salman-as-a-very-reliable-partner-.html
Russian President Vladimir Putin called Saudi’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a “very reliable partner with whom you can reach agreements, and can be certain that those agreements will be honored,” in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-08/13/content_26459520.htm
Chinese tourists spend $2b in Russia last year: federal tourism agency

Trucks, tanks, pipelines, agriculture equipment. They were among the first to recognize shale potential in US. high intelligence.
http://pipevalves.weebly.com/blog/russian-pipe-producer-tmk-benefits-from-shale-revolution

Depends how you mean ‘intervened’. It certainly helped, but there was no official involvement, e.g. tanks on the ground, full scale air war. The Soviets fell behind when they didn’t seize on the importance of electronics and computing.

By your definition even Soviet Union didnot officially intervene as more than 60℅ of troops were from centeral Asian republics not the too train and war was not fought with decisive determination of airpower like US in Vietnam. Soviet tried to seize importance in very narrow field but they could not implement computing on wide scale in society. No doubt most of tech companies where computing is core in 20 the century are from former Russian empire. where does the Oracle founder, Bloomberg and even nutinyaho coming from. There countless people like them.

I get my S-400 information from various sources. For example, some is stuff that I was given by Almaz-Antey. while some comes from Almaz-Antey via a third party. Some is from various Western technical analyses I have seen or been given.

These are unreliable source of information. I can write paragraph on it but for sake of clarity I will leave it there. There are others here write paragraphs without substance.

By technology, I was referring to the system’s overall architecture. At the subsystem level, the technology was completely modernised wherever possible, while new software algorithms were developed for the missile-guidance functions. However, much of the basic system architecture – for example the use of a rear-illuminated passive electronically-scanned array in the 92N6 ‘Grave Stone’ radar – draws on that the S-300. (It is hardly surprising that the original designation of the S-400 system was S-300PMU-3.)

You simply don’t understand technology. Simple example. When Irbis radar was flight tested a decade ago its performance was more than twice of Bars. Than bars radar took another decade worth of modernization and more than 500 produced and it still can’t reach IRBIS performance. This is called leap frogging in technology. S400 and S300 relationship more complicated than that.

The shortage of defence funding in Russia during the 1990s and later, and its effect on various defence programmes has been well documented.

Shortage of funds? The foundation of highly competitive military industrial complex was laid down based on 90s experience when Russia sold largest amount fighters, licenses, jet engines and missiles. The same happened to oil and gas industry. This another topic you have little understanding.

And that is all I am going to say on this subject. I have no desire to get locked into another extended debate – retirement should mean no longer having to talk about, write about, or lecture about defence technology.

I haven’t seen any such thing about defense technology in your writings.