{"id":26867,"date":"2022-03-02T22:13:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T22:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/02\/new-us-sanctions-target-russias-multibillion-dollar-defense-sector\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:59:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:59:39","slug":"new-us-sanctions-target-russias-multibillion-dollar-defense-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/industry\/2022\/03\/02\/new-us-sanctions-target-russias-multibillion-dollar-defense-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"New US sanctions target Russia\u2019s multibillion-dollar defense sector"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 The Biden administration has taken further steps aimed at Russia\u2019s defense industry<\/a>, announcing sanctions Wednesday that could affect not only Russia, but countries that rely on its military hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The measures, triggered by Moscow\u2019s war against Ukraine<\/a>, target both Russia and its ally Belarus, which has been a staging ground for the invasion. The White House said sanctions on Russia\u2019s defense sector would \u201cimpose significant costs on Russian weapon development and production companies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia is the world\u2019s second-largest arms exporter after the U.S., averaging more than $13 billion in reported annual sales, according to the Congressional Research Service. On Wednesday, a U.S. State Department official told lawmakers it is unlikely Russia will be able to make new sales or provide maintenance to customers for existing systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy view is that it\u2019s going to be very hard for anyone to buy major weapon systems from Moscow in the coming months and years, given sweeping financial sanctions that the administration, with the support of Congress has leveled,\u201d said Donald Lu, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, told a Senate Foreign Relations subpanel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t have a banking system, it\u2019s very hard for other countries to pay millions of dollars, rubles, yen or in Euros to pay for these defense systems,\u201d Lu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia exports a majority of its arms to five states: Algeria, China, Egypt, India, and Vietnam. India has been the largest importer of Russian arms since 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comments came at a hearing on the U.S. relationship with India<\/a>, which has been weaning itself off Russian military equipment but inked a multibillion-dollar deal for Russia\u2019s S-400 Triumf missile systems in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\t