MOSCOW, July 2 (UPI) -- Military-technical cooperation with the West and with other nations: does Russia need it? Although sounding rhetorical, the question highlights one of the current weaknesses of Russia's defense industry.

In mid-June, four-star General of the Army Nikolai Makarov, the newly appointed chief of the General Staff of Russia, speaking at the Eurosatory 2008 defense exhibition in Paris, said, "Starting in 2011 we will begin formulating a new armament program through 2020." The program, Makarov said, "should coordinate the development of all Russian weapons and equipment."

Makarov defined his mission at the Paris exhibition as "watching the direction of the world, minimizing possible mistakes and following the trends of the 2020s and 2030s."

The world -- and the 27 nations of the European Union in particular -- is moving toward international cooperation and abandoning the practice of each state developing and manufacturing its own weapon systems. The Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation, or OCCAR, has served this purpose for almost 10 years in Europe.

This cooperation has enabled a united Europe, early in the millennium, to expand to a new purchasing system. For example, a contract to buy 196 A-400M military transport planes for eight countries signed in Brussels in December 2001 was completed between Airbus Military and OCCAR, rather than between the manufacturer and each separate country.