Reuters reports:

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian spending on arms will rise to a record $46.5 billion next year, a senior government official said on Friday, as the Kremlin moves to beef up the armed forces after a conflict in Georgia.

Russian national defence orders will rise to 1.2 trillion roubles ($46.55 billion) in 2009, 70 billion roubles higher than previously planned, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov was shown saying on Russian television.

“We have managed to convince the Finance Ministry that the volume of state defence orders in 2009 will be 70 billion higher than previously planned,” Ivanov told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.