It sounds just like a Cold War, Psy-Ops bluff but it could be true.
One might ask, how can Russia afford to retool its arms stash when we can't even afford to feed grandma?
Or, have we been fighting a war of attrition against ourselves?

Never has been and may never be.

and taxation on the companies now run by the really big boys. As a Communist state would you have expected otherwise ? Cuba doesn't rely on the taxation of its citizens either but that will progressively change now that more private enterprise is allowed and those running those outfits will now need to become familiar with the strange concept of paying tax.

There's no point in attempting to draw any comparisons with US as none exist.

with a market economy. They underwent privatization during the 1990s and experienced some difficult times during the transition. In Russia, "... tax on the income of individuals is payable at the rate of 13% on most incomes.[136]" from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia#Russian_Federation
Evidently Russia's economy is doing fine today. I guess that's why they can plan to modernize their arsenal.

Brain wasn't in gear. I know they use a flat rate for income tax but by the standards we are used to that is a low rate which tied to their low average income / family unit conveys the state is not reliant on that income in the manner in which we both are used to.

watching documentaries of how they defeated the Nazi machine. They did it with very little or no help from the West. They did the same to Napoleon. They had a lot to do with the defeat of Germany period. Their people were truly resilient and amazing during World War II. Their nation is very rich in resources too. They impressed me in those documentaries.