Purpose: The article researches the actual issues of developing partnership and cooperation between the state and private business in matters of production and modernization the military-industrial complex of Russia. The main object of the research is the Russian NAVY. The subject of the research is the comparison of the Russian and US NAVY modernization in the context of public and private partnership. Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors used a wide range of methodological tools in the course of the study. The method of economic analysis, the method of structural analysis, the statistical method and the method of mathematical comparison were used. Findings. Studying the role of business actors in the national rearmament programmes in Russia the authors revealed such key indicators as economic viability and financial efficiency of programme implementation. A comparative analysis of budget and private funding of the similar US programme was conducted and statistical data supporting the main findings of the study were introduced. Practical Implications: The development of cooperation between business and the MIC at the state level should go along the path of creating conditions for public-private partnerships (PPPs) - a set of organizational, legal, financial and economic relations and joint actions of the state and private business aimed at achieving the goals of the state economic policy in order to address socially significant tasks on mutually beneficial conditions. Originality/Value: The authors’ conclusion that state’s financial and economic policy in the field of defense and modernization of the domestic defense industry has all chances to become the locomotive of the country’s industrial, scientific and technological development gives new horizons for discussing the most appropriate rearmament strategy. © 2019 International Strategic Management Association. All rights reserved.