Public-Private Partnership in Military-Industrial Complex: Issues of Legal Regulation in the Context of Digitalization

In modern conditions, the development of the defense industry complex (hereinafter - DIC) is determined not only by traditional factors of ensuring the country's defense and state security but also by the necessity of technological modernization and digital transformation. A significant role in these processes is beginning to be played by business entities with competencies in information technology, financial resources, and the flexibility for the prompt implementation of digital innovative solutions. Hence, the importance of public-private partnerships (hereinafter - PPP) is increasing. However, the application of classic PPP models in the DIC faces certain limitations due to the specifics of this industry. As a result, a contradiction arises: on one hand, the closed, regulated nature of the DIC, and on the other, the open, competitive nature of PPP. In this regard, the aim of the research is an attempt to substantiate the thesis about the need for the "deployment" of a special legal regime for the effective implementation of PPP in the DIC. The research employs the following scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, generalization, analogy, and others; systemic, special-legal, and comparative-legal methods were applied. As a result of the conducted research, the following results were obtained: 1) public-private partnership in the defense industry complex represents a promising but underdeveloped institution. The main difficulty is the necessity of combining two opposing legal regimes: DIC and PPP (the former is characterized by secrecy, confidentiality, limited access, and directive management; the latter by openness, transparency, competition, and market mechanisms). Digitalization intensifies this contradiction; 2) identifying various models of PPP in the DIC (American, European, Chinese) raises the question of the necessity for developing a Russian model, the outlines of which may be the following: 1) special requirements for defining a private partner for implementing PPP projects in the DIC and for information protection; 2) regulation of digital aspects of PPP in the DIC (data turnover, data protection, cybersecurity); 3) the possibility of experimental regulation as well as utilizing the potential of territories with a special regime for entrepreneurial activity; 4) differentiation of private entities' access to participation in defense projects depending on their sensitivity (high, medium, low); 3) the key direction of development is the formation of a special legal regime for PPP in the DIC.