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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Latvia, the final stop on his Baltic mini-tour as he attempts to drum up further support and particularly more missiles for his nation’s taxed air defence system. Ukraine has proven stopping Russia is possible, but it “badly” needs modern air defence systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said as he tours European nations again, seeking more arms for his defensive war against Russia. His visits to the first two tour stops Lithuania and Estonia were fruitful, with new support packages announced, and he arrived in Latvia, the final stop, on Thursday afternoon. As...

A vtamin bar in Istanbul's Kadikoy neighborhood offers its patrons the chance to relax with a fruity cocktail called "S-400". The owner Ramazan Kucuk told Gunes reporter about how the idea was born. He said everyone in Turkey is excited about the purchase of advanced SAM and people are talking about it every day. To exploit it we decided to create a cocktail with the same name. The air defense system is reliably protecting Turkish skies from owr enemies and our blend protects the health of our customers. This smoothie has attracted much attention. Our clients love it so much....

MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Air Force is hoping to receive a new long-range fighter-interceptor by 2020 and retire its existing fleet of MiG-31 interceptors by 2028, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said on Thursday. “We have started development of a new aircraft of this type and I think we can develop this plane before the state armament program ends in 2020,” Bondarev said at a meeting with Russian lawmakers. “The new plane should replace the existing fleet by 2028,” he said. Bondarev spoke out against restarting production of the MiG-31, which was stopped 20...

A major fire broke out Wednesday in Moscow at a building belonging to Russian missile manufacturer Almaz, the maker of air defence weapons including the S-300 missile system, officials said. The fire at the company's design bureau had spread over an area measuring 800 square metres (8,500 square feet) and dozens of firefighters had been sent to the scene, a spokesman for the Emergency Ministry, Yevgeny Bobylev said. State television pictures showed a huge cloud of grey smoke rising into the sky from the area affected in the north of Moscow. Its cause was not immediately clear

Russia has signed deals to sell Syria warplanes, anti-tank weapons and air defence systems, a senior Russian arms trader said on Friday, prompting an outcry from Syria's foe Israel. Mikhail Dmitriyev, head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said Russia would supply Syria with MiG-29 fighters, truck-mounted Pantsir short-range surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery systems. He said Russia would also supply Damascus with anti-tank weapons but did not specify their type. Syria's regional foe Israel reacted angrily to the deal but called into question the solvency of Damascus. "Syria at the present time cannot afford to pay for this...

The delivery of advanced Russian-made S-300 air defence missiles to Iran has been delayed for technical reasons, a senior Russian official told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday. “The delay is due to technical problems. The delivery will be carried out when they are resolved,” Alexander Fomin, deputy head of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, was quoted as saying. Russia’s contract to sell the S-300s to Iran has raised hackles in the United States and Israel, which believe that Tehran could use the sophisticated air defence missiles to defend its nuclear facilities against attack. Western powers suspect that Iran...

Yefremov: the weapons designer who outwitted the Pentagon 21:41 | 03/ 10/ 2006 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Viktor Litovkin) - The late Veniamin Yefremov, general designer of the Almaz-Antei Air Defense Concern, developed a number of unique weapons systems that the United States, the United Kingdom and France still lack. Yefremov's trick The two-volume Large Encyclopedic Dictionary offers a brief five-line entry on Yefremov, who is referred to as a Soviet scientist in the sphere of automation, a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences since 1984 and Hero of Socialist Labor since 1976. According to the Dictionary, Yefremov...

Russian missiles on Polish border 31.05.2006 Several Russian anti ballistic missiles have been placed on the Belarus-Polish border. Report by Agnieszka Bielawska The arrival of the missiles to the 115 air defense brigade have made this unit twice as powerful as it was before. The nearness of the missiles to the Polish border has given rise for concern since Poland’s troublesome eastern neighbour, Belarus, has received a very modern and powerful defense tool. Piotr Zochowski from the East European Studies center in Warsaw says the move was expected. In line with the declaration last year made by the Russian defence...

Russia to sell air defense systems to Iran -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big News Network.com Friday 26th May, 2006 (UPI) Russia's defense minister said Friday it would honor commitments to supply Iran with Tor-M1 air defense systems for use against aircraft and guided missiles. In 2005, Russia signed a $700-million contract to supply air defense systems to Iran, Novosti reported. The contract was signed and we need time to fulfill it, said Sergei Ivanov, defense minister of the Russian Federation. The Tor-M1 is is a mobile missile launching system designed for operation at medium, low and very low altitudes against aircraft, unmanned aerial...

Russia to meet pledge on air defense system deliveries to Iran MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia will meet its pledge on deliveries of air defense systems to Iran, a senior official said on Thursday. Moscow cut a 1 billion-U.S. dollar deal with Tehran in November to supply it with Tor-M1 short-range missiles. Russian officials said these missiles are air defense systems used only to bring down aircraft and guided missiles at low altitudes but cannot strike ground targets. "As you know, we have a contract on the delivery of anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran. There is no reason not...

MOSCOW - Russia’s air defense is in a deplorable state, Anatoly Kornukov, the former commander of the Russian air force, said at a round table meeting on Wednesday. “Russian air defense is in deplorable condition, but it is not hopeless,” he said. According to Kornukov, the country’s air defense weapons “remained the same as several decades ago” due to the lack of funds and the absence of modernization. As an example, he referred to the S-50 air defense system. The combat effectiveness of the system is halved, according to the former air force commander. On the need to develop a...