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Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said Tuesday it had signed several contracts with the French defense firm Thales on the transfer of technology and delivery of communications equipment for Russian armored vehicles. "The first contract involves transfer of technologies to Russia, which now will have the right to produce officially licensed thermal imagers at Vologda Optical and Mechanical Plant," said Igor Sevastyanov, Rosoboronexport deputy director general. "The second contract provisionally allows Russia to bring in communications equipment for integration into Russian armored vehicles for testing," Sevastyanov said. He added that the communications equipment would be mounted on T-90 tanks and...

A converted Russian intercontinental ballistic missile took Germany's TanDEM-X satellite into orbit on Monday, a military spokesman said. The RS-20B carrier rocket lifted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 6:14 Moscow time [2:14 GMT]. This is the 16th launch of an international satellite under the Dnepr program involving Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, which converts RS-20 ICBMs (classified by NATO as the SS-18 Satan) into carrier rockets to put satellites into low Earth orbit. Around 50 satellites have been put into orbit so far. "The RS-20B rocket took the TanDEM-X satellite into orbit," Col. Vadim Koval said....

Russia's Defense Ministry will order at least 50 fifth-generation fighters from 2016, a senior official said on Thursday. "At the first stage, there will be dozens of planes, more than 50," said Vladimir Popovkin, deputy defense minister for arms procurement. He was on hand as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin observed the test flight of a prototype fighter and later talked to the pilot, Sergei Bogdan, who said it was the fighter's 16th test flight and more would follow shortly. Popovkin said that based on the outcome of initial tests, the Defense Ministry would purchase the first six to 10...

Russia's Mil Design Bureau has briefed military delegations from Arab and other states on an advanced helicopter expected to begin production by 2015. They said the helicopter would feature capabilities for stealth and the downing of fighter-jets. "We are working on the concept of the fifth-generation combat helicopter," Mil chief executive officer Andrei Shibitov said. At a briefing on May 13, Shibitov said Mil would produce the first fifth-generation helicopter in the world. He said the company would spend $1 billion on the project, with additional funds provided by the Russian Defense Ministry. Industry analysts said any new helicopter must...

China's J-15 carrier-based fighter will not be able to compete with Russia's Su-33 fighter on global markets because it is inferior to the Russian aircraft, a Russian military analyst said on Friday. China since 2001 has been developing the J-15 naval fighter, which is believed to be a clone of Russia's Su-33 Falcon-D. China bought an Su-33 prototype earlier from Ukraine, and used it to develop the new aircraft. The J-15 is expected to be stationed initially onboard the Chinese Varyag aircraft carrier currently being fitted in the port of Dalian. China bought the unfinished Admiral Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier...

<p>In the event of a nuclear missile attack on Russia, three hard-shell briefcases filled with electronics are set to alert their holders simultaneously. Inside each is a portable terminal, linked to the command and control network for Russia's strategic nuclear forces. One of them accompanies the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, wherever he goes. It is known as the Cheget, and allows the president to monitor a missile crisis, make decisions, and transmit those decisions to the military. It's similar to the nuclear "football" that accompanies the American president.</p>

Troops in the Russian Far East have not been put on high alert following the brewing crisis between North and South Korea, several military officials said on Wednesday. "We have not received any orders from Moscow to put the Pacific Fleet on high alert due to the conflict between the two Koreas. The fleet is currently carrying out scheduled exercises at sea and on land," a Pacific Fleet spokesman said on Wednesday. The official said the arrival of Russia's most powerful warships in the Pacific had been planned long ago as part of the biennial Vostok strategic exercises and was...

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday criticised Russia for supplying arms to Syria, saying the move did not help efforts to bring peace to the region. "The sale of these weapons does not contribute to building an atmosphere of peace," Lieberman told Israel's public radio in what was an unusually muted statement from the outspoken minister. Lieberman's remarks came just days after a top Russian military official said Moscow was supplying Syria with MiG-29 fighter jets, Pantsir short-range air defence systems and armoured vehicles. He also insisted the regime of Bashar al-Assad was not interested in peace, and described...

Three years after the first foreign customer (Syria) received the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft systems, the Russian Air Force is getting some. The Russian Air Force recently received the S1E version, with an improved radar (36 kilometer range) and missile (more reliable). Curiously, the air force is using their first ten Pantsir-S1s to guard S-300 anti-aircraft missile bases located around Moscow. There was no explanation from the Russians as to why they felt a mobile, low level anti-aircraft system was needed to guard a larger, high altitude one. Perhaps additional protection against cruise missiles. The Russians aren't saying. These ten vehicles were...

Russia is lagging 25 to 30 years behind the United States in developing prospective air defense weapons because of a meltdown of its defense industries, a former Russian air force chief said Thursday. Retired Gen. Anatoly Kornukov said Russia has only a reduced capability to protect itself from an enemy attack — a statement that contrasted sharply with the government's claim that the nation's military are getting stronger following a post-Soviet decline. The Defense Ministry has boasted about developing new S-400 air defense missile systems and proudly displayed some of them in Sunday's massive Victory Day parade on Red Square....

The recent crash of a Polish military transport that killed most of Warsaw's senior civilian and military leaders was not only a human catastrophe for a key U.S. ally. NATO sources said that, in addition to the loss of nearly 100 pro-U.S. Polish leaders, the crash provided Moscow with a windfall of secrets. The crash killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski in western Russia on April 10 and decapitated Poland's military, killing two service chiefs, key military aides and several national security officials, many of whom were carrying computers and pocket memory sticks that contained sensitive NATO data. Perhaps the most...

The Russian air force took delivery of the first Pantsyr-S short-range air-defense systems in March. The Pantsyrs will gradually replace the old Tunguska antiaircraft weapons. The first 10 systems were released from KBP Instrument Design Bureau’s assembly site in Tula and transported to Alabino, near Moscow, and will be part of the Victory Day parade in Red Square on May 9. What’s unusual is that the first Pantsyr systems are being deployed to protect high-end surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) against aircraft, missiles and bombs. The Pantsyr battery will be deployed to the 606th air-defense regiment in Elektrostal, near Moscow, says Lt....

A special investigation commission will announce on May 20 the official results of a probe into the latest failure of Russia's ill-fated Bulava ballistic missile, the Navy commander said on Friday. The latest launch of the missile, which Russia hopes will be a key element of its nuclear forces, from the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine in the White Sea ended in failure in early December 2009. Only five of 12 Bulava launches have been officially reported as being successful. "The conclusions of the commission will be announced on May 20," Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said. He added that the Russian military...

A Game-Changing Weapon Ryan MauroThe Russian company Concern Morinformsystem-Agat is marketing a deadly new weapon, one that can allow a rogue state to overcome the technological superiority of Western militaries. The system can even be used to carry out devastating attacks on the U.S. homeland with little means of defense.The system, as seen in its promotional video, allows a weak nation to strike the land and sea targets of a superior force by placing cruise missiles into any type of 40 foot container. The video uses a ship, truck and train as examples of potential launching platforms. This means that...

The Polyus military testbed was put together on a crash basis as an answer to America's Star Wars program. It was built around a surplus TKS manned spacecraft and was meant to test prototype ASAT and Star Wars defense systems. It failed to reach orbit, but it had succeeded, it would have been the core module of a new Mir-2 space station. Its mere presence could have decisively changed the shape of the Cold War in its final months. In 1985, it became clear that the Energia launch vehicle would be ready for launch before the Buran space shuttle that...

All obsolete weaponry in Moscow Military District has been removed as part of Russia's transition to a ‘new-look’ Armed Forces, according to the district commander. Col. Gen. Valery Gerasimov told Ekho Moskvy radio that all old weapons and military equipment was discarded and the bases under his command now had only modern military equipment. "In the course of the transition to a new look, we got rid of all the old equipment at bases and in factories," Ria Novosti quoted him as saying. "The materiel was kept at the bases of the military (district) and declared ready for operational use."...

Russian weapons are falling behind rival products, experts told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government daily on Wednesday. Russian Academy of Science members Vladimir Fortov and Igor Kalyaev said that a reduction in research funds was making it hard for Russian weapons to stay competitive and for the defense industry to produce breakthroughs. However, last month Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved a long-term policy for the development of the national defense industry. He stressed that development and production of modern electronic systems would be a priority for the industry in the next three to four years. But while the Russian government has...

Yury Solomonov, the designer of the troubled Bulava ballistic missile, said that the poor state of the Russian defense industry was the main cause of the weapon's failed test launches. Solomonov resigned from his post as general director of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology (MITT) in July 2009 after a series of unsuccessful Bulava tests, but retained his post as general designer of the missile. "I can say in earnest that none of the design solutions have been changed as a result of the tests. The problems occur in the links of the design-technology-production chain," Solomonov said in an...

Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft makers have brought their latest fifth-generation jet to an airfield near Zhukovski southeast of Moscow for further tests. The maiden flight was on the 29th of January and lasted 47 minutes. The plane is a computerized fighter bomber boasting cutting-edge radar and fly-by-wire systems and remarkable stealth capabilities. The latter are the result of composite materials in the design. Together with upgraded fourth-generation jets, such fighters will form the backbone of this country’s Air Force in the coming years

In the most recent reported incident, two Tu160 Blackjack bombers, capable of travelling at 2,220kmph and carrying up to almost 40,000kg of ordnance including either cruise or short-range nuclear missiles, infiltrated British airspace over Northern Scotland on March 10. In this case, the Tu160s were intercepted by two RAF Tornado F3 fighters and, after a four hour stand-off, the Russian long-range bombers eventually left the borders of UK airspace and the RAF planes returned to base. The incident over Stornaway was far from an isolated case. Defense analysts have been recording a steady increase in airspace violations by Russian military...