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Saudi Arabia is weighing buying an advanced Russian missile system to shore up its defence against a potentially nuclear Iran, Gulf analysts and diplomats said. They said Moscow and Riyadh are close to sealing a deal on a multi-billion-dollar weapons package that could include Russia's advanced S-400 missile defence system. It is the newest version of the S-300 long-range surface to air missile system that Moscow has been in discussion for several years to sell to Iran, which denies Western charges of aiming to become a nuclear power. But heavy Western and Israeli pressure and a possibly more lucrative deal...

Defense Spending: The TARP bailout may hit $24 trillion, but the Senate says the F-22 is too expensive to build and maintain. So why are the Japanese so desperate to buy this "unnecessary" Cold War weapon?By a vote of 58-40, the Senate on Tuesday voted to remove $1.75 billion set aside in a defense bill to build seven more F-22 Raptors, adding to the 187 stealth technology fighters already in the pipeline. After some hope the production lines would be kept open, the Senate succumbed to arguments by the administration and others that the fighter was too expensive, too hard...

Defense: By a narrow margin, a House subcommittee has voted to keep open the F-22 Raptor production line. The future of American air dominance and the fate of the world's most capable fighter hang in the balance.On May 30, with North Korea huffing and puffing about nuclear war, the first of 12 high-tech U.S. F-22 Raptor fighter jets landed at Kadena Air Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. It was just days after North Korea unnerved the region by detonating a nuclear device. There were reasons the F-22 was deployed to Japan. The stealthy, radar-evading fighter jet is...

ISTANBUL, April 27 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey, a NATO member, has expressed interest in buying S-400 Triumf air defense systems from Russia, a Russian defense industry official said on Monday. "Turkey has expressed a strong interest in buying S-400 air defense systems from Russia," said Anatoly Aksenov, a senior adviser to the general director of Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport. Russia is exhibiting over 120 types of weaponry at the IDEF 2009 arms show in Istanbul on April 27-30. The biennial exhibition has been organized by the Turkish defense industry since 1993. Aksenov, who leads the Russian delegation at the...

WASHINGTON, April 15 (UPI) -- It comes as no real surprise, but Russia's decision to supply neighboring Belarus with its most advanced anti-missile defense system has profound geopolitical implications and adds significantly to the growing divisions and tensions that are once again tearing Europe in half. A senior Russian air force general announced on April 9 that the Kremlin would be supplying Belarus with the new S-400 Triumf -- NATO designation SA-21 Growler -- anti-aircraft and anti-missile interceptor system as part of the joint agreement concluded in February for joint air defense between the two countries.

MINSK, April 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is to deliver S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) surface-to-air missile systems to Belarus under an integrated air-defense agreement, a senior Belarusian military official said on Wednesday. Igor Azarenok, commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, said the countries' defense ministries were currently discussing delivery terms. The S-400 is designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles), twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and 2 1/2 times that of the S-300PMU-2. The system is also believed to be able to destroy stealth...

The Australian think-tank, Air Power Australia (APA), has released another in their series of techno-strategy papers, this time analysing the advancements in Russian-built Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS) (http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-2009-02.html), and what it means in global strategic terms for the Americans. The APA report is direct and unequivocal – Russian radar and missiles have improved to the point where the US fleet of F-15s, F-16s and F/A-18s, as well as the planned Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), are not capable of surviving against these systems and unless the Americans build another four hundred-plus F-22s, they will lose the strategic advantage they have...

MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - The second regiment equipped with advanced S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems has been put into combat service in Russia, the defense minister said on Tuesday. In 2007, Russia successfully conducted live firing tests of the S-400 air defense complex at the Kapustin Yar firing range in south Russia's Astrakhan Region, and deployed the first missile regiment equipped with the new system to protect the airspace surrounding Moscow and industrial zones in the center of Russia's European territory. The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air defense system is expected to form the new cornerstone of...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Russia is testing a new missile for its formidable S-400 Triumf air defense system that, if it performs according to its claimed specifications, is the most formidable long-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense system in the world. Three-star Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, the commander of the Russian air force, announced testing plans for the new missile Tuesday, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Vice Chairman of Russia's State Duma Vladimir Zhirinovsky has urged the fast delivery of the magnificent S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran. Speaking at the open session of Russia's State Duma on Wednesday, Zhirinovsky stated, "S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems should be delivered as soon as possible to enable Iran to defend its airspace." The S-400 is a new generation of anti-aircraft/anti-missile weapon system developed by the Russian Almaz Central Design Burea

Russia deploys most advanced S-400 missiles around Moscow Moscow, Aug 6 : Russia today deployed the most advanced S-400 air missile defence system, in the town of Elektrostal, about 50 km east of Moscow. The ceremony in Elektrostal was attended by Russian Air Force coammander Col.-Gen. Alexander Zelin and Almaz Research and Production Association general director Igor Ashurbeili. With the deployment of the first battalion, a division of S-400 Triumph and a command post will protect the air of Moscow and its region. The units with S-400 (NATO version SA-21 Growler) and machinery arrived at the place of permanent dislocation...

Russia set to test first serial S-400 SAM system next week-1 14:46 | 05/ 07/ 2007 (Clarifies the official's position in the lead, adds quotes, details, background in paras 4-10) MOSCOW, July 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will conduct the first tests of its new S-400 Triumf air defense complex next week prior to its commissioning with the Air Force, an AF air defense chief said Thursday. "The first serial [S-400] complex will be tested next week," Lieutenant General Alexander Gorkov said. "It has been transported to a testing ground together with crews." The S-400 (NATO codename SA-21 Growler) is...

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 18 (RIA NOVOSTI) - We are going to launch 48N6E missiles, which are part and parcel of the S-400 Triumph SAM complex, by March 8, Anatoly Kornukov, chairman of the interdepartmental expert council for aerospace-defense issues, said here today. Yet another class of Triumph missiles will be test-fired next year, as well, Kornukov added. The S-400 SAM complex can already be mass-produced; local factories can launch its production anytime now, Kornukov added, also reminding that the 2004 state defense order called for adopting the Triumph complex. The Triumph might eventually become the mainstay of Russia's joint air-defense system,...