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Russia to Test New Naval Air Defense System by Year End Russian air defense systems manufacturer Almaz Antei hopes to complete testing of its new Poliment-Redut ship-based air defense missile system by the end of this year, the company’s General Director Vladislav Menshikov said on Saturday. Previous Russian media reports have claimed the development of the system has been delayed. Poliment-Redut is derived from the land-based Vityaz air defense system which uses the 9M96 medium-range air defense missile. “Work on the system is at a preliminary test stage. But to complete testing we need a ship at sea,” Menshikov said....

The Russian Defense Ministry and Moscow's Avangard armaments plant have signed a 3-year contract for S-400 missiles. Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdiukov and Moscow Machine-Building Plant Avangard Chief Executive Officer Gennadi Kozhin signed the agreement. The anti-aircraft missiles will be supplied to Russian army anti-aircraft missile batteries. The S-400 "Triumph" anti-aircraft system became operational in 2007 as a successor system to the Soviet-era S-300. Avangard will be the sole supplier of missiles for the S-400 system but the value of the contract wasn't disclosed, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on its Web site, The types of missiles to be provided...

China has asked Russia to supply it with Sukhoi Su-35 fighters and Almaz-Antei S-400 Triumph long-range air defence systems. The Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper quoted Alexander Fomin, deputy head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, as saying that Beijing filed requests for the equipment last year. "The Russian side is considering these applications," he said. Fomin refused to specify how many fighters China is seeking to buy. Last year it cancelled an order for a second batch of 95 Su-27s for local assembly, after Shenyang launched series production of its comparable J-11 design. Four Su-35s have so far been delivered...

Russia plans to install new anti-missile defence systems on its border with North Korea in the wake of the international controversy over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, the Itar-Tass news agency reported on Tuesday. The army will station two modern systems of the S-400 type near the border, an employee of the Defence Ministry was quoted as saying. He added that Russia is 'very concerned' about North Korean missile tests, noting that the test site is 'alarmingly close' to the Russian border. South Korea has blamed North Korea for the sinking of its Cheonan corvette near...

Russia is ready to participate in a tender to offer Turkey S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, the state-controlled arms exporter said on Wednesday. "The Turkish military has a great need for S-300 and S-400 long-range missile defense systems," Rosoboronexport CEO Anatoly Isaikin said. "Russia has expressed its readiness to participate in a tender for the delivery of such systems." He said leading SAM manufacturers from Western countries would participate in the tender "on a par with Russia." He gave no indication as to what specific SAM modifications would be offered or the timeframe for the tender. Turkish military experts...

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 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....

The S-400 started its way in 1999 as the S-300PMU3, developed by Almaz Science and Production Association. Russian defense officials claimed in 2006 the missile has been inducted in late 2006 and was due to become operational later in 2007. Suffering from teething problems, this milestone has been delayed three years, allowing designers to work on the 'baseline system', awaiting the completion of the full capability version, by early 2010. Russia plans to buy up to 200 launchers (each with four missiles) by 2015, and phase out the older S-300 and S-200 systems. This would mean deploying at least 18...

Russian long range ballistic missiles for S-400 Triumph surface-to-air missile systems will go into serial production in the autumn, a leading missile manufacturer said on Friday. Earlier media reports said the S-400 missile system was incomplete as long range ballistic missiles, among others, had not been adopted for it. "On December 26, 2009 the preliminary tests were finished and the missile was put forward for state tests," Kommersant daily quoted the general director of Almaz-Antei, Igor Ashurbeili, as saying. "In the third quarter of 2010 we should finish them, along with combat duty launches, and then put it [the missile]...

Russia will have complete array of military-space defence capabilities by 2015, according to a leading missile manufacturer. "By 2015, we will have Morfei short-range air-defense complexes, Vityaz, Favorit and S-500 medium-range systems, and something else," said Igor Ashurbeili, general director of the Almaz-Antei concern's design bureau. Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoting him said, the 2015 deadline was linked to the fact that by that time S-300 PS antiaircraft complexes, the first in the S-300 series, would have been taken out of service. Antei is currently developing six new types of air-defense/missile defense systems, of which Ashurbeili has only named...

Russia activated its first S-400 (also known as the SA-20, Growler or Triumf) anti-aircraft missile system around Moscow. This new version of the S-300 pays particular attention to electronic countermeasures that the Americans might have, or be developing. Two years ago, Russia announced that the first S-400 had entered service around Moscow. But that didn't actually happen, and development work continued. Recent test firings of the missiles were successful, and a battalion is now deployed around Moscow. Each S-400 battalion has eight launchers, each with four missiles, plus a control center and radar. The two year delay allowed more system...

The Russian S-400 Triumph air and missile defense system was officially inducted into Russian army service – the first two systems have entered operational service with the air defense regiment stationed at the Military Space Defense joint command in Elektrostal, the Moscow Region with additional two scheduled to be deployed by the end of 2010. More systems will be delivered later, along with next generation S-500 currently in early development stage. The Russian Air-defense command is hopeful to achieving full operational capability protecting strategic sites throughout Russia with the new systems by 2015.The S-400 started its way in 1999 as...

On February 10 fifteen years ago, the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) met in Almaty, then capital of Kazakhstan (Central Asia), to sign an agreement to create a joint air defense system. In February 2010, they held a jubilee meeting of the Committee on Air Defense at the CIS Council of Defense Ministers. The CIS leaders established the joint air defense system to preserve the remaining elements of the once powerful Soviet air defense. It comprised the air defense systems of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. In 2008, Georgia terminated its...

Russia has decided to withdraw its advanced missile defense system for export. Officials said the Kremlin has ordered the state-owned arms agency Rosoboronexport to end marketing of the S-400 air and missile defense system. They said Rosoboronexport was told that the S-400 would be deployed only in Russia until further notice. "Russia would consider exports only after meeting the requirements of its own armed forces," Rosoboronexport director Anatoly Isaikin said on Jan. 28. Over the last five years, Rosoboronexport has sought to sell the S-400 to a range of Middle East states, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United...

Russia is getting another five S-400 (also known as the Triumf/Triumph or SA-21) missile battalions in the next year. Russia already has two battalions, with the first one entering service two years ago. Belarus is buying the S-400, and part of a battalion was sent to the North Korean border recently (to make a political point, not that the Russians fear a missile attack from North Korea any time soon.) Within the next six years, Russia plans to buy 18 S-400 battalions, while exporting as many as possible. An S-400 battalion has eight launchers, each with four missiles, plus a...

Russia should honor a contract to sell a missile defense system to Iran and not bend to outside pressure, the Islamic Republic's defense minister said in remarks published on Thursday. Russia, which is under Western pressure to distance itself from Iran, has not followed through on proposals to supply high-grade S-300 air defense missiles. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Russia last month for not providing the arms to Iran, which is at odds with the West over its nuclear and missile programs. Israel says the S-300 systems could be used to defend Iranian nuclear facilities against potential air strikes....

In the deepening international stand-off over Iran's nuclear program, the Islamic Republic's quest for advanced air- and missile defense technologies could play a decisive role. "For years now, Tehran has been working hard to acquire sophisticated Russian antiaircraft missiles that would make it far tougher for Israeli planes to stage a successful attack on Iranian nuclear facilities," Christian Caryl wrote on October 2nd in the online edition of Foreign Policy magazine. That system is the S-300, an advanced interceptor array believed to be superior to the U.S. Patriot. Russia signed a deal to deliver units of the S-300 to Iran...

As the United States and its allies haggle with Iran over its nuclear program, Moscow has fueled Western unease about its military links to Tehran by pledging to continue selling arms to the Islamic republic. This has raised speculation that it may brush aside the strident objections of the United States and Israel and supply Iran with advanced S-300PMU surface-to-air missiles that would greatly enhance its defenses against airstrikes. The Russians, who have rejected the proposed imposition of economic sanctions on Iran as "counterproductive," are keeping the waters muddied with contradictory and ambiguous statements regarding the S-300s. On Wednesday, Russia's...

Saudi Arabia could soon buy Russia's most advanced air-defense system in an effort to contain the regional ambitions of Iran, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 9, 2008).