India is to buy around 350 T-90S main battle tanks from Russia according to a contract to be signed later this year.
Popularity: 6% [?]
May 26, 2007Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has accused China and Russia of breaching a United Nations arms embargo by continuing to supply weapons to the Sudanese authorities for use in Darfur.
Popularity: 6% [?]
May 8, 2007Russia’s defense minister Sergei Ivanov confirmed Tuesday Russia has sold an unspecified number of short-range Tor-M1 missiles to Iran. This announcement was the first government confirmation from Russia.
Popularity: 6% [?]
January 19, 2007Indian and Russian government officials will be meeting at the sixth meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) on January 24 to boost the military co-operation.
Popularity: 4% [?]
The Indian council for defense purchases approved acquisition of an additional set of Russian fighters Su-30MKI for the country’s Air Force, Defense Minister Arakkaparambil Kurian Antony is quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying.
Popularity: 7% [?]
December 17, 2006India and Russia have signed a deal to upgrade the Indian Air Force’s MiG-29 “Fulcrum” fighters and extend their service life.
Popularity: 12% [?]
December 13, 2006The U.S. government has frozen assets of two men from the former Soviet Union. Viktor Bout and Dmitry Popov are accused of illegally supplying weapons to rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to a statement from the White House, the two were supplying weapons to the fighters in the east of the country using a small airline as cover. The arms were allegedly traded for illegal diamonds in Africa.
Popularity: 2% [?]
November 3, 2006An annual study for the U.S. Congress finds that in 2005 Russia, for the first time, sold more arms to the developing world than the United States did, UPI said.
Russia’s sales included eight new aerial refueling tankers to China and surface to air missiles to Iran, The New York Times reported. Both deals make the U.S. government nervous because of the possibility of a crisis with China over Taiwan and with Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
The report, “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations,†found that Russia’s arms agreements with developing countries came to $7 billion, up from $5.4 billion in 2004. France was second with agreements totaling $6.3 million and the United States just behind at $6.2 billion.
India was the largest buyer among developing countries. Russia’s largest customers were India and China.
The United States continued to rank first in total arms sales, followed by France and Russia.
Popularity: 2% [?]
October 30, 2006Military sources said the Israel Army has collected 39 Russian-origin anti-tank missiles from Hezbollah outposts in southern Lebanon, the World Tribune has reported. They said the missiles included the AT-14 Kornet and the AT-13 Metis.
“Some of the missiles were still in their original packaging, which identified them as having been manufactured in Russia,†a military source said.
The sources said photographs of the missiles were delivered to Russia in September as evidence that weapons exported by Moscow ended up with Hezbollah. They said the Kornets were exported to Syria in 2002.
“The [Israel] army also found bills of lading and serial numbers with the missiles,†the source said. “It is probable that some of these missiles that were ordered by Iran for Hezbollah via Syria.â€
The Hezbollah acquisition of Russian-origin missiles was discussed during the visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Moscow. On Wednesday, Putin met Russian President
Vladimir Putin in a discussion said to have focused on Iran’s nuclear program.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was also said to have met Olmert. Last week, the Defense Ministry ordered tighter supervision over Russia’s arms exports.
“The determination that there should be supervision over arms exports has been achieved,†Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon said on Thursday.
Putin was said to have been angered by Israeli evidence that Iran and Syria supplied Russian missiles to Hezbollah. But Putin was not expected to sanction the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a leading Middle East ally of Moscow.
“However, this does not mean that Russia will completely stop selling weapons to Iran and Syria, as the Israelis want,†the Moscow-based Vremya Novostei daily said on Wednesday. “Cooperation with Teheran and Damascus, including in the oil and gas and nuclear spheres, bring Moscow dividends — and not only material. Russia plays a unique middleman role.â€
Popularity: 2% [?]
October 20, 2006
Ukraine has been illegally selling arms to Georgia amid escalating tensions between the South Caucasus republic and Russia, Ukraine’s Communist party leader quoted by RIA Novosti said Tuesday.
“Ukraine has already delivered 40 tanks to Georgia,†Petro Symonenko said.
Symonenko said Kiev is facing the risk of having sanctions imposed on it by the international community for illegally supplying arms to warring sides.
Georgian President Saakashvili has pledged to restore Tbilisi’s control over the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. His defense minister has also said Georgian troops will celebrate New Year’s day in the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali.
On October 13, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a Russian-sponsored draft resolution on Georgia urging the ex-Soviet country to refrain from provocative actions in Abkhazia, and calling for an extension of the Russian peacekeeping mission in the region until April 15, 2007.
Russia retains a peacekeeping presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which gained de facto independence following bloody conflicts after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia’s leadership, which is currently embroiled in a spying row with Russia, accuses the Kremlin of supporting the breakaway regions’ drive for full independence.
Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili was quoted by a Russian newspaper Monday as saying that if war broke out between Russia and Georgia, Russia would lose — a statement that was immediately condemned by the Russian Armed Forces chief of the General Staff.
“If Mr. Okruashvili has an itchy trigger finger, I hope he realizes the consequences of what can happen when he wages war against his own citizens, Russian citizens residing in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and peacekeepers who are the only guarantors of stability in the region,†Army General Yury Baluyevsky said.
Georgia’s relations with Russia went sour after President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power on the back of the “Rose Revolution†in 2003. Both the government and parliament have sought to remove Russian peacekeepers from conflict zones with two self-proclaimed republics, and to force the withdrawal of Russian troops from two Soviet-era bases that are due to close in 2008.
Relations were further strained in September of this year after NATO ministers, meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, endorsed the so-called Intensified
Dialogue with Georgia. Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced the decision, saying closer ties between the alliance and the ex-Soviet nation could “seriously affect the political, military and economic interests of Russia and undermine the fragile status quo in the Caucasus.â€
The arrest in Georgia of four Russian army officers on espionage charges a week later sent relations to a new low, prompting Moscow to suspend transportation and postal links with its Caucasus neighbor and to expel hundreds of Georgian migrants, regardless of Georgia releasing the officers, RIA Novosti adds.
Popularity: 2% [?]
October 18, 2006
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