Moscow to Continue Weapons Supply to Syria

Russia will continue to supply “defensive” weapons to Syria.

“We are continuing to fulfill our contract obligations because Syria is not under any sanctions of the United Nations Security Council,” Anatoly Isaikin, director of Rosoboronexport, told a press conference in Moscow. Isaikin denied reports that Russia had supplied high precision ground-to-ground missiles Iskander to Syria or any other offensive weapons. He said Russia has not sent any combat planes or helicopters to Syria. The Rosoboronexport chief said more defence deliveries are in the pipeline under existing contracts with Syria as this does not contravene international law or U.N. Security Council resolutions. Isaikin said Syria ranked 13 or 14 among Rosoboronexport’s clients, far behind customers including India, Vietnam and China.

Russia has recently shipped to Syria Bastion anti-ship missile system armed with supersonic Yakhont cruise missiles, as well as Pantsyr-S1 and Buk-M2 air defence systems.

Aeroexpress to Buy Trains From Swiss Manufacturer

Aeroexpress announced that it chose Swiss manufacturer Stadler as the supplier of double-decker electric trains to operate on its rail routes connecting Moscow’s main train stations with the city’s airports. Aeroexpress will sign a contract with Stadler to supply a total of 172 rail cars. Stadler beat France’s Alstom and Czech Skoda in the final round of the tender, held by Aeroexpress. The first double-decker trains will start taking Moscow passengers to the Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports in 2015.

Aeroexpress plans to complete the renewal of its fleet with new trains by the end of 2016.  The schedule and the running time for the trains would stay unchanged, but passenger capacity is expected to increase 30 to 40 percent. By 2015, Aeroexpress expects to carry 21.1 million people, or 26.6 percent of all passengers.

Russian Future Car Design

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is sure the domestic automotive industry can make good-looking cars. The head of the government said the local auto manufacturing industry had developed in isolation for a long time, which was why vehicles here lagged behind so much in terms of design. But the prime minister acknowledged that in the Soviet era all cars were sought-after. He said his first car was the classic VAZ-2107, known in Europe under the names Lada Riva and Lada Nova. And he was very satisfied with it. He also underlined that AvtoVAZ now makes more modern-looking cars.

In October 2011, AvtoVAZ hired Steve Mattin, a graduate of Britain’s Coventry University car design faculty, to be director of design. Prior to that he worked at Mercedes and Volvo. His arrival marked the first time the auto giant had hired a foreigner as its chief designer.

The Interior Ministry posted a tender for 750 Russian-made cars to be purchased under the state armaments program. They are meant to replace police officers’ outdated vehicles.

Russian Arms Sales Double

Russia sold twice as many weapons abroad in 2012 as in the previous year. It now has a portfolio of $37 billion in foreign orders and continues to sell anti-aircraft systems to Syria.

 Although India is still the country’s No. 1 client, sales continue to Syria. Arms sales to Syria include anti-aircraft missiles and spare parts, not aviation equipment. The sale of spare parts to Syria came into the spotlight in October, when a civilian airliner carrying spare military parts was stopped at the Istanbul airport. Russia, which denied the fact that the plane had any munitions on board, said later that the plane was delivering parts for an anti-aircraft radar.

Rosoboronexport had signed a package of weapons contracts with Iraq worth $ 4.2 billion, one of the biggest deals for Russia’s defense industry for the past few years.

Some experts also see sales to Iraq as a way for Russia to regain its economic status in Iraq. In 2008, both countries reached an agreement to cancel the $11.3 billion debt racked up by Saddam Hussein’s government.

Russian Missile Brigades to be Armed with Iskander Systems

All missile brigades of the Russian Federation are going to be armed with Iskander missile complexes by 2020.

“By 2020, we will switch all missile brigades to Iskander,” the Chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General Valery Gerasimov said at a news conference in Moscow.

Noteworthy, the head of Russia’s defense export corporation Rosoboronexport has recently denied the information about Russia’s shipment of Iskander tactical missile complexes to Syria. In July last year, Russia allocated more than 24 billion rubles to modernize the production of Iskander-M missile complexes.

On September 29, 2009, the Russian military announced plans to set up an extensive network of Iskander missiles throughout the country. According to General Vladimir Boldyrev, Iskander systems would be stationed in every defence district in Russia, with exception to Kaliningrad. On November 23, 2011, President Dmitri Medvedev again said that Russia may deploy Iskander tactical missiles in the Kaliningrad region as part of Russia’s reaction to the United States’ missile shield plans.