photo spetsnazarmysurplus.com

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 12 (UPI)

Azerbaijan has begun producing AK-74M assault rifles under a license from the Russian armaments manufacturer Izhmash.

The assault rifles are being produced for the Azeri armed forces under the name "Khazri."

The Azeri AK-74M rifles have a number of modifications from the Russian model of the weapon, the Azerbaidzhanskoe Informatsionnoe Agentstvo news agency reported Tuesday.

The Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant -- Izhmash -- is a munitions manufacturer with headquarters in Izhevsk. Founded in 1807 by decree of Czar Alexander I during the Napoleonic wars, Izhmash is one of the largest armaments corporations in the world.

It is best known for its Kalashnikov series of assault rifles. Izhmash also manufactures other armaments, including artillery, missiles and shells along with other goods, such as motorcycles and cars.

While the Khazri uses the same 5.45mm ammunition as the Russian AK-74M, the Azeri variant can be fitted with night-vision devices, laser spotting, illumination and scope systems.

During the first phase of production the AK-74M assault rifles for Azerbaijan will be produced using Russian components until Azeri defense enterprises are capable of producing parts of the rifles' assemblies themselves.

The Azeri state defense order program envisages the production and delivery of 5,000 Khazri assault rifles to the country's defense ministry.

More than 5 million AK-74s have been manufactured since the weapon was introduced in 1974. The AK-74 is an adaptation of the 7.62mm AKM assault rifle, which features several significant design improvements.

The AK-74M is the main service rifle in the Russian army and was first used during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the early 1980s. Other nations utilizing the AK-74M include Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Poland and Romania manufacture their own variants of the AK-74M under license.

Last month, during a speech delivered during a military parade marking the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan's military budget, which totaled $160 million in 2003, rose to $2.15 billion in 2010 and $3.3 billion in 2011.

"Today, the money Azerbaijan is spending on the military exceeds the entire budget of Armenia by 50 percent," Aliyev said. "We live in a time of war. The war is not over yet, only its first stage is, and a country at war should first of all focus on building the army.

"Today, military spending ranks first in the state budget of Azerbaijan and this will be the case until our land is freed from occupation."

Antonov An-178 airlifter (photo : militaryphotos)

09.07.2011 DEFENSE STUDIES

Antonov has confirmed plans to launch flight tests in 2013 of its new An-178 airlifter, a potential rival to turboprop designs such as the Alenia Aeronautica C-27J and Lockheed Martin C-130J.

The twinjet derivative of the An-158 airliner and business jet still remains in the design stages, with the concept having been revealed less than two years ago.

 

An-178 is the further development of An-148 (photo : Keypublishing)

 

The An-178 adds a rear cargo door and ramp, but retains most of the features of the high-wing An-158, which is itself a stretched version of the 70-85-seat An-148 regional jet.

 

 

Antonov has released conflicting information about the payload capacity of the military development. In a recent interview, a company official described the maximum payload of the aircraft as being 18,000kg (36,700lb). But marketing documents distributed at the Paris air show list the same statistic as 15,000kg.

Antonov An-148 of the Myanmar Air Force (phota: Russian Planes)

Launched as a replacement for the An-12, the An-178 is one of several new light airlifters expected to enter the market during this decade. Embraer's KC-390 and the Hindustan Aeronautics/ United Aircraft multi-role transport aircraft are the closest competitors.

Antonov recently restarted production of its An-70 strategic transport, and also has revealed that preliminary design activities are being performed on a weaponised maritime patrol aircraft based on the An-168.

(Flight Global)

CHITA, July 8 (RIA Novosti)

Customs authorities in Russia's Far East have launched a criminal case against a Chinese citizen who attempted to smuggle spare parts for Russian MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters last year, a customs' spokesperson said on Friday.

The man, whose identity has not been revealed, was caught at one of the border checkpoints in Transbaikal region in July last year. Customs officials found six stepping motors, two piston pumps, 54 connectors, an elapsed-time meter and other parts in the trunk of his car.

"It took experts from the Defense Ministry almost a year to prove that the confiscated equipment is part of assembly kits for MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter jets," Yulia Philipova said.

"A criminal case has been opened," she said.

It is the second attempt by Chinese nationals to smuggle spare parts for fighter jets from Russia in the past three years.

A Chinese man was detained at the same border checkpoint in 2009 while trying to smuggle power supply circuits for Su-27s.

China is notorious for producing copycat versions of military equipment from all over the world.

Russia has accused China of producing its own clones of some Russian-made weaponry, including the Su-27SK fighter jet, in violation of intellectual property agreements.

MOSCOW, July 7 (RIA Novosti)

All contracts on Russia's 2012 state defense order will be signed by the end of this year, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Thursday.

The issue of next year's defense order is particularly important in light of possible complications from the 2011 state defense order due to soaring armament prices and delays in contract signing.

"We will sign contracts with all suppliers by the end of December for the first time in the entire history of state defense order," Serdyukov told journalists.

Serdyukov said his ministry has to complete work on the 2012 contracts by the end of September, adding that a budget commission has been established in the ministry to "look into the justification of the number of products being bought and their prices."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday ordered Serdyukov to submit in three days a report on the implementation of the state defense order for 2011.

Leading missile designer Yury Solomonov said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant daily that the 2011 state defense order was in jeopardy partly because the Defense Ministry had delayed the signing of new defense contracts, especially on procurement of strategic nuclear armaments.

All defense contracts for 2011 should have been signed by April 15. Medvedev criticized on May 10 the defense industry for the delay and extended the deadline until the end of May. Medvedev also instructed the government to take adequate measures to improve the situation and punish those responsible.

Since Medvedev's orders, a number of military and defense industry officials have been fired and reprimanded for their poor performance in the implementation of the program.

Earlier Serdyukov told journalists that his ministry failed to conclude contracts worth around 18% (108 billion rubles) out of the overall 2011 state defense order, approved in the amount of 581.5 billion rubles ($20.7 bln), due to soaring prices for military products.

Serdyukov said on Thursday that the Defense Ministry is ready to pay 100% in advance to enterprises producing weapons and military hardware for the armed forces.

He also said his ministry is ready to buy military products from manufacturers, providing a 25%-plus profitability for them, following Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's statement in May that defense industry enterprises' profitability should not be less than 15% but that ready items should not be overcharged.

Serdyukov said it will be possible if defense enterprises channel their profit to equipment purchases, new product introduction and research. If the price the Defense Ministry pays for military products is not transparent and it is unclear where the profit goes, it will not pay extra money to arms manufacturers, he said.

Putin on Thursday urged officials to prevent any disruptions in state defense order financing.

Russia's ambitious 2011-2020 arms procurement program stipulates the upgrade of up to 11% of military equipment annually and will allow the country to increase the share of modern weaponry in the Armed Forces to 70% by 2020.

SOCHI, July 6 (RIA Novosti)

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov formally asked on Wednesday his Ukrainian counterpart Mykhailo Yezhel to rent facilities on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula for naval pilot training.

In line with a 1997 bilateral agreement, Russia occasionally uses the Nitka Naval Pilot Training Center in Ukraine as the only training facility for its naval pilots.

"I have signed a request to the Ukrainian defense minister to allow us the [permanent] use of the Nitka facility for naval pilot training in the form of a rental or some other agreement," Serdyukov said a meeting of the Council of CIS Defense Ministers at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Commenting on the request, Yezhel said it would most likely be satisfied because Ukraine does not have its own aircraft carriers and has no plans to acquire them in the future.

The conditions of the potential rent, including the duration, will be subject of talks, he said.

The Nitka Center was built in the Soviet era for pilots to practice their skills in taking off from and landing on an aircraft carrier's deck.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the facility remained under Ukrainian jurisdiction.

The center provides naval aviation training facilities such as a launch pad, an aerofinisher, a trampoline, a catapult launching device, a glide-path localizer, a marker beacon, and an optical landing system.

Russia, which has only one aircraft carrier - the Admiral Kuznetsov - is aiming to finish drafting plans for a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for its Navy by 2018.

L'UAS russe de Schiebel et OAO Gorizont, ici sur un bâtiment militaire

crédits : SCHIEBEL

06/07/2011 MER et MARINE

Présenté la semaine dernière au salon naval IMDS, à Saint-Pétersbourg, le drone Camcopter S-100 vient de remporter son premier contrat en Russie. C'est ce qu'a annoncé son concepteur, l'Autrichien Schiebel, qui s'est allié, pour ce contrat, au Russe OAO Gorizont. Un premier UAS (Unmanned Air system) sera « prochainement opérationnel pour un client gouvernemental », ont indiqué les deux sociétés, qui n'ont pas donné plus de précisions quant à ce contrat, sauf qu'il ne s'agit à priori pas d'une application militaire. « La collaboration se focalise sur le marché civil des UAS en Russie, où les opportunités pour ce drone seront importantes dans les prochaines années », explique Schiebel. Le groupe autrichien vise différents marchés, allant de l'agriculture à la surveillance de la faune et de la flore, en passant par l'inspection de structures spécifiques, comme des centrales nucléaires, des bases de lancement spatiales ou encore des installations hydroélectriques ou des pipelines. « L'UAV apporte une flexibilité unique aux opérations et des capacités que les hélicoptères pilotés ou les avions ne peuvent offrir. Son endurance, la faible logistique nécessaire, ses coûts d'exploitation très bas, ainsi que sa capacité à voler sur des périodes prolongées en fournissant aux opérateurs un vaste champ de vision de jour comme de nuit, en font une plateforme idéale pour une vaste gamme d'opérations ».

Pouvant également servir à des applications militaires, notamment à partir de navires, le Camcopter S-100 peut être équipé d'un système de caméra TV et infrarouge de type FLIR. Pouvant offrir une capacité de détection à 200 kilomètres, le drone, conçu pour voler à une altitude de service de 18.000 pieds, affiche une autonomie de 6 heures avec une charge utile de 34 kilos.

MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti)

The Russian military has no concrete plans to build aircraft carriers in the next 10 years, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.

"We have no plans to build aircraft carriers," the minister told the Russian media on Friday.

According to Serdyukov, the Defense Ministry has simply ordered a draft design of the future aircraft carrier to have a general understanding of its conceptual and technical solutions.

"Only after that the General Staff together with the Navy will make any decisions about the need for such a vessel," the minister said.

Roman Trotsenko, the head of Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation said on Thursday that Russia may build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier by 2023.

The Russian Navy has only one aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which was commissioned in 1991.

MOSCOW, July 1 (RIA Novosti)

The reluctance of taking into account Russian interests in the issue of the European missile defense system can cause serious damage to ties between Russia and NATO, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Friday.

Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on the so-called European missile defense system at the Lisbon summit in November 2010. NATO insists there should be two independent systems that exchange information, while Russia favors a joint system with full-scale interoperability.

"This project should be a tool for strengthening the security of all countries of the Russia-NATO Council, to contribute to the maintenance of strategic stability, and not to weaken it," Lukashevich said. "The reluctance of not taking into account Russia's interests in such a principle question like strategic stability can cause serious damage to Russian-NATO relations."

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said in June after talks with NATO over the European missile defense shield that they "did not result in the solution of conceptual approaches," adding that Russia would develop its own offensive nuclear force if NATO fails to come to agreement over the European defense shield.

Russia has retained staunch opposition to the planned deployment of U.S. missile defense systems near its borders, claiming they would be a security threat. NATO and the United States insist that the shield would defend NATO members against missiles from North Korea and Iran and would not be directed at Russia.

The United States is already deploying its missile defense system in Europe without waiting for an agreement with Russia, Russia's envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said in May.

Romania announced earlier this year that it had reached an agreement with the United States to deploy a U.S. missile interceptor system at a disused Soviet airbase on its territory. Moscow then issued an urgent request for legal guarantees from the United States that its missile shield will not target Russia's strategic nuclear forces.

Rogozin also said also in May that Russia would cooperate with NATO only on a joint European missile defense network project, but will not be part of a U.S. missile defense in Europe.

MOSCOW, July 1 (RIA Novosti)

Some 70 Russian military specialists will learn the operation and maintenance of Mistral-class helicopter carriers in France, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Friday.

Russia and France signed in June a $1.7 billion (1.2 bln euro) contract on two French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy, which includes the transfer of sensitive technologies.

"We will send to France 70 people, who will be charged with servicing those ships," Serdyukov said. "At the same time, we will train two Mistral crews in Russia."

The helicopter carriers are planned to enter service with the Northern and the Pacific fleets in 2014 and 2015.

Navy commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said earlier on Friday French technologies would help Russian shipbuilders to build large-capacity ocean ships in the future.

"The purchase of Mistral shipbuilding technology will help Russia to grasp large-capacity shipbuilding. It is important for construction of ships like the future ocean-going class destroyer and later an aircraft carrier," he said.

On Thursday, Vysotsky said the construction of a new class destroyer, most likely nuclear powered, will be finished in 2016.

MOSCOU, 1er juillet - RIA Novosti

L'armée russe doit compter un million d'hommes, aucune réduction en-deçà de ce seuil n'étant prévue, a déclaré vendredi aux journalistes le ministre de la Défense Anatoli Serdioukov.

"Nous n'avons pas de projets visant à réduire davantage les effectifs de l'armée. Ils doivent compter un million de personnes et il n'est pas prévu de réduire ce chiffre", a indiqué le ministre, interrogé par les observateurs militaires des médias russes.

Il a aussi annoncé que d'ici la fin 2017, l'armée russe compterait 425.000 militaires sous contrat, contre 180.000 actuellement.

MOSCOU, 1er juillet - RIA Novosti

La Russie entame la production en série du missile intercontinental balistique Boulava, a annoncé vendredi le ministre russe de la Défense, Anatoli Serdioukov, au cours d'une conférence de presse à Moscou.

Le missile R30 3M30 Boulava-30 (code OTAN SS-NX-30, dénomination internationale RSM-56) pourrait devenir l'arme principale des forces stratégiques navales russes. Il s'agit d'un missile à trois étages à propergol solide. D'une portée de 8.000 km, le Boulava peut être équipé de dix ogives nucléaires hypersoniques de 100 à 150 kt et à trajectoire indépendante.

Au total, pour le moment, la Russie a procédé à 15 tirs d'essai du missile, dont huit seulement ont été couronnés de succès.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 30 (RIA Novosti)

The Russian Navy is planning to test launch the Bulava ballistic missile from the Alexander Nevsky strategic submarine later this year, Navy commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said on Thursday.

The Alexander Nevsky is the second Borey class nuclear-powered submarine, which is at the final stages of construction at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia.

"This year, we will test fire the Bulava for the first time from the second designated carrier of the missile - the Alexander Nevsky submarine," Vysotsky said at the 5th International Maritime Defense Show, IMDS-2011, in St. Petersburg.

The Bulava (SS-NX-30) SLBM carries up to 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles). The three-stage ballistic missile is specifically designed for deployment on Borey class nuclear submarines.

Russia has carried out 15 test launches of the Bulava. Only eight of them were successful.

On June 28, the first Borey class submarine, the Yuri Dolgoruky, successfully fired a Bulava missile from a submerged position in the White Sea. The Russian military is planning to conduct four additional tests of the missile before putting it into service by the end of 2011.

30 juin 2011 Par Rédacteur en chef. PORTAIL DES SOUS-MARINS

Roman Trotsenko, le PDG du consortium russe des constructions navales OSK, a annoncé que le second Mistral russe serait entièrement construit en Russie tandis que la France fournirait l’ensemble des systèmes électroniques nécessaires.

"En ce qui concerne la première unité, elle sera réalisée à 40% par les chantiers navals de l’Amirauté. La seconde unité sera réalisée à 100% en Russie, et la France fournira les systèmes électroniques, les radars et les systèmes de commande de combat" a indiqué le PDG.

Référence : RusNavy Intelligence