September 6th, 2013 defencetalk.com (AFP)

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday revealed Russia had suspended deliveries of sophisticated S-300 missile systems to Syria even though some components had already been handed over.

Western governments have repeatedly condemned Russia for signing a contract to supply President Bashar al-Assad’s regime with the S-300 air-defence systems which are among Russia’s most prized military exports.

Russia has repeatedly insisted that the contract is being implemented but in an interview with Channel One state television Putin said deliveries had now been suspended, without making clear why.

“We have delivered separate components but the whole delivery has not been completed and for the moment we have suspended it,” Putin said.

The announcement appears aimed at reassuring Russia’s Western partners ahead of this week’s G20 summit in Saint Petersburg, which is taking place against a background of huge diplomatic strains over the Syria conflict.

Putin had in June said the contract had not been “realised”, saying Moscow did not want “to upset the balance in the region”.

The West and Israel argued that delivery of the sophisticated weaponry by Moscow would hand Damascus the firepower to hit back at possible air attacks.

Putin acknowledged that the S-300 systems were not Russia’s most modern weaponry but also could not resist opining that they are a “bit better than the (US) Patriots, for example”.

The S-300 surface-to-air missile systems were first developed under the Soviet Union but new versions also appeared after the collapse of the USSR.

A military source told the state RIA Novosti news agency Wednesday that the components delivered by Moscow to Damascus were thus far not enough to mount a single complete S-300 missile system and could not be used as a weapon.

“Rosoboronexport (Russia’s arms export agency) has not completely implemented the contract with the S-300 systems. Deliveries started but have not been completed. They cannot be used as a single defence unit,” the source told the news agency.

The Vedomosti daily, citing sources in the arms industry, reported in August that several of the S-300s destined for Damascus had already been built.

Syria has paid a deposit of several hundred million dollars, the sources told the newspaper.

But Damascus is not expected to push for a quicker delivery of the systems or to demand its deposit back due to Assad’s need for Russian support, it added.

According to Russian media reports, the contract with Damascus is for between three to six missile system units and worth $1 billion.

The suspension of deliveries to Damascus comes after Russia in 2010 cancelled a contract to sell Iran S-300 systems in a deal that was estimated to have been worth some $800 million.

Russia came under strong US and Israeli pressure not to go ahead with the sale of the weapons systems to Tehran which would have impeded any Western military action against the Iranian nuclear drive.

Tehran expressed fury but the director of the Russian weapons manufacturer Almaz-Antey which makes the S-300s said last month that the systems destined for Tehran had been dismantled, with some elements used elsewhere and other parts destroyed.

“The hardware that was destined for Iran no longer exists,” said general director of Almaz-Antey, Vladislav Menshchikov, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

MOSCOU, 5 septembre - RIA Novosti

Les affirmations selon lesquelles la Russie a livré à la Syrie des armes chimiques et des technologies pour leur production ne correspondent pas à la réalité et visent à créer un prétexte supplémentaire pour agresser un Etat souverain, a déclaré jeudi aux journalistes le vice-ministre russe de la Défense Anatoli Antonov.

"La Russie a toujours été et restera un partenaire et un allié responsable et prévisible dans la lutte contre la prolifération des armes de destruction massive. Nous avons toujours rempli strictement nos engagements en matière de non-prolifération nucléaire, nous sommes un dépositaire du Traité de non-prolifération des armes nucléaires et nous honorons nos engagements contractés dans le cadre des conventions sur l'interdiction des armes chimiques et des armes biologiques et à toxines", a indiqué le vice-ministre.

Il s'est dit étonné par les "tentatives de certains Etats de rejeter leur faute sur autrui". Le vice-ministre a rappelé à cette occasion la tendance à accuser la Russie d'avoir aidé la Syrie à créer son potentiel chimique militaire.

"On est allé même jusqu'à affirmer que la Russie livrait des armes chimiques au régime d'Assad", a déclaré M. Antonov.

"J'ai l'impression que ces insinuations antirusses visent à créer un prétexte supplémentaire pour effectuer une agression contre un Etat souverain", a conclu le vice-ministre de la Défense.

September 04, 2013 RT.com

A large anti-submarine ship named “Admiral Panteleyev” reportedly arrived in the east Mediterranean Sea to join the Russian standing naval force as flagship. It comes shortly before the scheduled rotation of two Russian landing craft carriers in the area.

The Russian Navy destroyer left the Far-Eastern port city of Vladivostok on March 19 and arrived in the designated area of the eastern Mediterranean on Wednesday, according to sources cited by Interfax and RIA Novosti.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that large landing craft carriers “Novocherkassk” and “Minsk” of Russia’s Black and Baltic Sea Fleets have been dispatched to the area, and will join the permanent Mediterranean naval force on September 5-6 in accordance with the earlier planned schedule.

A General Staff source told Itar-Tass that reconnaissance ship “Priazovye” also headed to the area to aid in monitoring the situation in the region.

A senior Russian Navy Main Staff source also told Interfax that guided missile cruiser “Moskva” will be the next vessel arriving in the Mediterranean to replace “Admiral Panteleyev” as flagship.

Missile cruiser “Moskva” (RIA Novosti / Vitaliy Ankov)

“Moskva” will arrive “in 10 days’ time,” the source claimed, adding that Russian Baltic Fleet destroyer “Nastoichivy” and escort ship of the Black Sea Fleet “Smetlivy” will also be joining the Russian naval unit “in the short run.” None of these claims have been officially confirmed.

The Defense Ministry has repeatedly stressed that the maneuvers are part of the “stage-by-stage rotation of warships and support ships of the standing naval force in the Mediterranean” and that the recent deployments are aimed at monitoring the situation in the region.

“This is a normal practice of any fleet in the event of rising tension in any given ocean or sea area,” Itar-Tass’s source said, adding that the Russian Navy will only be increasing its “complex monitoring” of the situation around Syria.

According to a ministry spokesman’s Tuesday statement, the key task of the Russian standing naval force in the Mediterranean is “comprehensive monitoring over the air, underwater, and surface situation in the zone of its deployment.”

Landing craft carrier “Novocherkassk” (RIA Novosti / Vasiliy Batanov)

Prior to the arrival of destroyer “Admiral Panteleyev,” the naval force consisted of landing craft carriers “Aleksandr Shabalin,” “Admiral Nevelskoy,” and “Peresvet,” RIA Novosti reports. It also included escort vessel “Neustrashimy” as well as a tanker and a tugboat.

As the Russian Navy’s moves sparked speculations in the media claiming that Russia is boosting its naval presence in the region ahead of a possible Western strike against Syria, defense officials said that one should not draw parallels between relocations of warships and the Syrian crisis.

“Our military presence in this region predates the Syrian conflict, and will continue after it, and so it would be wrong to draw any connection between the rotation of our ships in the Mediterranean region and events in Syria,” a senior Russian Navy source told RIA Novosti.

September 5, 2013: Strategy Page

Russia has gone public with fears that their ambitious new warship building program may take up to five years longer. The Navy modernization plans are underway and include new equipment and facilities. New base construction is continuing in the Black Sea (at Novorossiisk, as an alternative to the old Soviet base of Sevastopol that is rented from Ukraine), the north coast (for the new Borei and Yasen class nuclear subs), and the Pacific (for the two new Mistral class amphibious ships). Dozens of new ships are on order and the navy is on schedule to complete the current modernization plans after another decade of effort if the promised money keeps coming.

Money is not the big problem. The inability of the Russian defense industry, especially the ship yards is. This problem is not a secret, the extent of it, however, is generally unkn0wn. The public got a hint three years ago that something was very wrong. In 2010 the government announced its decision to buy four Mistral amphibious assault ships from France. This was just the beginning as the Russian Defense Minister made it clear that Russia would seek more Western weapons and military equipment. Russia was planning to spend over $600 billion in the next decade to replace aging Cold War gear. The Defense Ministry insisted that the Mistral deal was but the first of many. Russia already had a deal with Israel, to build a factory in Russia to build Israeli UAVs under license. Similar deals were made with other Western suppliers for armored vehicles from Italy and various bits of technology from other Western nations.

The problems with the Russian defense industry are many. They include a shortage of skilled workers and competent managers as well as corruption, very poor quality control and a tradition of ignoring complaints from users. Changing these Soviet era habits has proved extremely difficult. There are simply too few competent Russian managers (in general) and fewer still willing to work in the defense industries. Same deal with skilled workers. Even during the late Soviet era the defense industry was regarded as a refuge for over-paid and corrupt incompetents. Imposing Western ideas like warranties and financial controls didn't work. The warranties were not honored and the financial controls were seen as an interesting challenge, not a new tool to aid management.

3 September 2013 army-technology.com

Belarus and Russian armies have started preparations for the forthcoming strategic army exercise, Zapad-2013, which is scheduled to be carried out at six firing ranges in Belarus and in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.

Having discussed preparations for the exercise, the armies will now conduct reconnaissance of the areas where the drill will take place, refine the order of practical actions to be performed by the troops and agree all the aspects of support for the exercise participants, Belarusin Telegraph Agency (BelTA) reports.

Scheduled to take place from 20 to 26 September, the exercise will involve participation from around 12,900 military personnel, including over 10,000 Belarusian and 2,500 Russian soldiers.

Equipment will include approximately 350 armoured vehicles, comprising of 70 main battle tanks (MBTs), more than 50 artillery units and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), as well as more than 50 aircraft and helicopters.

Also known as West 2013, the exercise will also feature latest defence products, some of which have already been inducted into the Belarusian army's operational service, whereas others are yet to clear final tests.

Specifically, these include Belarusian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), communication means, radar solutions, navigation and radio warfare products.

While in Russia, the Belarusian contingent will be represented by 200 personnel from the 103rd independent mobile brigade.

Belarusian defence minister, Yuri Zhadobin, has earlier told the news agency that the two phase exercise confirms Belarus' policy aimed at building up the regional security and adherence to allied commitments with Russia.

''During the first phase, the united command of the regional military taskforce is supposed to plan the application of the troops, troops management during deployment, isolation of areas where illegal armed units operate, the build up of air force and air defence units for protecting major state and military installations,'' Zhadobin said.

''In the second phase, we plan to practice troops management during military operations designed to stabilise the situation for the sake of ensuring the military security of the union state.''

September 4, 2013: Strategy Page

Russia recently announced that it would not, as earlier revealed, order 37 of its new (and still in development) MiG-35D fighters. Because of development problems, this order will now be delayed until 2016. The original price was to be about $29 million per aircraft.

Described as the equivalent of the American F-35, the MiG-35D would be the low-end to the high end T-50 (the Russian F-22). The T-50 is no F-22 and the MiG-35D is no F-35. The MiG-35D is a considerably redesigned MiG-29. The 29 ton MiG-35D is armed with one 30mm autocannon and can carry over (by how much is not yet clear) five tons of bombs. The big selling point for the MiG-35D is its offensive and defensive electronics, as well as sensors for finding targets on land or sea. This stuff looks very impressive on paper but the Russians have long had problems getting performance to match promises. This is particularly the case with the advanced electronics of the MiG-35D, which are running into problems because the F-35 electronics set a very high bar.

The 27 ton American F-35 is armed with an internal 25mm cannon and four internal air-to-air missiles (or two missiles and two smart bombs), plus four external smart bombs and two missiles. All sensors are carried internally, and max weapon load is 6.8 tons. The aircraft is very stealthy when just carrying internal weapons.

The MiG-35D has little stealth capability. The MiG-35D first flew six years ago, and there are currently about ten prototypes being used for testing and development work. The MiG-35D is expected to enter service some time before the end of the decade. The MiG-35D will sell for less than half of what the F-35 goes for (currently over $120 million each).

September 4, 2013: Strategy Page

India recently revealed that it had negotiated a manufacturing license to build 15,000 Russian Invar anti-tank missiles in India where they are used by T-90 tanks. India has earlier purchased 10,000 of these missiles from Russia (that were built in Russia) and with the manufacturing license the average cost will be about $2,000 per missile.

The Invar 9M119M1 (Invar-M) is fired from the 125mm gun, like a shell, but operates like a guided missile. The 17.2 kg (37.8 pound) missile is 680mm (26.7 inches) long and has pop-out fins (with a 250mm/9 inch span) that aid in guidance (laser beam riding, controlled by the tank gunner). The missile has a max range of 5,000 meters at a speed of 350 meters a second (14 seconds max flight time). The Invar enables the tank to hit targets at twice the range of the 125mm shells. The tandem warhead can penetrate up to 900mm of armor (35.4 inches). Invar has been around for two decades and India is buying the latest version, as well as the license to manufacture another 15,000 of them.

India expects to have about 1,400 T-90s by the end of the decade. The first T-90 entered service in 1993, and India is the largest user. The T-90 is basically an upgraded T-72, which India already builds under license. The T-90 weighs about 15 percent more than the 41 ton T-72. The T-90 has a better fire control system, night vision that is good out to about 1,500 meters, and electronic countermeasures against anti-tank missiles. The autoloader, which often failed in the T-72, is more reliable and that makes the three man crew (commander, gunner, driver) more effective. The T-90 has ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) in addition to its composite armor.

The T-90 is not as lively as the T-72 and is actually slower on the battlefield than the U.S. M-1 (which has a horsepower to weight ratio of 24:1, compared to only 18:1 for the T-90). The 125mm gun of the T-90 is basically the same as the T-72. However, if you use better ammo, you stand a chance against top rated tanks like the M-1. But that is not what India expects to face. The most likely opponent is Pakistan, which is largely equipped with 1950s era T-55s (actually the Chinese T-59 copy). The Pakistanis also have 700 or so older T-72 type tanks (Chinese T-69 and Ukrainian T-80), but these would be outclassed by the T-90. India plans to have 21 tank battalions ("regiments" in the Indian army) of T-90s (with 62 tanks each) by 2020. Actually, each battalion only has 45 tanks going into combat. The other 17 are for training and replacements.

September 5, 2013: Strategy Page

Russia has shipped a billion dollars’ worth of weapons to Syria since the civil war there began in 2011. Russia insists that this is not in violation of arms embargoes against Syria and are simply deliveries of weapons ordered before 2011. In the last year Syria has delivered over $200 million in cash to Russian banks to keep these weapons coming (mainly S-300 anti-aircraft systems and anti-ship missiles) and their warranties operational. These purchases are being paid for by Iran, which flies in the cash to a Syrian financial operation in Moscow. The cash is then delivered to Russian government accounts via a Moscow bank. The Syrian Moscow operation is run by an uncle of Syrian dictator Basher Assad.

These Russian shipments are not challenged by the international community because they are, technically, defensive weapons and cannot be used to attack the rebels. Another problem that is less clear is whether the weapons are being sent to Iran. That is illegal but without any clear evidence of such transfers there’s nothing anyone can do. The cash transfers are also illegal, since Iran is banned from the international banking system for anything involving weapons, oil sales and military equipment in general. But no one is going to shut down air traffic between Iran and Russia.

Meanwhile, at least 14 Russian cargo ships arrived in Syria since 2011, plus numerous air freight flights. Recently Russia has quietly approved new shipments of small arms, which is forbidden but can be flown in and join similar weapons Syria had before 2011. Russia appears to believe that no one will challenge this either.

MOSCOU, 4 septembre - RIA Novosti

Deux navires de la flotte russe de la mer Noire - la vedette lance-missiles Ivanovets et le navire lance-missiles Chtil - arriveront au large de la Syrie le 29 septembre, a annoncé mercredi à Moscou un représentant haut placé de l'Etat-major général des Forces armées russes.

"Selon le commandement de la Marine et de l'Etat-major général, deux navires lance-missiles - Ivanovets et Chtil - partiront prochainement à destination de la Syrie. Ils arriveront au large de la Syrie le 29 septembre", a indiqué l'interlocuteur de l'agence RIA Novosti.

Les deux bâtiments auront pour mission de protéger les grands navires de débarquement qui se trouveront dans la région, selon lui.

Les navires Ivanovets et Chtil sont dotés de missiles antinavires Moskit et Malakhit.

MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti)

A new group of ships from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet will join the country’s Mediterranean task force within days, a high-ranking Defense Ministry source told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

The task force currently includes vessels from the Pacific, Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets: the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the large amphibious landing ships Admiral Nevelsky and Alexander Shabalin, the frigate Neustrashimy, and a number of support and auxiliary vessels.

The new group includes the large amphibious landing ships Novocherkassk and Minsk and the electronic intelligence ship Priazovye. It will relieve the current task force as soon as it passes through the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits, which is expected Thursday or Friday, the source said.

A high-ranking representative of the General Staff told RIA Novosti the Slava class guided missile cruiser Moskva, which is currently in the Atlantic, will arrive in the Mediterranean on September 17, adding that operational command will then be transferred from the Admiral Panteleyev to the Moskva.

Two guided missile corvettes, Shtil and Ivanovets (Nanuchka 3 and Tarantul class respectively) will arrive in the area on September 29, the General Staff said.

The Defense Ministry source earlier said there are also plans to send another two Black Sea Fleet warships - the Kashin class frigate Smetlivy and the Alligator class large amphibious landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov.

A military-diplomatic source in Moscow told RIA Novosti on Tuesday Russia’s naval force in the Mediterranean Sea will not be expanded despite the worsening situation in the region. He also said Russia’s existing flotillas in the Mediterranean are undergoing routine rotations, and stressed “this is a regular rotation process, planned at the start of the year.”

MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti)

Hours after Israel admitted to firing “ballistic targets” that resembled missiles in the Mediterranean, a launch that the country did not priorly announce, Russia’s Defense Ministry spoke out against “playing with arms and missiles” in such a “volatile” region.

“Is there any other region more volatile and packed with weapons today?” Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told journalists. “I don’t completely understand how someone could play with arms and missiles in that region today.”

Antonov called on those who launched the so-called missile-like targets to be more responsible for regional security and “not play with fire.”

“The Mediterranean is a powder keg,” he said. “A match is enough for fire to break out and possibly spread not only to neighboring states but to other world regions as well. I remind you that the Mediterranean is close to the borders of the Russian Federation.”

He recalled that a meteorological rocket launch by Norway in 1995 was mistaken as a possible rocket attack on Russia.

The two “ballistic targets,” detected by the Russian military on Tuesday, had been launched by the Israeli military as part of a joint US-Israeli test of the Middle Eastern nation’s missile-defense system, an official in Tel Aviv said.

Russia put its General Staff’s central command center on high alert after the launches, Antonov said.

The launch was detected at 10:16 a.m. Moscow time (6:16 a.m. GMT) by radar in the southern Russian city of Armavir, a Defense Ministry spokesman said. The objects’ trajectories ran from the central to the eastern Mediterranean, the spokesman said. A diplomatic source in the Syrian capital, Damascus, told RIA that the targets had fallen into the sea.

Nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky photo  Sergey Eshenko

MURMANSK, September 3 (RIA Novosti)

A naval task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet is heading to the eastern Arctic, a spokesperson for the fleet said Tuesday.

The voyage is part of the Defense Ministry’s program under Russia’s Arctic policy and is designed “to uphold Russia’s status as a leading arctic power, strengthen its security... and ensure national interests,” the spokesperson said.

Led by the heavy nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky, the task force, which includes the large amphibious assault ships Olenegorsky Gornyak and Kondopoga and a variety of support vessels, has left its Severomorsk base and entered the Barents Sea, the spokesperson said.

It will take the Northern Sea Route to the Novossibirsk Islands and carry out a number training missions, as part of Russia’s plan to restore its naval presence in strategically important areas.

This is the second large-scale voyage by Northern Fleet warships to the Arctic in the past two years, the fleet’s spokesperson said, adding that last year a task force led by the Pyotr Veliky conducted a series of exercises near the Northern Sea Route.

MOSCOU, 3 septembre - RIA Novosti

La Russie mettra en service en 2014 deux nouveaux radars d'alerte précoce "Voronej", semblables à celui qui a détecté mardi le tir de missiles en Méditerranée, a annoncé mardi à Moscou le commandant des Troupes aérospatiales russes Alexandre Golovko.

"Nous construisons des radars de ce type à Kaliningrad et à Irkoutsk. Ils seront mis en service opérationnel en 2014", a indiqué le général Golovko.

La Russie compte quatre radars préfabriqués de type "Voronej". Deux radars Voronej-DM (ondes décimétriques) sont situés à Pionerski, dans la région de Kaliningrad, et à Armavir, dans le territoire de Krasnodar (sud). Deux radars Voronej-M (ondes métriques) sont déployés près de Saint-Pétersbourg et à Oussolie-Sibirskoïe, dans la région d'Irkoutsk (Sibérie orientale).

Le ministère russe de la Défense envisage de remplacer d'ici 2020 tous les radars datant de l'époque soviétique par ces nouvelles stations. D'autres radars "préfabriqués" pourraient être installés dans les villes de Petchora, de Barnaoul et d'Enisseïsk.