Russia's Second Borey Class Sub to Enter Service by Yearend
Russia's second Borey class strategic submarine, the Alexander Nevsky, will be commissioned by the end of 2012, First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Sukhorukov said on Thursday.
The submarine sailed for the White Sea on June 21 to join the first Borey class vessel, the Yuri Dolgoruky, in sea trials.
“If a state commission reports on August 1 that all tasks envisioned by the trials program have been fulfilled, we will immediately start preparing documents for the submarine's commissioning,” Sukhorukov said.
The official added that a planned test launch of the Bulava ballistic missile from the Alexander Nevsky will be carried out after the submarine enters service with the Russian Navy.
The Russian Navy is expected to receive at least 10 new Borey class strategic nuclear submarines by 2020.
The submarines, to be armed with Bulava ballistic missiles, will constitute the core of Russia's strategic ballistic missile submarine force after 2018, and will be deployed with Russia's Northern and Pacific fleets.
Russia Nears Tank Ammo Deal With India
Russia is nearing a deal with India on manufacture and delivery of advanced tank ammunition
Russia is nearing a deal with India on manufacture and delivery of advanced tank ammunition, Rosoboronexport, a state-run arms exporter, said on Friday.
“The first round of negotiations on the delivery of 3UBK20 (Mango) tank ammunition has been completed and the second round - on its licensed manufacture in India - will start on Monday,” company deputy head Igor Sevastyanov said.
He did not specify the volume of deliveries, only saying it was “big.”
Russia has already started building a joint venture in India to manufacture rockets for Smerch multiple rocket launch systems, he said.
Another Rosoboronexport official, Viktor Komardin, earlier said Russian arms sales to India could be worth an estimated $3 billion a year.
Armée russe: pas de report du réarmement (ministre)
Le réarmement de l'armée russe, dont le financement dépassera 20.000 milliards de roubles (près de 488 mds EUR) d'ici 2020, ne sera pas ajourné, certaines dépenses pouvant toutefois être rééchelonnées, a annoncé lundi Andreï Belooussov, ministre du Développement économique.
"Il ne s'agit pas de repousser de trois ans l'ensemble du programme. C'est impossible", a déclaré le ministre.
Et de préciser qu'il ne s'agissait en réalité que de rééchelonner certaines dépenses, ce qui n'a pas encore été décidé.
Le quotidien économique russe Vedomosti a écrit lundi qu'un éventuel report de trois ans du programme de rééquipement de l'armée et de la flotte était possible.
Russian Warships Arrive at U.S. Pearl Harbor for Joint Drills
A group of Russia’s Pacific Fleet warships has arrived at the U.S. Pearl Harbor naval base to take part in the Rim of the Pacific international drills, a fleet spokesman said on Saturday.
“During their long voyage from Vladivostok to Pearl Harbor, the warships’ crews held several firing drills, successfully destroying all the targets,” First-Rank Captain Roman Martov said.
The naval task group comprising the Admiral Panteleyev destroyer, the tanker Boris Butoma and the Fotiy Krylov salvage tug sailed off Vladivostok in the Russian Far East on June 13 to head for the U.S. Hawaiian Islands where the RIMPAC-2012 large-scale international naval exercises will be held.
The active phase of the drills will take place from July 11 through August 2 to involve 45 warships and support vessels from 22 countries, and also 100 combat aircraft and over 20,000 marines.
The Russian navy sailors will for the first time take part in the international naval maneuvers that have been held since 1971.
Russia Looking at 2020 for New Generation Long-Range Bomber
The Russian Air Force may receive its first PAK DA next generation long-range bomber about 2020 instead of 2025 as initially planned, Russia’s acting deputy Air Force commander, Major General Alexander Chernyayev, has said.
“I think the first models of the Prospective Air Complex for Long Range Aviation (PAK DA) will be supplied to the Air Force approximately by 2020,” Chernyayev said in an interview published on the Russian Defense Ministry website late last week.
Russia's Long Range Aviation commander, Major General Anatoly Zhikharev, has said the Air Force could receive the new strategic bomber in 2025.
The general look of the new strategic bomber has already been worked out, and engineers are currently finishing work on aircraft specific operational requirements, Chernyayev said.
“We have everything today to develop the plane on time and put it into operation together with [Tupolev] Tu-95MS Bear, Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-22M3 Backfire [strategic bombers], which have proven their high reliability,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered development of the new long-range strategic bomber to be sped up in mid-June.
“I know how expensive and complex this is,” Putin said during a conference on defense orders. “The task is not easy from a scientific-technical standpoint, but we need to start work,” he said, adding that otherwise, Russia could miss the boat.
Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has said previously that a new aircraft assembly line in Russia's Kazan plant (KAPO) would build PAK DA and the new Antonov An-70 propfan transport aircraft. The same plant previously built the Tu-95MS and Tu-160.
Currently, only Russia and the United States operate intercontinental range bombers. Most other nuclear-capable nations rely solely on intercontinental ballistic missiles, based on submarines or in land-based silos, or cruise missiles. The United States has expressed an interest in successor systems to its B-1, B-2 and B-52H long-range bombers.
Chernyayev also said in his interview the Russian Air Force was planning to modernize its Tu-95MS, Tu-160 and Tu-22MS bombers, as well as Ilyushin Il-78 Midas air-to-air refueling tanker aircraft.
Russia’s strategic air forces operate a total of 63 Tu-95MS and 13 Tu-160 bombers. Altogether, they are capable of carrying 850 long-range cruise missiles.
Putin Backs Imports of Foreign Military Technology
Russian President Vladimir Putin supported on Monday the idea of purchasing certain types of military technology abroad to satisfy the specific and urgent needs of the military and defense industry.
“We must make full use of the mechanisms of military-technical cooperation for purchasing foreign technologies, certain samples of equipment, which are needed for the development of our defense industry and for accomplishing specific and urgent tasks for equipping the Russian Armed Forces," Putin said at a meeting of the Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation.
One of Russia’s rare deals to buy foreign military hardware was with France in June 2011.
The two countries signed a $1.7 billion contract on two French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy, which includes the transfer of sensitive technology. Russia will build two more ships at its own shipyards.
Another recent arms imports deal was the purchase of 12 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) from Israel to study Israeli achievements in the development of spy drones in order to build reliable UAVs domestically.
The Russian military stressed the need to provide its Armed Forces with advanced means of battlefield reconnaissance in the wake of a brief military conflict with Georgia in 2008, when the effectiveness of Russian military operations was severely hampered by the lack of reliable intelligence.
Russie: 63 mds EUR pour l'Armée de terre et les Troupes aéroportées d'ici 2020
D'ici 2020, les autorités russes débloqueront plus de 2,6 billions de roubles (63 milliards d'euros) pour équiper l'Armée de terre et les Troupes aéroportées, a annoncé mardi le président russe Vladimir Poutine lors d'une réunion de responsables militaires à Sotchi (mer Noire).
"Je vous rappelle que dans le cadre du programme d'Etat pour l'armement, il est prévu de débloquer, d'ici 2020, 2,6 billions de roubles afin d'équiper l'Armée de terre et les Troupes aéroportées.
Ces moyens serviront à rééquiper les unités ainsi qu'à les doter de nouveaux armements. D'ici 2020, leur part devra être d'au moins 70%", a indiqué le chef de l'Etat russe.
Le programme d'Etat pour les armements prévoit de débloquer au total près de 20 billions de roubles (487 milliards d'euros) d'ici 2020.
The Russian Defense Ministry has cut financing on research and development in the defense industry by almost a half, a member of the Military-Industrial Commission said on Tuesday.
“In the framework of the state defense order, the financing of R&D has been reduced from 38% in 2005 to 18% in 2012,” Vladimir Pospelov told a meeting of Russian industrialists in Moscow.
Pospelov said the cuts had hampered the implementation of mid-and long-term R&D projects.
120701-N-NW827-126 ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (July 1, 2012) Sailors from the French naval vessel De Grasse (D612), Russian naval vessel Yaroslav Mudriy (727), British navy vessel HMS York (90), the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, walk in formation during a wreath-laying ceremony held at the Piskariovskoye Memorial Cemetery during Exercise FRUKUS 2012. FRUKUS is an annual exercise aimed at improving maritime security through an open dialogue and increased training between the navies of France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stephen Oleksiak/Released)
Samara Plant to Build 6 An-140 Military Planes in 2012
Samara-based AVIACOR aircraft maker will build six Antonov An-140-100 light transport planes under a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry by the end of 2012, the regional government said on Wednesday.
The An-140-100 was developed by Russia's Antonov design bureau as a replacement for the An-24 and An-26 series aircraft. It can carry up to 6 metric tons of cargo to a range of over 2,000 kilometers, and can be used for patrol, military transport and spec-ops missions.
“The plant could reach stable rates of production making An-140s,” Governor of the Samara Region Nikolai Merkushkin said.
The Russian Defense Ministry ordered a total of 11 An-140s in 2011.
The Russian Air Force took delivery of the first An-140-100 plane in January.
The delivery of the remaining five aircraft is expected in the next two years.
AVIACOR also has a substantial portfolio of orders for a civilian version of the An-140.
The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, passed on Wednesday in the first reading a bill on the establishment of an advanced military research agency.
The proposed Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects in the Defense Industry will be similar in its purpose to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the United States.
The new body is expected to boost the development of advanced weaponry and help streamline the arms procurement process in Russia.
“The sole purpose of this foundation is to close a gap in advanced research with our Western partners after 20 years of stagnation in the Russian military science and defense industry overall,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said, presenting the bill to the Russian lawmakers.
Radar de Gabala: un compromis encore possible (FSVTS)
Radar de Gabala: un compromis encore possible (FSVTS)
Il est encore possible d'aboutir à un compromis lors des négociations sur le prix de location du radar situé dans la ville azerbaïdjanaise de Gabala, a déclaré jeudi à RIA Novosti le directeur adjoint du Service fédéral russe pour la coopération militaire et technique (FSVTS).
"Il faut trouver des voies pour un compromis, qui est toujours possible. Le problème est de savoir si les parties sont prêtes à aboutir à un compromis et dans quelle mesure ce dernier est acceptable pour chacune des parties", a indiqué le responsable.
Selon une information diffusée début mars, l'Azerbaïdjan aurait décidé de porter de 7 à 300 millions de dollars le loyer annuel du radar de Gabala, loué par la Russie.
D'autre part, le commandant en chef de l'armée de l'air, le général Viktor Bondarev a récemment déclaré que si Moscou et Bakou n'arrivaient pas à se mettre d'accord sur le prix de location du radar, cela n'entraînerait pas de conséquences graves pour les forces armées russes
Signé en 2002, le contrat de bail du radar expire le 24 décembre 2012. Moscou a engagé avec Bakou des négociations visant à prolonger le bail jusqu'en 2025.
