Britannia Radio

Russia Vows to Sell Missiles to Syria
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 26 Feb 2011 11:42
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5812951&c=MID&s=AIR

MOSCOW - Russia announced Feb. 26 that it intended to fulfill its contract
to supply Syria with cruise missiles despite the turmoil shaking the Arab
world and Israel's furious condemnation of the deal.

"The contract is in the implementation stage," news agencies quoted Defence
Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as saying.

Russia initially agreed to send a large shipment of anti-ship Yakhont cruise
missiles to Syria in 2007 under the terms of a controversial deal that was
only disclosed by Serdyukov in September 2010.

The revelation infuriated Israel and the United States and there had been
speculation that Russia would decide to tear up the contract amid the
current turmoil plaguing North Africa and the Middle East.

Israel - which is still technically in a state of war with Syria and fears
its close ties with Iran - suspects that the shipment is ultimately aimed at
supplying Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon.

The disputed sale is believed to be worth at least $300 million and is meant
to see Syria receive 72 cruise missiles in all.

Russia has not officially confirmed making any Yakhont deliveries to date.

But Interfax cited one unnamed military source as saying that Russia had
already sent Syria two Bastion coastal defense systems that can include up
to 36 Yakhont missiles each.

The feared systems can only operate when equipped with radar and target
detection helicopters and it was not clear from Serdyukov's comments which
supplies - if any - had already been received by Syria.

Serdyukov's comments come amid Russian efforts to keep its military supply
lines open to the Middle East despite the wave of revolutions and social
unrest currently sweeping the region.

A source in the Russian arms exports industry said this week that the fall
of the region's regimes may see the country lose about $10 billion dollars
in contracts.

Serdyukov himself confirmed that the unrest may force Russia to give up some
of its Soviet-era clients in the Arab world.

"There is a chance we might lose something," the defense minister said on a
visit on visit to Russia's Pacific port city of Vladivostok.

"But I hope that the main weapons and military equipment agreements will be
fulfilled," Serdyukov said.

Russia's sales to Syria have come under particularly close scrutiny because
of fears that Moscow may be also covertly assisting Damascus' nascent
nuclear program.

The head of the country's arms export corporation in October denied that
Russia had also signed an agreement to supply Syria with its latest range of
MiG-31 fighter jets.

But the same agency confirmed in May that Russia was in the process of
supplying Syria with a less advanced fighter jet version - the Mig-29 -
along with short-range air defense systems and various armored vehicles.

Russia is the world's second-largest arms exporter behind the United States
and its sales are crucial to the country's efforts to keep alive a creaking
defense industry whose reforms have dragged on for years.

The military this week announced with some fanfare the start of a $650
billion rearmament drive that will add eight nuclear submarines and hundreds
of warplanes to the under-equipped force by 2020.

Serdyukov said Feb. 26 that Russia intended to arm its nuclear submarines
with the high-tech Bulava long-range missiles whose deployment is being
delayed by a series of embarrassing test failures.

But Russia's last two Bulava launches were successful and Serdyukov said
Feb. 26 that the first new missiles would be dispatched to the country's
Pacific Fleet.

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'Russian missiles could be passed on to Hezbollah'
By JPOST.COM STAFF 02/26/2011 22:10
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=209985

Following Russia's announcement that it will transfer missiles to Syria,
Defense Ministry fears weapons could fall into "wrong hands."

The Defense Ministry issued a statement Saturday regarding publications that
Russia intends to complete a deal to transfer cruise missiles to Syria.
"This deal was signed two years ago and has been in the process of
implementation for some time, despite Israel's appeals to Russia regarding
the matter."

Security officials warned that the Russian cruise missiles "are potentially
dangerous weapons and they may come fall into the hands of Hezbollah, just
as other weapons systems came from Syria."

The announcement came after Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said
that Russia would fulfill its contractual obligation and complete the
transfer of cruise missiles to Syria, according to AFP.

According to the report, news agencies in Moscow said the Kremlin did not
intend to withdraw from the deal signed between the two countries in 2007,
despite the objections of Israel and the United States.

Also on Saturday, Iran and Syria agreed to cooperate on naval training,
Iran's official news agency said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

"The two parties will cooperate with each other in training issues and the
exchange of personnel," IRNA quoted the agreement, signed by the commanders
of both navies, as saying, according to the report.

The agreement came days after two Iranian warships – the Khark, which has
250 crew members and can carry three helicopters, and the Alvand, which is
armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles – arrived at Syria's Latakia
seaport on Thursday, sailing through the Suez Canal and into the
Mediterranean.

Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.
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