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Russia pulls S-400 air and missile defense system off the market
GeoStrategy Direct ^ | GeoStrategy Direct

Posted on 02/13/2010 6:11:55 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld

Russia has decided to withdraw its advanced missile defense system for export. Officials said the Kremlin has ordered the state-owned arms agency Rosoboronexport to end marketing of the S-400 air and missile defense system. They said Rosoboronexport was told that the S-400 would be deployed only in Russia until further notice.

"Russia would consider exports only after meeting the requirements of its own armed forces," Rosoboronexport director Anatoly Isaikin said on Jan. 28. Over the last five years, Rosoboronexport has sought to sell the S-400 to a range of Middle East states, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. So far, no export sales were reported.

"There are a lot of preliminary talks," Isaikin said.

The S-400 Triumph was designed to intercept airborne targets at up to 400 kilometers. Rosoboronexport has asserted that the system could destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

In 2009, Rosoboronexport lobbied the Turkish government to purchase the S-400. Ankara, which appears to favor the U.S.-origin PAC-3, has conducted a $1 billion tender for the procurement of missile defense systems.

Officials said the Russian military would require at least two years to exploit the potential of the S-400. The first S-400 battalion entered combat duty in the Moscow region in 2007.

"There have been bugs in the system and this has prevented us from properly demonstrating the S-400 abroad," another official said.

(Excerpt) Read more at geostrategy-direct.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: airdefense; missiledefense; russia; russianiairforce; s400; triumph

1 posted on 02/13/2010 6:11:56 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
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To: sonofstrangelove

They should just call it a “recall”.


2 posted on 02/13/2010 6:13:55 PM PST by dr_who
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To: sonofstrangelove

I know that Iran has been quite a customer of the Ruskies. Is it possible that Moscow may be rethinking their investment in Iran? I doubt they’ll be leaving soon, but military actions are bad for business. Mining the ports, cutting off gasoline supplies, all of these create difficulties in commerce.

Perhaps there is some discomfort with the aggressive nuclear leanings of the Mullahs. Just a thought.


3 posted on 02/13/2010 6:48:22 PM PST by Habibi ("It is vain to do with more what can be done with less." - William of Occam)
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To: sonofstrangelove

The Russians figure that if it’s deployed to someplace like Iran or N Korea, and Western technology just zips right past it, the embarrassment will kill any future Russian arms sales.


4 posted on 02/13/2010 6:51:08 PM PST by PapaBear3625 (Public healthcare looks like it will work as well as public housing did.)
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To: PapaBear3625

Remember when Syria’s Russian made air defense “went blind” right before the Israeli attack on that new reactor Sept. 6, 2007?


5 posted on 02/13/2010 7:14:20 PM PST by Roccus (POLITICIAN.....................a four letter word spelled with ten letters.)
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To: Habibi
Foreign arms sales by Russia will become the fabled 'hook in the jaws' that forces Moscow into joining a Pan-Arabic military alliance in their attack upon Israel. The potential of public exposure of their prior sale of nuclear weapons to Arab nations will leave the Kremlin feeling that they have no other option, but to join a disasterous terminal war against the people of God at Armaggedon.

We all know that Russia has built the Bushwr reactor complex in Iran, but enriched uranium has a signature unique to the breeder reactor where it is created. By measuring radioactive elements after an atomic terror explosion, we will quickly know exactly where that bomb was built. This is precisely why Iran went through the elaborate charade of sending it's U-235 & U-238 'abroad' to refine and concentrate.

Iran deliberatly sought to obfuscate and confuse the origin of it's weapons grade nuclear material, so that when Hamas, or Hezzbullah detonates an atomic terror device in this country, Israel, or Europe it will be traced back to Russia. I pray that the Russians have been smart enough to avoid the temptation to sell enriched uranium to Iran, but I fear my prayers are already obsolete. Prior sales of fissile material will force Russia to join the Arab Alliance, or face the wrath of the rest of the Free World. Foreign sales of nuclear weapons will prove to be the linchpin that draws Russia into an unnatural relationship with the Mad Mullahs of Iran. By deception, Russia will be drawn into the greatest human tradegy of alltime. The ultimate man caused disaster upon the mountains of Israel.

6 posted on 02/13/2010 7:46:28 PM PST by STD (Islam's the tool of Anti-Christ)
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To: Roccus

That was the Suter computer program.Suter is a military computer program developed by BAE Systems that attacks computer networks and communications systems belonging to an enemy. It is specialised to interfere with the computers of integrated air defence systems


7 posted on 02/13/2010 8:34:12 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld ("I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution."-Dr.Wernher Von Braun)
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To: STD

Regarding your post #6: nope.


8 posted on 02/13/2010 9:04:57 PM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: sonofstrangelove

Thanks for that. I’m sure it put a crimp on future Russian sales of whatever defense system that was. ;)


9 posted on 02/13/2010 9:32:27 PM PST by Roccus (POLITICIAN.....................a four letter word spelled with ten letters.)
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To: sonofstrangelove
Did they not sell one of these or more to Iran?

I thought I heard a Israeli say that once the damn thing was operational, they would not be able to use their plan for attack, or something to that effect.

I wonder what Obama traded for this.

10 posted on 02/13/2010 9:36:55 PM PST by Cold Heat
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To: STD

Grim words, but possible. The Russkies have had their eye on that little part of the world for over 100 years. I think there is coming a time when Moscow will have to see about defusing the bomb that is Iran. Russia seeks to rebuild their influence worldwide, but Iran is one of the areas that is near and dear to their geopolitical interests. They are far more pragmatic than the current US administration regarding what they wish to accomplish geopolitically. nover The same cannot be said for the Twelver imams that run Iran. On one hand, they’d like to control the religious leaders, but even the imam’s can’t control the population anymore. They may have acknowledged that there’s going to be a turnover within the government, and it is important to decide where they’ll be standing when that event occurs.

Though I think a regime change in Iran is the more likely scenario, the retention of the Twelver’s will be nothing but a problem in the area. These guys believe nukes can be military weapons, rather than the reality of using them as poolitial tools as they have been over the last 60 years. Given Israel’s stockpile of nukes, it would be foolhardy to threaten them with a couple of Iranian “lab nukes”.


11 posted on 02/13/2010 10:27:34 PM PST by Habibi ("It is vain to do with more what can be done with less." - William of Occam)
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To: Roccus

>Remember when Syria’s Russian made air defense “went blind” right before the Israeli attack on that new reactor Sept. 6, 2007?

Syria had not had modern Russian “Pantsyr-M1” SAM supplied and deployed during Israeli air attack.
Syria’s air-defence system doesn’t provide 100% SAM or even radar coverage of the country, and most of their SAM’s are short-range, outdated systems.


12 posted on 02/13/2010 11:36:25 PM PST by Primorsky
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To: Primorsky; Roccus
Even if they did have the Pantsir, it's a short range system. The Syrian air defense system is hopelessly outdated, and as such is susceptible to programs like Suter.

Besides, the Pantsirs--which were delivered in August 2007 (wikipedia)--the only halfway decent SAMs they have are SA-6s, which the Israelis had wised up to by 1982.
13 posted on 02/14/2010 12:21:47 AM PST by Constantine XI Palaeologus ("Vicisti, Galilaee")
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To: Constantine XI Palaeologus

There are several countries selling digital upgrades to the older Soviet SAMs. They make the older systems much more competitive at a very low price when compared to the new ones. The SA-6 today is not the same one of the Yom Kippur war. Same goes for other older systems


14 posted on 02/14/2010 8:53:41 AM PST by Starwolf
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To: Habibi
Let me be more direct when responding to your post

I think there is coming a time when Moscow will have to see about defusing the bomb that is Iran.

It's already happened in minature, Russian Marines frantically labored to police weapons of mass destruction it sold to Iraqi in 2003, they convoyed those weapons over the border and husbanded them into caves and underground storage shelters in the Bekka Valley.

15 posted on 02/14/2010 12:52:09 PM PST by STD (Islam's the tool of Anti-Christ)
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To: Roccus
Hi PopaBear,

Yes, I remember the story. Don't you just love it when a scarry story has a happy ending? I know that I do!

However, let me remind you of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. It involved an extremely effective guided missile ambush of both the Israeli Air Force (IAF) and the oncoming Israeli Armored Force. Egyptian commanders knew that Israeli military doctrine depended upon immediate call up and subsequent counterattacks by the tiny nation's elite reserve units.

The IAF was stunned when they encountered an integrated and carefully prepared air defense supplied to Egypt by the Russians, hundreds of veteran pilots and their planes were shot down before the aerial onslaught was halted. Both radar guided guns and missiles took the Israelis by complete surprise.

The counterattacking Israel tank force faired no better against Soviet anti-tank missiles losing hundreds of their tank units and thousands of her soldiers.

History has an uncanny knack of repeating itself, Israel had grown complacent after universally routing five Arab armies just seven years earlier in the Six Day War. Even Golda Mier, was swept up by an utter contempt for the martial prowess of Israeli's neigbor's. When spies reported to the PM that the Arab armies were attacking, she only allowed a partial call up of the reserves. It took another 24-48 precious hours before a full mobilization was possible.

Lack of proper command and control, conscript armies, corrupt officers, an absence of adequate equipment and prompt resupply had plagued Arab armies since the very beginning of hostilities in the Middle East. But, 1973 should stand as evidence that the sudden importation of advanced military technology can dramatically alter the balance of power against Israel. Nine thousand casualties should remind us of the neccesity to remain ever vigilent.

The Russian's have been complicit in the arming and equipping of the Iranian military since the 1979 Revolution. I strongly suspect that we are being deceived about the extent of the technolgy transfers that have already taken place. Unforunately, an unholy alliance has already been forged that will someday force the Russian's to join the Arab's in the most disasterous military adventure of all time. I suggest that the responsibility for nuclear weapon sales to Iran shall supply the leverage that cements that alliance.

16 posted on 02/14/2010 1:57:11 PM PST by STD (Islam's the tool of Anti-Christ)
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To: Roccus
Hi PopaBear,

Yes, I remember the story. Don't you just love it when a scarry story has a happy ending? I know that I do!

However, let me remind you of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. It involved an extremely effective guided missile ambush of both the Israeli Air Force (IAF) and the oncoming Israeli Armored Force. Egyptian commanders knew that Israeli military doctrine depended upon immediate call up and subsequent counterattacks by the tiny nation's elite reserve units.

The IAF was stunned when they encountered an integrated and carefully prepared air defense supplied to Egypt by the Russians, hundreds of veteran pilots and their planes were shot down before the aerial onslaught was halted. Both radar guided guns and missiles took the Israelis by complete surprise.

The counterattacking Israel tank force faired no better against Soviet anti-tank missiles losing hundreds of their tank units and thousands of her soldiers.

History has an uncanny knack of repeating itself, Israel had grown complacent after universally routing five Arab armies just seven years earlier in the Six Day War. Even Golda Mier, was swept up by an utter contempt for the martial prowess of Israeli's neigbor's. When spies reported to the PM that the Arab armies were attacking, she only allowed a partial call up of the reserves. It took another 24-48 precious hours before a full mobilization was possible.

Lack of proper command and control, conscript armies, corrupt officers, an absence of adequate equipment and prompt resupply had plagued Arab armies since the very beginning of hostilities in the Middle East. But, 1973 should stand as evidence that the sudden importation of advanced military technology can dramatically alter the balance of power against Israel. Nine thousand casualties should remind us of the neccesity to remain ever vigilent.

The Russian's have been complicit in the arming and equipping of the Iranian military since the 1979 Revolution. I strongly suspect that we are being deceived about the extent of the technolgy transfers that have already taken place. Unforunately, an unholy alliance has already been forged that will someday force the Russian's to join the Arab's in the most disasterous military adventure of all time. I suggest that the responsibility for nuclear weapon sales to Iran shall supply the leverage that cements that alliance.

17 posted on 02/14/2010 1:58:32 PM PST by STD (Islam's the tool of Anti-Christ)
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