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Analysis: U.S. fighter sales soar in time for campaign WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Booming Middle East purchases of U.S. fighter jets will be a bright spot in what is expected to be a sluggish economy in 2012, possibly paying dividends for President Barack Obama's bid for a second term. Beneficiaries include Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, whose respective F-16 and F-15 production lines are being extended by U.S. government sales to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman, among other rich arms deals announced in recent weeks. The foreign sales will help offset expected cuts in big-ticket purchases by the Defense Department,...

France puts sale of heavy military hardware to Pakistan on hold France said Friday it has put on hold the sale of heavy military equipment to Pakistan and awaits an explanation on its spy agency's role in the 2008 Mumbai terror strike and in providing a safe haven for Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US strike May 2. It has also expressed the hope that Pakistan's dialogue with US on terrorism would throw light on questions that have cropped up in the wake of Osama's killing on its soil, reported IANS. French Defence Minister...

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 24 (UPI) -- Russia's recent expulsion of the military attache at the Israeli Embassy in Moscow on charges of spying has been linked to the Jewish state's efforts to impede the sale of Russian weapons systems to Iran, Syria and Arab states. One report from Moscow, quoting an unidentified Russian security official, said the Israeli, Col. Vadim Leiderman, had engaged in "industrial espionage -- or rather his overly active work on behalf of certain Israeli companies on the Russian market." But Russia's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, said in an official statement that Leiderman,...

$60bn in defence deals expected to lift Saudi economy Ivan Gale Last Updated: Nov 20, 2010 Boeing, which has orders for Apache helicopters, above, Little Bird helicopters and F-15s will shoulder most of the offset burden. AFP Defence firms selected to provide Saudi Arabia with up to US$60 billion (Dh220.35bn) in arms and military aircraft will generate more than $20bn in economic benefits throughout the kingdom's economy in return. The boost will come via the nation's offset rules, which require the contractors to help build ventures in other sectors of the economy. Saudi Arabia's five planned economic cities, including the...

Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport accounts for 85% of the country's arms sales worldwide, with the remainder coming from several companies authorized to deal in arms on the global market. Rosoboronexport was established November 4, 2000 by presidential decree, replacing its predecessors, Rosvooruzheniye and the Promexport company. In the past ten years, Russian arms exports have soared, growing from $3.7 billion in 2000 to $5.8 billion in 2004 and from $7.5 billion in 2007 to an estimated $10 billion this year. With contracts totaling $34 billion, Russia is the second-largest exporter of arms and military equipment after the United States,...

Outrage Over Swedish Arms Sales to Saudis (Source: TheLocal.se; published: Oct. 11, 2010) Following a report at the weekend that Saab has once again signed a deal to sell equipment to Saudi Arabia, politicians on the left have called for an overhaul of Sweden’s weapons export laws. “We’re talking about one of the world’s worst dictatorships. We can’t send weapons to dictatorships that should be buying food instead,” Green Party defence policy spokesperson Peter Rådberg told the TT news agency on Monday. The comments come after a report published in Jane’s Defence Weekly, one of the world’s foremost publications on...

King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia has taken charge of arms negotiations with the United States and is seeking to downgrade the power of the defense ministry, which is run by his ailing designated heir, Prince Sultan, Paris's Intelligence Online says. The cancer-stricken Sultan, who is the monarch's half-brother but from a rival branch of the royal family, is reported to be "enfeebled and unable to comprehend government affairs," says Simon Henderson, an expert on Saudi Arabia with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Intelligence Online, a Web site that monitors global security affairs, noted when Abdallah toured the United...

Russia and Yemen could sign an arms contract worth over $1 billion, an international arms expert said on Thursday. A Yemeni delegation led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh discussed sales of Russian arms to the Arab republic on Wednesday during the leader's short visit to Moscow. Igor Korotchenko, head of a Moscow-based think tank on the international arms trade, said Yemen "is interested in a very broad range of Russian arms and military equipment," especially MiG-29 SMT jet fighters (up to 30), Mi-35 and Ka-52 helicopter gunships and Mi-17 military transport helicopters. He said Saleh's wish list also included T-72M1...

China says arms sales to Taiwan are the cause of Sino-US defence tensions. But even if they stopped now, ties would be chilly. The poor state of Chinese-US military ties were laid bare earlier this month at a leading Asian security conference. In his June 5 speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates expressed annoyance at the refusal of the government in Beijing to allow him to visit the People’s Republic of China during his trip to Asia. He went on to express regret that the United States and China hadn’t managed to establish a...

For a nation that is increasingly outsourcing its defense needs to the United States, India is warning of the serious pitfalls in such a relations. Local media report that Indian army chief Gen. V.K. Singh has written to Defense Minister A.K. Antony cautioning the government about foreign military sales purchases from the United States. The Indian government has been sourcing all its defense deals with Washington through foreign military sales programs, carrying out major defense acquisitions. According to these non-tender purchases, the U.S. government procures the equipment on behalf of the Indian government from its military companies, making a commission...

Although many nations (Algeria, Malaysia, Lebanon) are refusing, or retiring, MiG-29s, Syria is eager to get them. That's because Syria is broke, and patron Iran is becoming less generous (because of its own economic problems) with subsidies for military equipment. Thus Russia recently announced that it is selling another 24 (or more) MiG-29s to Syria (which already has about fifty of them). Syria would like to get its existing MiG-29s upgraded, but may not be able to afford that. Other nations are backing away from MiG-29s because of reliability and durability problems. Several times in the last year, Russia has...

North Korea was said to have become the latest military supplier to Hamas. Officials said North Korea has received orders from Iran for a range of missiles, rockets and other weapons for Hamas and Hizbullah. They said the orders were submitted in late 2009 with the first attempt at deliveries in February 2010. We saw this kind of cooperation only two or maybe three months ago with the North Korean plane in Bangkok with huge numbers of different weapons with the intention to smuggle these weapons to Hamas and Hizbullah," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on May 12. Lieberman...

Local arms manufacturing in the Middle East and North Africa region is set to grow. Robert Bailey outlines some of the projects and collaborations that are underway Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) defence industries are becoming more self reliant as they shift from direct equipment purchases to local production. Where technology transfer has for more than two decades been an established part of headline-catching, multi billion dollar offset programmes, the focus now, for even the smaller countries, is to require technology transfer as a first step to developing their own armaments manufacturing capability. Nevertheless, the MENA region is still...

This Iraqi Security Force (ISF) update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during April 2010. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle is updated as of 30 April 2010. This Iraqi Security Force (ISF) update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during April 2010. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle is updated as of 30 April 2010. Separate articles concerning Iraqi Air Force development and speculation on the Ukrainian Arms Sale were published during April and will not be addressed here. Highlights in this update include: Jet Trainer purchase competition. Planned purchase of 24 new...

The Hudson Institute’s Richard Weitz, posting over at Second Line of Defense, says Russian arms sales to China are drying up as Chinese industry increasingly builds its own high-tech weaponry and Beijing objects to Russian technology transfer restrictions. Since 2001, Russia has sold more than $16 billion worth of arms to China, with yearly sales peaking at $2.7 billion, he writes; accounting for nearly 40 % of all major Russian arms sales. In recent years, however, things have changed: “Since 2005, the PRC has stopped purchasing Russian warships or warplanes and has ceased signing new multi-billion arms sale contracts… The...

Israel will impose a temporary freeze on the sale of advanced weapons systems to Turkey, once a key ally, because of blistering criticism of the Jewish state by Turkey's Islamist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Jane's Defense Weekly reports. The latest outburst from Erdogan, who has been moving closer to Iran, came April 7 in Paris when he branded the Jewish state "the principal threat to regional peace" in the Middle East. Meantime, the Israeli air force, blocked from Turkish air space and bracing for possible long-range attacks on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, is scouting for new training skies in Europe...

India’s concerns about increasing military aid to Pakistan might not bother the Obama administration but the Sarkozy government is apparently taking note. A report in French newspaper Le Monde claimed that France has decided to suspend the sale of electronics and missiles under pressure from India and due to concerns about Pakistan’s finances and for protecting sensitive technology. The missiles, according to the report, were part of the first segment of a 6 billion euro contract. “It’s a deal that’s not ready from the Pakistani side,” the report quoted a source at President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office. “For now, the state...

Russian may sell $5 billion worth of weapons to Venezuela, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday after a visit to the South American nation. Putin met Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas on Friday to discuss oil, defense and nuclear energy cooperation, although no new no arms agreements were signed. The United States expressed concern about possible arms proliferation following such a deal with Venezuela, one its most prominent foes in the region. Chavez says his growing arsenal is aimed at countering a planned increase in the U.S. military forces in neighboring Colombia, Washington's closest ally in Latin America....

CARACAS — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is set to meet the presidents of Venezuela and Bolivia in Caracas Friday to sign military and energy deals that broaden Russia's footprint in Latin America. Putin's first visit to Venezuela underscores Russia's deepening relations with Latin America's leading leftist regime, and serves as doorway to a region long considered the US back yard. Russia and Venezuela in 2005 and 2007 signed 12 military agreements worth some 4.4 billion dollars that have raised some concern in Washington. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last week thanked Russia for helping Venezuela "bolster its defensive potential" in...

Obama administration defense officials were said to have approved the sale U.S. military aircraft to Israel at the same time political tensions between President Barack Obama and Israel's conservative leader neared the boiling point at a White House meeting. Israeli sources said Obama has agreed to sell the Jewish state three C-130J air transports, manufactured by Lockheed Martin. They said the U.S. Defense Department and Israel's Defense Ministry have reached agreement on the air transport deal, set at $250 million. "As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this week absorbing the full wrath of the Obama administration, the Pentagon...

China and Israel have begun to revive military cooperation. ShareThis Officials said China and Israel have decided to resume reciprocal visits as well as discussions on military cooperation. They said the cooperation would not include Israeli arms sales to China. "This is the first sparks of a relationship that has been frozen for several years," an official said. Military sources said the visit by the Chinese delegation was not linked to the current Israeli tensions with the United States over Jewish construction in Jerusalem. They said the visit had been scheduled in 2009. But the sources did not rule out...

There is growing pressure on US President Barack Obama to sell advanced F-16 fighters to Taiwan. “The time to provide these fighters is now,” Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, told a major hearing held by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission on Thursday. It became clear as witnesses were questioned that many, if not most, of the commissioners agreed. Taiwan’s request to buy 66 F-16C/D fighters is now being considered by the White House. “The military and strategic imperatives for Taiwan are real and urgent,” said Diaz-Balart, the opening witness at the day-long hearing on developments across the...

China on Tuesday warned the United States against any future arms sales to Taiwan, including F-16 fighter jets the island has been pushing for in hopes of upgrading its air defense capabilities. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China is firmly opposed to U.S. sales of weapons to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that the communist government in Beijing regards as part of its territory and has vowed to conquer by force if necessary. Asked to comment on reports that Taiwan is pushing to buy F-16s from the United States, Qin said Beijing hoped the U.S. would "take China's position seriously...

On January 29, 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the approval of a major, long-awaited arms sales package for Taiwan. The $6.4 billion deal includes Patriot advanced capability (PAC-3) missiles along with radar sets and related equipment, UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters, Osprey class mine hunting ships, Multifunction Information Distribution Systems terminals, and Harpoon telemetry missiles. China quickly expressed its indignation and blasted the decision as interference in its internal affairs. Beijing also retaliated by suspending some U.S.-China military-to-military exchanges, a move that was widely expected. This time, however, China reacted more assertively than it has...

The US and China completed a series of top-level talks on arms sales to Taiwan, with Washington refusing to give Beijing any assurances that the sales would be stopped or curtailed, a US official said on Thursday. “The US responded to PRC [People’s Republic of China] concerns over Taiwan by reiterating that it has followed a consistent approach,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and Senior Director for Asian Affairs Jeff Bader conducted the talks this week in Beijing. They are now in Tokyo meeting senior Japanese government officials. In Beijing they met Chinese...

China warned the U.S. on Thursday against any future arms sales to Taiwan and reaffirmed its decision to suspend military exchanges over Washington's decision last month to sell $6.4 billion in military hardware to the island. China demands that the U.S. "speak and act cautiously" to avoid further damaging ties and upsetting relations between Beijing and Taiwan, Defense Ministry spokesman Huang Xueping was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. Huang also said there had been no change in Beijing's decision last month to put off military contacts in protest over the Obama administration's decision to sell $6.4...

MEXICO CITY – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Mexico is interested in buying equipment and weapons from his country to combat drug trafficking and organized crime. At a joint press conference with Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa, Lavrov said that his country is expanding its weapons sales abroad and has increased the number of supply contracts it has in all regions of the world, a move that is “a purely economic question, not political.” Regarding the volume of its arms sales, Russia is still “behind the United States, but we’re seeing certain rather serious progress,” Lavrov said. The Mexican...

Taiwan's defence minister has vowed to seek more weaponry from the United States, which he said would give the island greater confidence in pushing for rapprochement talks with China. The remarks come as Beijing and Washington are locked in an escalating row over a massive US arms sale to Taiwan, which Beijing insists is part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. China has responded furiously with a raft of reprisals, saying it would suspend military and security contacts with Washington and impose sanctions on US firms involved in the 6.4 billion-US-dollar arms package. But Taiwan's Defence Minister...

MUNICH (Reuters) - China is indignant about new U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and its opposition to them is "very reasonable," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Friday. China has said it will impose unspecified sanctions on U.S. firms selling weapons to Taiwan in retaliation for the U.S. announcement that it planned to sell $6.4 billion of arms to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province. "The Chinese government and people feel indignant about this," Yang told a security conference in Germany. "I do hope the U.S. will change its behavior ... and will stop arms sales to Taiwan."

Libyan defense minister Younis Jaber arrived in Moscow Tuesday, Jan. 26 to sign a $2 billion military acquisitions deal that makes his country the first in the Middle East to obtain the top-of-the-line S-300 PMU-2 interceptors which Russia is holding back from Iran. debkafile's military sources report that Tripoli has purchased two brigades of four missile batteries each, conditional on their delivery by the end of 2010.

It may surprise readers to learn that in 2009 Vietnam was Russia’s best customer for its arms exports (www.defensenews.com, January 21). During 2009, Vietnam bought six Russian kilo-class submarines and 12 Su-30MKK fighters (Hanoi, VNEXpress, December 16, 2009; Kommersant, December 18; Interfax, December 15; RIA Novosti, December 4). While Vietnam most likely bought these weapons to counter the growing might of the Chinese navy and its continuing claims to the Spratly Islands off Vietnam’s coast, the motives for both sides are deeper. Although Vietnam’s fleet is antiquated, it clearly has decided to develop those capabilities to counter China’s claims and...

The latest spat between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies threatens to add to a litany of other issues straining ties, including the value of China's currency, trade protectionism and Internet freedoms. The official China Daily said U.S. weapons sales to the self-ruled and democratic island "inevitably casts a long shadow on Sino-US relations." "China's response, no matter how vehement, is justified. No country worthy of respect can sit idle while its national security is endangered and core interests damaged," it said in an editorial. "The U.S. decision not only runs counter to the common dream of pursuing development and...

Experts hope the U.S.-China relationship will be strong enough to withstand negative developments from the planned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan Sino-American ties are being buffeted by several difficulties -- the most recent being the announcement of a U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, an island China regards as a renegade province. Experts acknowledge there will be disagreements, but say they hope the U.S.-China relationship will be strong enough to withstand negative developments. China and Taiwan have a recent history that stretches back to the founding of the People's Republic of China more than 60 years ago. The Chinese Nationalists lost...

China to punish companies involved in US-Taiwan arms sales - Summary Posted on : 2010-01-31 | Author : dpa News Category : US Beijing/Taipei - China on Sunday stepped up the rhetoric over the US decision to sell 6.4 billion dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan, saying that companies involved in the arms sales would also be punished. "China will also impose sanctions on the US companies involved in the arms sales to Taiwan", the Foreign Ministry said in a press release, reported by state media. Companies which may be affected include Boeing and United Technologies, which both have significant...

China's indignant reaction to the announcement of U.S. plans to sell weapons to Taiwan appears to be in keeping with a new triumphalist attitude from Beijing that is worrying governments and analysts across the globe. From the Copenhagen climate change conference to Internet freedom to China's border with India, China observers have noticed a tough tone emanating from its government, its representatives and influential analysts from its state-funded think tanks. Calling in U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman on Saturday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said the United States would be responsible for "serious repercussions" if it did not reverse the...

China has cancelled all military exchanges with the US in a sign of its anger at the proposed sale of advanced missiles and helicopters to Taiwan. Beijing has also imposed sanctions on the companies selling the arms. “We made the decision out of considerations on the severe harm of the US arms sales to Taiwan,� said Defence Ministry spokesman Huang Xueping in a statement. “The US plan will definitely seriously disturb the relations between the two countries.�

China criticised the United States ahead of the expected announcement of new arms sales to Taiwan, the latest in a series of disputes raising tensions between Washington and Beijing. The US administration has been consulting with Congress ahead of a formal announcement of the sale, which is likely to include Black Hawk helicopters and Patriot missiles, senior US congressional aides told The Associated Press. China opposes all arms sales to the island it considers a renegade province and will likely suspend US military exchanges in response. Speaking to reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman...

China on Tuesday again warned the United States against selling arms to Taiwan, amid media speculation that Washington could soon act on the island's request for new weapons. "We firmly oppose the US selling arms to Taiwan," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters at a regular briefing, saying Beijing has had "serious consultations" with Washington on the issue. "We urge the US to recognise the gravity of selling arms to Taiwan... cancel any plans to sell arms to Taiwan and stop selling arms to Taiwan so as not to damage China-US relations." Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou, despite warming ties...

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency has signaled its intent to consider a rash of foreign military sales to Egypt, including the transfer of anti-tank missiles. The government of Egypt has also requested anti-ship missiles, engine upgrades for its fleet of F-16 jet fighters and Fast Missile Crafts worth an estimated $1.18 billion. The proposed sale is expected to "contribute to the foreign police and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country which has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the...

The Obama administration is moving toward possible new arms sales to Taiwan, including design work on diesel-electric submarines, a U.S. State Department official told Reuters on Wednesday. China strongly opposes arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province, as interference in its domestic affairs. New submarines could help challenge any Chinese seaborne assault on the self-governing island, which Beijing reserves the right to take by force. Also progressing toward notification to the U.S. Congress is the sale to Taiwan of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, said Robert Kovac, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for defense trade. In...

Phuket 'Scene of FBI, North Korean Arms Dealings' By Alan Morison Monday, August 24, 2009 SOME remarkable meetings take place on Phuket, and we are not talking Asean summits, even though it was good for the island to have US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton drop by in July. This particular meeting, reported for the first time today, is a different kind of gathering, more reminiscent of the one involving a Vietnamese lawyer who now stands accused of plotting to overthrow his country's leaders after meeting other alleged ''conspirators'' on Phuket. Let's call it the Uncle Sam Sham Scam. This...

"U.S. Defense Department official said Georgia was not ready for weapons acquisition, the issue pushed by President Saakashvili before the Vice President Biden’s visit to Tbilisi. Celeste A. Wallander, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, however, also told a congressional panel on July 28, that the issue was “not off the table” in the future. She made the remarks at the hearing of U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe after she was asked to comment about President Saakashvili’s statement made in an interview with The Washington Post asking the U.S. to provide Georgia with defensive...

North Korea earns over US$2 billion annually in arms deals with Iran, according to Larry Niksch, a specialist in Asian affairs with the U.S. Congressional Research Service. Niksch made the claim at a conference ["Engaging China to Solve the North Korea Problem"] Tuesday hosted by the Cato Institute in Washington on China's role in North Korean affairs. He called on China to block flights between Pyongyang and Tehran in addition to financial sanctions against the Stalinist country. Scientists and engineers as well as missiles, missile parts and technical drawings for missiles are being transferred by air between the North and...

The creeping reach of Chinese arms SINGAPORE, June 13 — Is China returning as a major player in the international arms market? According to data released by the United States Congressional Research Service, Beijing signed arms exports agreements worth US$3.8 billion (RM13.3 billion) in 2007 – its highest sales figures in more than a decade. In recent years, Chinese overseas arms sales have averaged more than US$2 billion a year, considerably higher than during the 1990s, when Beijing averaged less than US$1 billion a year in arms exports. In fact, China has not enjoyed sales this strong since the late...

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Japanese government decided Saturday to relax its rules on arms exports to allow more joint development and production of weapons with other nations and enable shipments to countries with which Japan co-develops arms. The move is aimed at reducing procurement costs and stimulating the domestic defense industry by promoting joint development and production of key arms, such as next-generation fighter jets, with the U.S. and Europe. Japan currently bans almost all weapons exports. Exceptions include those for the missile defense system being jointly developed with the U.S. In 1967, then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato introduced a policy prohibiting...

Senior Israeli military circles are staggered by the discovery that US president Barack Obama had approved a large Turkish arms sale to the Lebanese army, including the services of Turkish military instructors. This was taken as further proof that the US president is deaf to Israel's immediate security concerns. Lebanese president Gen. Michel Suleiman has more than once threatened neighboring Israel. When he signed the arms deal in Ankara Tuesday, April 21, he once again pledged publicly to place the Lebanese army at the disposal of the Shiite terrorist Hizballah in any confrontation with Israel. If that happened, said one...

MOSCOW (AFP)--Russia's foreign ministry Thursday condemned media "attacks" on arms dealer Viktor Bout, saying the case was straining U.S.-Russian ties. Bout, who is fighting extradition from Thailand to the U.S. on charges he trafficked weapons to conflict zones, has been prejudged by a series of articles in the Thai and foreign media, said a ministry spokesman, Andrei Nesterenko. "In these articles our countryman, whose guilt hasn't been established in court, has already been proclaimed a criminal," Nesterenko told reporters. "We consider such attacks clearly provocative and leading to the goal of moving Bout's case from the legal to the political...

A United Nations Security Council committee confirmed on Tuesday that Iran violated U.N. sanctions by trying to send a ship with weapons to Syria..... including those than can pierce armor, and anti-tank explosives may have been destined for Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Hizbullah in Iran or Syrian-backed Iraqis.....

The Chinese rockets have a range of 40 kilometers. They are very similar to the 122 mm Soviet-made Katyusha that was used extensively by Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War and are slightly more sophisticated than an Iranian-made Grad-model Katyusha that is also in Hamas's arsenal.

HONG KONG, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The People's Republic of China is increasingly challenging Russia in the African arms trade, offering lower prices on weapons that, ironically, are often made in China with Russian technologies. Chinese products are less expensive than Russian and Western systems. They are similar to the Russian systems that many African countries are familiar with, and they are also easy to maintain and easy to use in training. Many countries in Africa are therefore switching allegiance to the People's Republic of China for their weapons purchases. A typical example is Sudan. At a 2007 military parade,...