Russia to sign $5-billion defense contract with Iraq

Khabarovsk: City of Military Glory

17.11.2012


Recently, Khabarovsk was bestowed the title "City of Military Glory" by President Vladimir Putin. On the President's website, Kreml.ru, we can read in Russian and English: "Khabarovsk received this honorary title in recognition of the courage, steadfast spirit and mass heroism its defenders showed in the fight for their Fatherland's freedom and independence."

Almost 70 years after the end of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the memories are still alive of all the horrors, suffering and pain, but also of the heroism of the Russian people and, above all, the glorious remembrance of victory. Lest we forget, there are victory squares, victory columns and eternal flames burning in every major city of the Russian Federation, last but not least, in Khabarovsk.

It is the largest city and administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai in the Russian Far East, only 30 kilometers from the Chinese border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers. Khabarovsk is a stop of the Trans-Siberian Railroad between Moscow and Vladivostok.

Russian Cossacks settled in this area in the 17th century, setting up fortified camps, called ostrogs, on the Amur River. In 1858, the Russians founded the military outpost of Khabarovsk, named after the Russian explorer, Yerofey Khabarov.

In 1916, a bridge across the Amur River was built, Khabarovsk Bridge. The Trans-Siberian trains crossed the river via this bridge. By 1941, a rail tunnel was constructed as well. Today, Khabarovsk is a modern city. Novy Airport serves East, Southeast and Central Asia, as well as European Russia.

The city owns eight universities: Pacific National University (formerly: Khabarovsk State University of Technology), Far Eastern State University of Humanities (formerly: Khabarovsk State Teachers Training University), Eastern State Medical University, Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and Law, Far Eastern State Transport University, Far Eastern Academy of Government Services, Far Eastern State Physical Education University and Khabarovsk State Institute of Arts and Culture.

Khabarovsk was built along the Amur, its five districts stretch for 45 kilometers along the river's bank. Amursky Boulevard in the city center is a lively place with a local market and many interesting shops and restaurants offering traditional Russian or Chinese cuisine.

In wintertime, beautiful ice sculptures are on display in the parks. When spring arrives in May, shrubs flower around the squares. Potted plants, potatoes and fresh fish are on sale at the local market, even such exotic fruits as bananas and pineapples.

Soviet times are remembered at Lenin Square and at Glory Square, with a monument for the fallen soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. The modern 30 meter monument towers above the square. The central structure is a wall around the Eternal Flame, storing the names of the citizens of Khabarovsk who did not return from the war, Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Khabarovsk formed part of the Soviet Far East Front within the Far Eastern Military District. The memories are still very much alive, although the war veterans are getting old and older, many of them already gone. The city takes good care of its war veterans, allotting apartments for low rent to needy or disabled men. Governor Victor Ishayev created a regional special house for veterans in Khabarovsk, equipped with medical and social services. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary in 2005, Victor Ishayev said in a speech:

"From the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union was compelled to hold more than 40 divisions in the Far East. They were ready to resist the ally of fascist Nazi Germany - militaristic Japan. These Soviet divisions attacked and won against the Japanese Kwantung Army, showing the highest military skill and unprecedented heroism. In August 1945, they were still fighting in Manchuria. Today, about 4.000 war veterans of the war against militaristic Japan live in our city. To you, our dear veterans, special words of gratitude for the great victory and for your valuable contribution to the termination of this war."

From the 25th to the 31st of December 1949, Khabarovsk was the scene for war crimes trials, in which 12 members of the Japanese Kwantung Army were tried for the manufacture and use of biological weapons during the Great Patriotic War. As early as 1941, members of the Japanese Unit 731 had air-dropped plague-contaminated fleas, which caused epidemic plague outbreaks.

All 12 accused Japanese war criminals were found guilty and sentenced to terms between two and 25 years in a labor camp. Four Japanese generals received the longest term of 25 years: General Otozo Yamada, Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army; Lt. General Kajitsuka Ryuji, Chief of the Medical Administration; Lt. General Takahashi Takaatsu, Chief of the Veterinary Service; Major General Kawashima Kiyoshi, Chief of Unit 731. They did not serve the full term of 25 years, though, but were repatriated to Japan in 1956.

Every year, school children in Khabarovsk visit the Military History Museum with their teachers as part of the program "Patriotic Education of the Younger Generations." They also receive lessons in courage, taught by war veterans of the Veterans' Council of Khabarovsk Krai. Khabarovsk Police meet with students regularly to conduct preventive lessons. They speak about the adolescents' responsibilities in the prevention of crimes and offenses, abuse of alcohol and drugs. An integral part of these police lessons is the knowledge about the events of the Great Patriotic War.

Streets in Khabarovsk are named after the heroes of the war. The youth are taught about their lives. "It is very important for the younger generation to know the history of their country, their territory, and to be proud of their heroes," Valery Bolshakov, a retired Colonel, pointed out.

In 2007, President Vladimir Putin established the Day of Heroes of the Fatherland, a very special day, when all school children and students participate in the celebrations. All in all, the Soviet Union lost close to 27 million lives during the Great Patriotic War, which began when Nazi Germany launched "Operation Barbarossa" on the summer solstice day in 1941.

The scars of this war remain, and they still hurt every year, when the special holidays come around again: 65-year-old Valery Karpov in Khabarovsk lost three uncles in the war. "I grew up at a time, when we had to build the country from nothing. In a large part, it was the women who constructed the post-war infrastructure," Valery Karpov said.

This war is also a very important topic in the history books of Russian schools, telling the new generations about the sacrifices of their ancestors, so the young ones would be able to lead a life of peace and tranquility. The glorious Red Army defeated the greatest evil known to mankind, never forgotten: fascist Nazi Germany.

Seen in this light, one can only hope that the German delegation of politicians and businessmen travelling to Moscow for the 12th Petersburg Dialogue (November 16-20) will show some restraint. The German mainstream press is full of articles telling every detail about how German-Russian relations have chilled and are tense.

The German media also divulged that Chancellor Angela Merkel has been pressed hard by "Übervater" from "Übersee," the dark Lord of the Bombs, to lecture the ugly Russians about their faulty human rights record. Big Brother from overseas, our supreme teacher in democracy, freedom, human rights and all the other goodies of modern times, western neo-colonial empires, wants its German satraps to function well in Moscow.

We shall see how it goes. Chancellor Angela Merkel might not have the fine-tuned diplomatic skills of President Vladimir Putin, but she certainly has enough common sense not to aggravate him too much. The Germans need oil and gas from the Russian Federation. Furthermore, the Germans need commerce and trade with Russia, since the rest of Europe is going down the hill fast, and not much is coming from Big Brother overseas, other than bombs, drones and demands to participate in ever more wars.

Chancellor Angela Merkel grew up in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), at times, when Russian was taught as first foreign language in all secondary schools. Hopefully, she will have a Russian history book in her luggage, to read up the chapter about the Great Patriotic War of her Nazi forefathers against the Soviets. This might teach her to tread softly, when on Russian terrain.

Otherwise, a famous sentence by Friedrich von Schiller, the famous classical German dramatist, will be our last solace: "Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens." -

"Against stupidity, even the Gods lead a hopeless fight." Friedrich von Schiller, Die Jungfrau von Orléans, Prolog.



Prepared for publication by:

Lisa Karpova
Pravda.Ru

 

this posting system is out of order

 

now it is back in working order

 

to all :::::::::
this is a very current and important article from eng/pravda

Russia no longer NATO's enemy?

20.11.2012


Today, NATO does not believe that Russia presents a threat to the alliance, said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at a conference on cooperation. He expressed hope that Russia would adhere to the same policy and present no danger for NATO. Is this the case, and what would Russia be able to oppose to the West in the event of a military conflict?

Over the last few decades NATO had been considering Russia as one of the major countries in the hostile camp, but the recent press conference on cooperation of NATO and Finland in Helsinki showed some changes in the views of the international community. At the meeting of Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that NATO currently not only did not regard Russia as a potential enemy, but did not present a threat to Russia itself.

Fogh Rasmussen said that 15 years ago, a bill was adopted whereby Russia and NATO would not use military force against each other. He noted that the alliance adhered to this decision and hoped that the Russian government also followed this policy. At the meeting in Lisbon two years ago at the Russia-NATO Council it was agreed that both parties would do everything to facilitate the development of a sustainable partnership.

Print version Font Size Send to friendDespite the fact that Russia was one of the main opponents of the NATO countries, the history of their collaboration began in 1991, when the country joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. In 1994, the Russian Federation took part in the project "Partnership for Peace", and in 1997 in France the founding act on Russia-NATO Council was signed, covering issues of mutual relations, security and cooperation between the two parties. In 1998 a diplomatic Russian Mission to NATO was established.

The relations continued to develop, resulting in the creation of the NATO-Russia Council in 2002. Russia is not a member of NATO, and is not going to join its ranks. However, the Ministry of Defense often conducts joint exercises with NATO, as well as peacekeeping and rescue operations.

How does Russia see NATO? The Soviet Union was an enemy of the capitalist powers, especially the United States. The "Cold War" and the arms race between the two world leaders left no doubt that NATO and the Soviet Union were a threat to each other, and cooperation was out of the question. It has been over 20 years after the collapse of the USSR, but did the relationship between Russia and NATO see a radical change?

Many experts think there has not been much of a change. In 2006, Alexander Solzhenitsyn in his interview said that despite the growing partnership between Russia and NATO, heads of the alliance have been gradually improving their military apparatus, trying to cover the east of Europe and southern Russia. According to him, it is nothing but support for national revolutions, introduction of NATO's interests in Central Asia, etc. This means only one thing - NATO is gradually surrounding Russia in order to seize it in the future.

The events of 2008 in Georgia had a negative impact on the relations between Russia and the alliance. On the initiative of NATO the relations between them have been suspended since August 19, 2008, and on 22 August the Russian side terminated the cooperation agreement. However, Russia's representative to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said that this was a temporary measure. Indeed, relations were resumed in March of 2009.

Now, despite the peaceful statements of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the facts suggest otherwise. For example, in 2008 the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation noted the increase in NATO naval activity in the Black Sea.

Many experts say that the invasion of NATO forces in Afghanistan has dramatically increased the flow of drugs from the country. It is noteworthy that mainly Russia citizens along with citizens of the CIS and the EU suffer from Afghan heroin. According to experts, the active growth of drug use in the Russian Federation is caused by Afghan "potion". According to the director of the Russian Federal Service for Drug Control Viktor Ivanov, currently 90 percent of all opiate drugs come into Russia from Afghanistan. He noted that over the past ten years, drug production in Afghanistan increased so much that it is now double the amount of drug production worldwide. Incidentally, the U.S. has refused to destroy poppy plantations in Afghanistan - what is it but a guarantee of the inviolability of the country's drug trade?

The increasing activity of NATO troops near the Russian border cannot but alarm the Russian government. Large concentration of troops is justified by regular joint exercises. However, experts from the Ministry of Defense note that NATO's leadership has realized that the best diplomacy is power. This became particularly obvious after Russia adamantly protested against the deployment of U.S. missile defense in Europe.

A well-known Russian political scientist Alexander Khramchikhin, studying previous military conflicts with NATO's participation, said that NATO was not able to conduct successful combat operations against Russia. According to his calculations, NATO does not have enough power. The only option, according to the expert, is the use of a preemptive strike by the U.S. against Russian nuclear forces.

The peaceful statements of NATO Secretary General sound too optimistic. It is not certain that NATO is no threat to Russia, and vice versa. Both parties have to take each other into consideration. Interestingly, at this year's NATO summit in Chicago, Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke negatively about the relations with Moscow. According to Stuttgarter Zeitung, he harshly criticized the words of the head of Russian General Staff Gen. Nikolai Makarov about a possibility of applying force against missile defense systems deployed in Europe. According to him, such actions are contrary to the declared expansion and strengthening of the partnership between NATO and the Russian Federation.

Speaking at the Chicago summit, Rasmussen stressed that all the speculation about a possible attack by NATO on Russia were absolutely groundless. According to him, if Russia was threatening someone, it certainly was not the West. Except that NATO has refused to provide a written assurance that the missiles placed in Europe will not be directed towards the Russian Federation on the grounds that such assurances were given 15 years ago.

Back in 2011, General Makarov talked about the development of an effective anti-missile system that would disable the American missile defense systems without destroying them physically. According to him, it is a unique weapon against NATO if the latter starts showing aggression against Russia.

The statements about absence of threat to Russia from NATO are premature. However, one can definitely say that Russia has means to counter potential Western "enemies."

Sergei Vasilenkov

Pravda.Ru

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vlad

 

to all :::::::::

here is a short but important article.
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New Chinese administration to continue developing relations with Russia

15.11.2012 | Source: Pravda.Ru
The new Chinese administration will continue to build partnership relations with Russia, Andrey Karneyev, Vice-Chancellor of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University told Pravda.Ru.

"Indeed, China has formed a new team that will lead the country in the next 10 years. The fact that it is all happening in a relatively stable fashion is also a sign of success - this is an achievement of the Communist Party that managed to turn the periodic change of power into one of the most steadily working party mechanisms. In many other countries of Asia and other regions, political crises, or even civil wars occur every time the question of succession of power arises. In China, they have renewed their political elite once again," Karneyev said.

"The congress stressed out the need to improve relations with all major neighboring countries. I think that the policy of building neighborly partnership and cooperation between Russia and China will continue in the international arena. Of course, it is impossible to avoid various complications or disputes that may arise on certain issues. But in general, most experts see favorable grounds for development and even, perhaps, for reaching a more mature phase in the relations," concluded

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vlad

 

to all :::::::::
here is one more if i have the time.

USSR to rise from ashes through joint Eurasian currency

The creation of the supranational currency within the scope of the Customs Union is inevitable, Prime Minister of Armenia, Tigran Sargsyan, believes. According to him, this should be the next stage of integration within the organization, which makes sense from the point of view of simplification of currency circulation in transfers. The new currency may see the light on January 1, 2015.

As the prime minister of Armenia said during the meeting with members of the Club of Editors of the CIS, Baltic countries and Georgia, it would be advantageous for three member states of the Customs Union to have a supranational currency. "This is beneficial both to economic entities and citizens. What's the point in having a national currency and losing money during transfers?" said Sargsyan.

The Armenian Prime Minister also said that Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are now at about the same level of development, "and no country is going to live at the expense of another." According to Sargsyan, five years of coordinated monetary and fiscal policy will be enough for everyone to realize the need for a single currency. However, for representatives of the Russian side this question is important already today. The active discussion of the issue began in the summer of 2012.

Print version Font Size Send to friend"In the summer of this year, Russian Prime Minister Medvedev called for the creation of a single currency for Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. He repeated a similar idea at the recent CIS forum in Yalta - Alexander Razuvayev, Ph.D. and Director Analytical Department of Alpari said in an interview with Pravda.Ru. - In principle, it may seem that the idea looks a little strange against the background of the crisis in the euro zone and the probability that not only Greece, but perhaps Spain may leave the euro zone, but there is a grain of common sense here, because money decides a lot in today's world. Only a single currency may actually unite the single economic space."

Originally, the main challenge to the single currency of the Customs Union was the fact that the idea was presented by the Russian government from the dominant position. That is, Russia offered the CIS countries to join the ruble zone, while Moscow would retain the right to control the money-printing process, and other countries would automatically fall into dependence on the Russian Central Bank and the Finance Ministry. Needless to say that this approach left Belarus and Kazakhstan dissatisfied. As a result, everyone started to pull the blanket over in this matter.

"Some would say that Belarus has planned economy, some would say that there are problems in Kazakhstan. However, we must realize that Russia's economy is much larger than that of Kazakhstan, and especially of Belarus. One shouldn't forget that Russia has world's third largest international reserves, more than 500 billion dollars, and Russia's GDP this year is about 2 trillion. Accordingly, given the positive macroeconomic situation in Russia, this includes the growth of more than 4 percent, and the budget surplus, so to form a currency area like that would be easy enough, taking into consideration the fact that there is political will for that on the part of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. As for Belarus, the idea was very popular 10 years ago, but during that time Mr. Lukashenko wanted to have the emission center. Well, of course, neither the Russian Finance Ministry nor the Russian Central Bank could accept that," says Alexander Razuvayev.

Another major problem of the Customs Union was Ukraine's reluctance to join it. Experts say that the full integration within the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Community is impossible without the participation of Ukraine. However, it was reported at the end of last week that Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the impossibility of joining the Customs Union, as the country sets the course for European integration. The reasonable arguments saying that the Russian market was much more advantageous for Ukraine than the Ukrainian was for Russia, have not brought any results.

Surprisingly, though, the free trade idea between the CIS countries and Russia inspired the Crimean Republic, the first president of which, Yuri Meshkov, unexpectedly expressed his intention to join the Customs Union regardless of the Ukraine. Moscow does not hope much for the influence of the Crimea, although it may ring another "bell" for Ukraine's Yanukovych. Experts tend to see the "hand of the Kremlin" here, rather than an independent decision made by the head of the autonomous territory. However, it is no secret that Russia can make Ukraine join the union through the use of more abrupt, manipulative measures.

"In today's world, only 200-250-million-strong markets can be self-sufficient. Kazakhstan and Russia, plus Belarus is somewhat less. And, accordingly, the system can work only if Ukraine is integrated. One shouldn't forget that Russia can put pressure on Ukraine through energy carriers," says Alexander Razuvayev.

To date, Russia has taken a detached attitude to Ukraine. Ukrainian officials say that there could be a possibility for the country to join the Customs Union in the event the economic situation in the euro zone worsens. For the time being, Ukraine is standing at a crossroads, wondering which union to join.

"Either way, it is believed that the new currency will appear on 1 January 2015, although possibly earlier. Political sovereignty can hardly be questioned. It is unlikely that it will be the Russian ruble. Most likely, it will be a new Eurasian currency, and, consequently, we will have a new Eurasian Central Bank. Of course, it will be a local currency, because the size of combined economies is still a lot smaller than the economy of the United States, China, or the European Union. However, it will really mark the actual denunciation of Belovezha Accords and restoration of the Soviet Union, albeit in a new version 2.0 and on absolutely new market and capitalist principles," the expert concluded.

Maria Snytkova

Pravda.Ru

 

to all ::::::::::::::::::

while we are discussing the facts and theories of the current economy, there are still other current events in the background.
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The Afghan Drug War From Blackwater's HQ
By Spencer Ackerman

22 November 12



he U.S. war in Afghanistan is supposed to be winding down. Its contractor-led drug war? Not so much.

Inside a compound in Kabul called Camp Integrity, the Pentagon stations a small group of officers to oversee the U.S. military's various operations to curb the spread of Afghanistan's cash crops of heroin and marijuana, which help line the Taliban's pockets. Only Camp Integrity isn't a U.S. military base at all. It's the 10-acre Afghanistan headquarters of the private security company formerly known as Blackwater.

Those officers work for an obscure Pentagon agency called the Counter Narco-Terrorism Program Office, or CNTPO. Quietly, it's grown into one of the biggest dispensers of cash for private security contractors in the entire U.S. government: One pile of contracts last year from CNTPO was worth more than $3 billion. And it sees a future for itself in Afghanistan over the long haul.

Earlier this month, a U.S. government solicitation sought to hire a security firm to help CNTPO "maintain a basic, operational support cell" in Kabul. Army Lt. Col. James Gregory, a Pentagon spokesman, explains that "cell" doesn't kick in the doors of any Afghan narco-kingpins. It handles the more mundane tasks of overseeing the contracts of the Pentagon's counter-narcotics programs, from "training and linguists, and [providing] supplies, such as vehicles and equipment." The solicitation, however, indicates those services aren't going anywhere: When all the options are exercised, the contract extends through September 29, 2015, over a year past the date when Afghan soldiers and cops are supposed to take over the war. And the "government preferred location" to base CNTPO? Camp Integrity.

The envisioned Pentagon counter-narco-terrorism staff is pretty small: only two to four personnel. But protecting them at Camp Integrity is serious business. The November 6 solicitation calls for a security firm that can "provide a secure armory and weapons maintenance service, including the ability to check-in and check-out weapons and ammunition," particularly 9 mm pistols and M4 rifles; and to provide "secure armored" transportation to the CNTPO team - primarily "in and around Kabul, but could include some remote locations."

CNTPO has a longstanding relationship with Blackwater, the infamous security firm that is now known as Academi. In 2009, it gave Blackwater a contract to train Afghan police, and company employees used that contract to requisition guns from the U.S. military for their private use. Although that contract was ultimately taken out of CNTPO's hands, the office's relationship with Academi/Blackwater endures. Last year, Academi told Danger Room it has a contract with CNTPO, worth an undisclosed amount, to provide "all-source intelligence analyst support and material procurement" for Afghanistan. An Academi spokeswoman, Kelley Gannon, declined to comment on Academi's relationship with CNTPO, or whether it'll bid on the new contract.

But its deal with Academi is just a small slice of CNTPO's efforts. It's got a sprawling mandate to fight drugs and terrorism. Last year, CNTPO offered security firms at least $3 billion, excluding the re-up options, for tasks as diverse as training Azerbaijani commandos and "airlift services in the trans-Sahara region of Africa." Some of its tasks appear to have little connections to either counterterrorism or counternarcotics, like "media analysis and web-site development consultation to officials of the Government of Pakistan."

All that points to an enduring role for the military going after drugs and drug money in Afghanistan. It's certainly an enduring problem: On Tuesday, the United Nations found that Afghan poppy cultivation rose nearly 20 percent over the past two years, especially in the southwestern Helmand province. Just last week, the U.S. military took the unusual step of classifying Mullah Naim Barich, the top Taliban operative in Helmand, as a "significant foreign narcotics trafficker or kingpin,'" allowing the U.S. to target companies that do business with him.

But the U.S. mission in Afghanistan isn't supposed to be about going after drugs anymore. It wasn't one of the residual missions that Gen. Joseph Dunford, President Obama's nominee to run the Afghanistan war, described to the Senate last week. But since the Pentagon gives its counter-drug/counter-terrorism operations such a broad mission, a residual force in Afghanistan might find itself going after Barich and his illicit colleagues for years to come, all supported from Academi's Kabul compound.

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it is time to ask ourselves ?who really won the war in afghanistan? that is to say who won the previous war ? or is this the same war ? how many wars have there been in afghanistan recently ? how many times may the USA foreign policy win the same war in the same geo-political area ?

 

to all :::::::::::::

here is a very VERY MUCH important news article.

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China writes off Russia's debt

Source: Pravda.Ru -- 29.12.2012


The Chinese administration has decided to write off Russia's debt of 1.57 million Swiss francs (about 52.5 million rubles), Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tweeted.

It turned out that the debt under the agreement from July 1, 2005 was repaid through deliveries of Russian goods and services under the contract with the Budker Institute in October 2008. China's State Council Vice Premier Wang Qishan confirmed that he had signed the document to write off the debt.

Now the Russian Ministry of Finance can easily prepare for the financing of previously concluded contracts between the two countries. First and foremost, it goes about the contract between JSC Russian Helicopters and a Chinese company to supply 20 helicopters to China with a total value of more than 10 billion rubles.

It is worthy of note that In early December, the U.S. Senate prohibited the Pentagon from maintaining commercial contacts with Rosoboronexport, Russia's largest importer of arms. Until recently, the U.S. was negotiating the purchase of 21 Mi-17 helicopters for their use in Afghanistan. The deal was estimated at 375 million dollars.

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vlad

 

to all ::::::::::::
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perhaps some of you may want to read this ;;;
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Russian military hardware best in the world

19.12.2012

The global arms market has been growing steadily during the recent years. Russian arms are in high demand on this market, and it is the weapons and equipment of Soviet development that are competitive most. Their performance is even better than that of advanced Western models for certain tasks. In 2012, the Russian Federation has topped the arms export plan.

Russian (Soviet) small arms and more sophisticated equipment works smoothly and efficiently in all climate conditions. On December 5th, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy published a report, which said that Iranian pilots on Soviet Su-25 fighter jets (NATO: Frogfoot) intercepted advanced U.S. drone USAF MQ-1 Predator over the Persian Gulf. The authors of the report said that the Soviet-made aircraft was not an interceptor: it was not equipped with modern radars, but it could successfully destroy state-of-the-art aircraft, Worldtribune.com wrote.

Here is another example to prove the efficiency of Russian-made military hardware. The Pentagon was forced to recognize the indispensability of Russian Mi-17 helicopters in Afghanistan. The Pentagon even concluded a contract with Rosoboronexport (Russia's defense export giant) worth $900 million. The contract has to be approved by the US President, though, due to negative recommendations from the Congress. However, such assessments of military experts of Russia's main strategic adversary say that Russian weapons are very promising in terms of its competitiveness in the world market.

This was, in fact, announced by President Vladimir Putin on December 17 at the meeting of the commission on military and technical cooperation. Assessing the results of the year 2012, Putin said that Russia had sold arms and services worth more than 14 billion dollars (13.5 billion under the plan). The volume of new contracts made up approximately $15 billion. The president also outlined the directions, where Russia may continue its progress at this point.

First off, it goes about the joint production of military products and research developments. As an example, one can name a joint project with Serbia for the production of multiple versions of armored vehicles in the Serbian town of Velika Plana. The vehicles will be exported presumably to Kenya and Bangladesh. Not that long ago, an agreement was signed between "Russian Technologies" and Brazilian defense company Odebrecht Defensa e Technologia about the establishment of a joint venture, which, in particular, will assemble a line of multipurpose Mi-171 helicopters in Brazil.

Russian companies are involved in a number of joint projects with India, including the creation of fighter jets FGFA (based on the T-50) and Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles. China wants Russian designers to take part in the development of engines for its fighters. This will eliminate counterfeits of Russian brands and help Russia find a place on partners' markets.

The second, and perhaps the most promising direction, is "the restoration of position in the market for military modernization and repairs of hardware," Putin said. Russian defense industry companies have obtained more rights this year to conclude contracts with foreign customers. It was stated at the meeting in Sochi in early July 2012 that the export of services provided by Russian defense companies in 2011 amounted to about 2.5 billion rubles, which accounted for 18 percent of the total volume of all military exports from Russia. This year, the figures will probably be larger.

To give an example of such cooperation, one can refer to the contract with NATO for servicing helicopter fleet in Afghanistan. The contract currently goes through the signing process. A similar agreement was signed during the recent visit of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to Moscow. Brazil increases the fleet of military helicopters Mi-35M.

Soviet military hardware is also in demand in Africa. The continent's strongest armies of Algeria, Uganda, Chad are armed with the latest models of the T-90, T-70 tanks and Su-35M jets. Libya has recently asked the Russian government to resume military cooperation and render assistance in the modernization of the previously delivered military equipment. In particular, the new Libyan authorities are interested in the hardware that was left in the country after the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime. The country has already signed a contract to upgrade 200 T-72 tanks.

Bahrain has requested servicing a large quantity of Kalashnikov AK103 rifles. Now is the time for Russia to offer these services to Africa and Asia to maintain the park of Soviet military equipment, which the above-mentioned countries prefer for its remarkable performance in all climate conditions, as well as for its price and quality.

At present, Russian arms and military equipment are supplied to 88 countries of the world. Fifty-seven of them are regular customers. India remains the largest buyer of Russian military equipment. The country buys Su-30MKI fighters and T-90S tanks. China is the second importer. The country bought AL-31FN and D-30KP-2 aviation engines in the amount of $1.2 billion and Mi-17 helicopters worth $700 million. Vietnam comes next on the list (about $2 billion): the country purchased a submarine of Project 636 and Lightning sea boats. The numbers of contracts with other major importers - Algeria, Venezuela, Syria - have not been disclosed.

Russia's portfolio of agreements also includes a package of contracts with Iraq worth more than $4 billion. Vladimir Putin said that Russia should promote its weapons. According to him, such work "should help in the military-patriotic education of our citizens, especially young people." Indeed, for Russia's image abroad, the Kalashnikov assault rifle has done more than all our achievements combined.

Lyuba Lulko

Pravda.Ru

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vlad

 

Yes, Marlowe is an English name. It is pronounced Marlo, not Marlov in case you were confused.

Czesc (that's Polish)

 

to snake ::::::::::::

there is really no need for you to crawl in and hiss about mr. marlowe and i; we have no problems with each other.

?? did you here the snake joke about the snake who crossed the road; it thought it was a chicken ??

please do keep in touch with the discusions on these threads.

vlad