Gaddafi in Moscow for arms talks

Gaddafi in Moscow for arms talks

english.aljazeera.net

The Interfax news agency said that a tentative agreement on supplies of Russian weapons worth more than $2bn could be signed during Gaddafi's trip to Moscow.

It said Libya wants to purchase S-300, Tor-M1 and Buk-M1 air defence missile systems, two squadrons of Su-30 and Mig-29 fighter jets, several dozen combat helicopters, tanks, rocket launchers and a diesel submarine.

(visit the link for the full news article)

So Gaddafi is after some news toys is he, it would appear that Russia is expanding its sales of modern top end weapons all over the place. Is this a further ratching up of us against them as Russia is selling arms to anyone who can pay. Whilst the West is cutting its forces Russia and its many friends are building up their military muscle.

english.aljazeera.net
(visit the link for the full news article)

Yay...more good news.

(Runs to bathroom and drinks full bottle of Mylanta and Pepto Bismol)

reply to post by magicmushroom

anyone else noticed everyone is after the s-300/330 anti-air system

iran has it syria has it

everyone is expecting to be next on americas attack the islamic countries wold tour

Originally posted by magicmushroom
Russia is expanding its sales of modern top end weapons all over the place.

Why wouldn't it. It's capitalism - and arms manufacturing is Russia's competitive advantage. US and its European allies still outpace Russia considerably in international arms sale volume. Russia is catching up, but US is still the world's main armory.

Also I wouldn't say that Russian arms exports can be called "modern top end weapons". Neither S-300, Tor-M1 or Buk-M1 are modern, and Russia has much newer and advanced version of these systems for itself which it is not yet selling abroad. Russia isn't exporting any of the newest weaponry, and most of the exports comprise of 10-20 year old technology. Same goes for Su-30 and Mig-29. These export versions are not the most modern or top-end.

Now if Russia starts selling S-400, Topol M, Iskander, or Borei submarines - then it can be considered modern and very dangerous.

Originally posted by magicmushroom
Is this a further ratching up of us against them as Russia is selling arms to anyone who can pay.

That's not true. Russia is selling its customers based on the possibility of a profitable long-term supplier relationship, and is also keeping political and geopolitical issues in mind. Russian government is only dealing with official governments, and not with guerillas or rebels. It is also not selling countries like Iran and Syria everything that they want. Iran and Syria have long begged Russia for toys like S-400 and Iskander, and were willing to pay considerable premium for them. Still no deal.

Originally posted by magicmushroom
Whilst the West is cutting its forces

Really? How so? Who in the West is cutting its forces or military budget?

Originally posted by magicmushroom
Russia and its many friends are building up their military muscle.

Russia has recently announced that it plans to cut the size of its military manpower by about 15% in the next decade. Similarly in the following two decades Russia will decrease its surface ship and submarine fleet (and take into account that it already decreased it considerably since Cold War).

Russia is modeling its military similar to the West. Less quantity but improved quality. This transition will take considerable time of course.

Originally posted by noobfun
anyone else noticed everyone is after the s-300/330 anti-air system

iran has it syria has it

Syria has it but Iran doesn't have it, at least yet. But the S-300 is nothing special anymore, is a fairly old system. They are all after the S-300 because they know that is the best they can hope for from Russia. They would make an offer to buy the S-400, but no hopes of Russia selling it to them.

You can bet that if US continues its spree, that Russia will get more and more customers for these nasty toys. If US anger Russia enough to sell them, US plans would suffer a severe setback.