Breaking news
Russia gives green light to sell S-400 air defense missile systems to China 3103144.
| 2014
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Defence & Security News - China |
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| Monday, March 31, 2014 11:32 AM | |||
| Russia gives green light to sell S-400 air defense missile systems to China. | |||
Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has given a green light to sell the
country's newest S-400
air defense guided missile system to China, which Russian media claim
will give Beijing an edge in the airspace of the Taiwan Strait and over
islands in the East China Sea. |
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China
has been interested in acquiring S-400
air defense missile system since 2011. Two years ago, Russia
talked with several countries interested in buying the system but was
forced to suspend negotiations in order to ensure its supply to the Russian
military, the general manager of a Russian national defense export company
told Russian newspaper Kommersant in January this year. Export sales of
the system may not begin until 2016. Talk of a potential deal with China drew concerns from Russian security officials who worried that it may not only affect the supply of the system to Russia's own military but also that China could back-engineer the technology to produce its own systems. The system's manufacturer Almaz-Antei has eased the former concerns by delivering the first batch of the system. Moscow also announced a plan in January to build three new plants for the contractor in order to build more air defense and anti-guided missile systems. An intellectual property rights agreement that China and Russia signed with regard to the arms trade has also come into effect. Though in what volume China wishes to acquire the S-400 system is unclear, Kommersant's source said China wants enough systems to equip two to four battalions. The People's Liberation Army has already obtained an air defense guided missile system and another command system from Russian and deployed them in the defense of Beijing and Shanghai, according to the paper, which estimated that the country would be able to control the airspace over Taiwan and the disputed Diaoyutai islands (Diaoyu to China, Senkaku to Japan). The S-400 Triumph SA-21 is a long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by Almaz-Antey. The S-400 Triumph is intended to engage, ECM, radar-picket, director area, reconnaissance, strategic and tactical aircraft, tactical and theatre ballistic missiles, medium-range ballistic missiles and other current and future air attack assets at a maximum range of 400 km, and a altitude of up to 30 km. |
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