The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[arakeretzig]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I think if they do have it in South Ossetia, it's covert. The Russians have always denied deploying S-300 in South Ossetia.

If they do not have it in S. Ossetia, they do in North Ossetia and the range covers both regions.

It seems there's a TINSHIELD on a hill just above the 4th Army's base, deployed in SO, so who knows.

it's probably like you say, they have it secretly, it's just like in abkhazia, they had Tochka-U's there since 2007, without anyone knowing, and bang.. used it against boats in Poti in 2008 war.

[arakeretzig]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Russia Signs New S-300 Missile Deal With Almaz-Antei

Russia's Defense Ministry has signed a three-year deal with air-defense missile systems manufacturer Almaz-Antei for delivery of S-300V4 (SA-12 Giant/Gladiator) air defense missile systems, the ministry said on Monday.
The deal was signed by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Almaz-Antei director Vladislav Menshchikov.
"In accordance with the contract, three battalions of S-300V4s will be delivered and put in service in Russia's southern military district, the Ministry said.
The S-300 system is a family of long-range air defense missile systems capable of engaging all types of airborne threats including UAVs, helicopters and planes, and ballistic and cruise missiles. The S-300 system is widely acknowledged as one of the most capable systems of its type in the world.
The S-300V4 is the latest modernized variant of the S-300V and VM systems and has higher performance thanks to the use of uspecified upgraded elements.
Independent think-tank Air Power Australia claims the S-300V4 upgrade will be designated by NATO as the SA-23 system.

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20120312/172109752.html

maybe my prediction that the S300V in gyumri could be replaced, come true soonish?

[arakeretzig]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

The Russian Armed Forces will take delivery of the first 57 Italian Lince (Lynx) light multirole armored vehicles (LMV) before the end of the current year, Defense Ministry press secretary Irina Kovalchuk said on Wednesday.
“These machines will go primarily to the Southern Military District,” she said.
The district incorporates Russia’s troubled North Caucasus republics.
Russia signed a deal with Italy’s Iveco company in December on the semi-knocked down assembly of Lynx vehicles in the central Russia city of Voronezh.

Localization of production at the Voronezh plant is currently 10 percent, Kovalchuk said, adding that by 2014 it is to reach 50 percent.

Lynx is a light multirole armored vehicle developed in 2001 by Iveco Defense Vehicles. It ensures high mobility and protection against anti-tank and anti-personnel mines.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120314/172163010.html

[arakeretzig]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Russia to Deploy Three S-400 Battalions in 2012

Russia will accept into service three battalions of S-400 Triumph air defense missile systems in 2012, Air Force chief of staff Major General Viktor Bondarev said on Wednesday.
“One battalion is currently being deployed at Nakhodka [Russia’s Far East], a second will be based near Moscow, and a third in the Air Force and Air Defense Force chief command. All systems will be delivered by the end of this year,” he said.
The Russian Armed Forces currently have two S-400 regiments, both near Moscow, and a third regiment is to be deployed in the Baltic Fleet.
Bondarev also said S-300 systems will soon go out of production and only S-400s will be made.
The S-400 Triumph long- to medium-range surface-to-air missile system can effectively engage any aerial target, including aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise and ballistic missiles at up to 400 kilometers and an altitude of up to 30 kilometers.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said there are no plans so far to export the S-400. It will be produced only for the Russian Armed Forces.

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20120314/172159406.html

[arakeretzig]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Russian Air Force adopts new cruise missile

A new cruise missile has entered service with the Russian Air Force’s strategic long-range arms division, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Tuesday.
He did not provide any details, only saying it was an air-launched long range missile.
AF chief Col Gen Alexander Zelin previously said the new cruise missile was developed by the Taktitcheskoye Raketnoye Vooruzhenie (Tactical Missile) defense corporation and that its specifications were secret. He said the new missiles would also be installed in fifth-generation fighters.
Douglas Barrie, an air warfare analyst at the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies, said the new weapon was likely to be “either the Kh-555 or Kh-101/102.”
The Kh-555 is a new conventionally-armed variant of the Kh-55 nuclear-armed cruise missile, which has been in service since the 1984 on Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers.
Kh-101 is a stealthy nuclear armed cruise-missile under development by the Raduga design bureau, along with a conventionally-armed variant (Kh-102). Globalsecurity.org claims the weapon was test-fired in October 1998. Some reports claim the weapon is itself a derivative of Kh-555.
Serdyukov also said Russia’s fleet of Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-95MS Bear strategic bombers will be modernized.
Defense Ministry spokesman Vladimir Drik earlier said the AF’s strategic long-range arms division will receive more than 10 modernized Tu-160M Blackjack bombers by 2020.
The new bombers will be adapted to carry advanced cruise missiles and bombs.
Zelin said in January the AF will soon deploy an advanced tactical air-to-air missile that will greatly enhance its operational effectiveness. The missile will be carried by MiG-31BM Foxhound supersonic interceptors/fighters and will subsequently be used by other warplanes.
Zelin did not identify the missile but experts believe it could be the K-37M, also known as RVV-BD, or AA-X-13 Arrow as it is known to NATO.
The K-prefix denotes a weapon in development while the M indicates a modification. An export variant of the weapon, known as RVV-BD, was shown at MAKS 2011. The BD suffix may stand for the Russian words bolshoi dalnosti, or long range.

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20120320/172284223.html

[arakeretzig]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Ministry of Defense has approved the project "Armata"


The Russian Defense Ministry approved the technical design of heavy armored platforms, "Armata", on the basis of which will be established and prospective main battle tank. This, according to ITAR-TASS news agency , said Chief of Tank-Automotive Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Russia, Major-General Aleksandr Shevchenko.
"It meets all the requirements that are filed at the military department of the technical project," - said Shevchenko, adding: "Three years later, look at this product in the metal." The project involved "Uralvagonzavod". The representative of the War Department said that the Ministry is satisfied the course of works, which are conducted in accordance with the schedule. "Get a fighting machine, but I now would call a tank" - said Shevchenko.

In mid-February 2012 reported that "Uralvagonzavod" intends to create the first prototype tank "Armata" in 2013, and its production and deliveries to the troops - to begin in 2015. In April 2011, Lieutenant-General Yuri Kovalenko, former Deputy Chief of Defense Tank-Automotive Management, said: "The Armed Forces will have a new main tank, with a fundamentally new performance characteristics, with a new gun ammunition feed, with the separation of the crew, with the removal of ammunition. "

Details of the new project is not yet known. Presumably, in the autoloader tank created by the project "Armata", will be 32 rounds for various purposes. In the development of machines will be used achievements obtained during the implementation of other projects, including "Object 195" and "Black Eagle". "Armata" - a project of a universal platform for the various armored vehicles, including tank support combat vehicle, and self-propelled artillery.

http://lenta.ru/news/2012/03/23/armata/

[arakeretzig]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Air Assault units to expand Russian military presence abroard

Russian military bases in Central Asia and the Caucasus are to be considerably strengthened. They might be reinforced by units of the national Airborne Force to increase mobility and combat efficiency, said the force’s commander, Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov.
First of all, judging by the experience of the Airborne Force’s peacekeeping operations, forward bases are required in order to successfully accomplish the objectives set by Russia’s leaders, General Shamanov believes. He added that such bases would make it possible to expand operations in specific sectors. Another factor is the international commitments of Russia and the CIS countries within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The CSTO’s Collective Rapid Reaction Force comprises Russia’s 98th Guards Airborne Division and the 31st Detached Guards Air Assault Brigade. Russian paratroopers were deployed at an air base in Kyrgyzstan and at other local Russian military installations during the unrest in the country in 2009. The re-deployment of airborne units to Tajikistan was enacted during a strategic military exercise in 2011. In 2012, the Airborne Force is planning exercises at the 102nd military base in Armenia, which will involve elements of the above-mentioned Collective Rapid Reaction Force. But it is unclear whether airborne units will remain there on a permanent basis.
General Shamanov also proposes subordinating helicopter units to airborne formations. Such units, providing air assault strike capabilities, might also be deployed at Russian military bases abroad.
Shamanov said last February that Russia’s military-political leaders had already decided to deploy a helicopter regiment near Novorossiisk in southern Russia. Shamanov justified this decision by the fact that the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia was becoming increasing complex, and that Russian-Georgian relations were continuing to deteriorate. Consequently, airborne units needed to become more mobile.
The regiment, to comprise 60 military transport and attack helicopters, should support the Seventh Air Assault Division, which was successfully deployed during the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war. At that time, it took ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet several days to re-deploy to the conflict zone near the Georgian-Abkhazian border. The helicopter regiment can do the same in the space of a few hours.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has protested the deployment of a helicopter regiment in Novorossiisk, saying Russia looks like it is preparing for new hostilities. Tbilisi is also worried by the upcoming Caucasus-2012 military exercise, which would reportedly involve Russian personnel from military bases in the Caucasus. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that there were no plans to involve the personnel of Russian military bases abroad or foreign armed forces.
A Russian military analyst said a possible decision to deploy air assault units and helicopters at Russian military bases in the Caucasus had only positive aspects. He added that a recent Georgian-U.S. exercise had involved counter-insurgency operations which served to remind people of Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers in August 2008.

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta

......

[Haykakan]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

RUSSIA IS MASSING TROOPS ON IRAN'S NORTHERN BORDER AND WAITING FOR A WESTERN ATTACK

Democratic Underground
April 9 2012

The Russian military anticipates that an attack will occur on Iran by
the summer and has developed an action plan to move Russian troops
through neighboring Georgia to stage in Armenia, which borders on
the Islamic republic, according to informed Russian sources.

...

The Russian spearhead (from the Transcaucasia region) may be ordered
to strike south to prevent the presumed deployment of U.S. bases
in Transcaucasia, to link up with the troops in Armenia and take
over the South Caucasus energy corridor along which Azeri, Turkmen
and other Caspian natural gas and oil may reach European markets,"
Felgenhauer said.

"By one swift military strike, Russia may ensure control of all
the Caucasus and the Caspian states that were its former realm,
establishing a fiat accompli the West, too preoccupied with Iran,
would not reverse," he said.

"At the same time, a small victorious war would unite the Russian
nation behind the Kremlin, allowing it to crush the remnants of the
prodemocracy movement 'for fair elections,' and as a final bonus,
Russia's military action could perhaps finally destroy the Saakashvili
regime."

Read more:

http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-thinks-an-israeli-attack-on-iran-by-the-summer-is-almost-certain-2012-4

[Mos]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

^^^^^^

I doubt that article. A Western attack on Iran is not coming anytime soon, maybe next year. This comes from recent intel/chatter in the past months that signals that an attack on Iran is not eminent.

[Mher]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Do you think If Russia was to get directly involved, there would ever be any military retaliation against Armenia by the west for simply allowing Russia to move through it.