Friday, July 02, 2010

DTN News: Russia To Sell $1 Billion Worth Of Arms To Yemen - Expert

DTN News: Russia To Sell $1 Billion Worth Of Arms To Yemen - Expert
Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - July 2, 2010: 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 tanks, Kornet E antitank complexes, Smerch multiple launch rocket systems (up to 20 units), and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles. "In addition, Yemen is interested in building an air-defense system with [Russian made] S-300MPU and S-300 PMU1 surface-to-air missile complexes," Korotchenko said. He said Yemen would also like to modernize the weaponry it bought from the Soviet Union, including BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles, whose number currently exceeds 1,000. Furthermore, he said, Yemen needs warships, in particular high-speed patrol boats, to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

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