DTN News - ALGERIA DEFENSE NEWS: Rosvertol Seeks Algeria Mi-28 Export Deal

DTN News - ALGERIA DEFENSE NEWS: Rosvertol Seeks Algeria Mi-28 Export Deal

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources RIA Novosti

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada /

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia

- June 7, 2011:

Russia's Rosvertol attack helicopter producer said on Monday it is in talks with Algeria over exports of its Mi-28NE for delivery from 2012-2017.

"A commercial proposal has already been sent [to Algiers] and discussions will begin this year," Rosvertol General Director Boris Slyusar said. "We hope to sign a contract for delivery in 2012-2017."

Rosvertol is the attack helicopter arm of the state-owned Russian Helicopters holding company.

If successful, the deal will be the second export sale of the night-capable Mi-28NE, which is currently being introduced to the Russian armed forces. Venezuela ordered ten Mi-28s in 2010, but they have not yet been delivered.

The Mi-28NE is a two-seat dedicated attack helicopter, equipped with a mast-mounted millimeter-wave fire control radar and advanced night vision optical systems.

The machine is armed with the Ataka anti-armor missile system.

Algeria already operates the Mi-25, an export derivative of the Russian forces Mi-24 attack helicopter.

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*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources

RIA Novosti

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DTN News: Lebanon Leader Says His Country To Get Russian Military Aid

DTN News: Lebanon Leader Says His Country To Get Russian Military Aid

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AFP

(NSI News Source Info) BEIRUT, Lebanon - November 16, 2010: Russia will offer Lebanon six combat helicopters, 31 tanks and 36 artillery pieces complete with ammunition and shells, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced late Monday from Moscow.

"After the end of discussions between the Lebanese and Russian sides, Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced that Russia had decided to offer free aid to the Lebanese army," said a statement from Hariri's office.

The offer included "six Mi-24 helicopters, 31 T-72 assault tanks," as well as 36 mortars for 130-mm shells and around half million rounds of medium-calibre ammunition, the statement added.

In February, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman announced during a visit to Moscow that Russia had agreed to a request for Mi-24 helicopter gunships instead of the MIG-29 fighter jets originally promised in 2008.

On Sunday, on the eve of his two-day visit, Hariri had said he hoped to finalise that deal and said Lebanese helicopter pilots were already training for the new aircraft.

Following the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah the poorly equipped Lebanese army deployed in the south of the country for the first in three decades.

Earlier Monday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called on Lebanon to support Russian companies seeking to invest there, during his talks with Hariri.

"We have good possibilities to increase our economic collaboration thanks to major joint projects in the fields of energy, transport, communication and military technology co-operation," Putin said, Russian news agencies reported.

"In certain cases our big companies announced they would participate in invitations to tender and we ask you to support these bids," he added.

Hariri said his government welcomed Russian investment in transport and energy and in the construction of railways and dams.

Some analysts see the continuing rapprochement between the two countries as an attempt by Russia to reassert its influence in the Middle East, which has waned since the Soviet era.

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

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DTN News: Israel Concerned Over Lebanese Arms Imports

DTN News: Israel Concerned Over Lebanese Arms Imports

Source: DTN News / UPI

(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - August 8, 2010: This week's military clash along the Israeli-Lebanese border has raised concerns in Israel about U.S. military assistance to Lebanon. In 2009 the United States approved $100 million in assistance to the Lebanese military and the Obama administration has requested a similar amount for 2011, in addition to small increases for anti-narcotics, anti-terror and military training programs. Since 1976 Israel had been the largest annual recipient of U.S. foreign assistance, with Congressional Research Service in a November 2001 report, "Israel: U.S. Foreign Assistance," placing U.S. aid to Israel over the last five decades at $81.3 billion. Israel remains the top recipient of U.S. military and economic assistance, with annual assistance now running approximately $3 billion annually, of which about $1.8 billion a year consists of Department of Defense Foreign Military Financing grants, with State Department Economic Support Funds accounting for the remaining $1.2 billion. Israel is concerned that the recent border incident involved Lebanese Armed Forces personnel, as the Israel Defense Force's Northern Command assumes that border incidents would involve Hezbollah rather than LAF soldiers. Besides the border incident, regional tensions are rising as a U.N. tribunal is expected shortly to issue indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, with Beirut-based Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah remarking that the tribunal will wrongfully implicate several Hezbollah members in Hariri's assassination. While Israel views with growing alarm what it sees as the increasing radicalization of the LAF and increasing anti-Israeli rhetoric, it is also noting with concern recent Lebanese arms purchases from the United States and Russia. These include combat air-support aircraft fitted with Hellfire anti-armor missiles as well as Raven miniature unmanned aerial vehicles, while reports indicate that Russia is selling Lebanon several attack helicopters. During last month's Farnborough 2010 air show, Rosoboronexport delegation head Sergei Kornev, who is also the head of the Rosoboronexport department for exporting air force special equipment and services, said, "We received a request from the Lebanese side on obtaining helicopters and could not fail to respond to it. The possibility is currently being considered to deliver Mi-24, Mi-17 and Ka-32 helicopters. As soon as we agree with our partners what type of helicopters they need, it will be possible to conclude a contract and report the timeframe for its implementation." Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior IDF official said, "If the LAF is becoming more radical and aligning itself with Hezbollah, the U.S. would do well to reevaluate the continued military support it is providing Lebanon." The Israeli and Lebanese armed forces are currently separated along the Israeli-Lebanese border by approximately 12,000 U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon peacekeepers, where UNIFIL forces have been deployed since 1978.

DTN News: Russia Agrees To Provide Lebanon With Mi-24 Helicopters Instead Of MiG Fighters

DTN News: Russia Agrees To Provide Lebanon With Mi-24 Helicopters Instead Of MiG Fighters Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIRUT, Lebanon - February 28, 2010: President Michel Suleiman returned Friday afternoon to Beirut concluding a 2-day official visit to Moscow, the first ever visit by a Lebanese head of state to Russia.

Suleiman said the Russian authorities agreed to substitute the 10 MiG-29 fighter jets previously mulled military aid with Mi-24 advanced military helicopters "based on the request of the Lebanese side that conducted technical and functional studies on the Russian fund for the Lebanese Air Force."

The Lebanese side based the request on army command's recommendation that the vital need currently is for this type of military helicopters that can be equipped with missiles and advanced combat means.

On Thursday, Suleiman met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow where he signed a memorandum on bilateral military cooperation. Medvedev, whose country is keen to preserve influence in the Arab world that dates back to Soviet times, described the visit as a "landmark event" in relations between Moscow and Beirut. Suleiman, who in turn labeled the visit as historic, hailed Medvedev for his support of Lebanon. He said the two sides had discussed signing a long-term military cooperation agreement. "It is a framework agreement and is planned to be signed in the near future," said the head of Russia's military-technical cooperation agency, Mikhail Dmitriyev.