Rogue Planet

Russian Arms Exporter Sanctioned Over Iran

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 25, 2008; A12

The State Department has slapped financial sanctions on Russia's state arms exporter for its dealings with Iran, but in an unusual move, it granted the company a partial waiver to permit the sale of nearly two dozen Russian helicopters to Iraq, U.S. officials said yesterday.

The new sanctions -- required by U.S. law to thwart the sale of sensitive technology that could help Iran, North Korea and Syria develop weapons of mass destruction or missile systems -- were also imposed on 12 other companies or organizations based in China, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced the sanctions on Russia's Rosoboronexport, and its subsidiaries, as illegal and unjust. The company had been sanctioned by the United States in 2006 but would have come off the list had the State Department determined that it had not made any suspect sales in the past two years.

"These new sanctions were introduced without any international legal foundation whatsoever," Lavrov said in Moscow. "Russia will of course take this into account in practical affairs and relations with the United States, such as in trade and economic and other spheres."

He added that Russia would not change its policies on Iran because of the sanctions. "All our trade and all of our military-technical cooperation with Iran is carried out in strict accordance with current international legal norms," he said. "There can be no other explanation here than the rather arrogant extra-territorial implementation of American laws."

Russian arms sales to set new record

Associated Press 08.05.08, 10:16 AM ET

Russian arms sales are set to reach a new post-Soviet record this year, a top official said Tuesday.

Head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, Mikhail Dmitriyev, said that the nation's weapons exports will exceed $8 billion this year, Russian news agencies reported.

Russia's arms sales have grown at a quick pace, reaching a post-Soviet record of $7.5 billion last year.

According to the latest report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia accounted for a quarter of global arms sales in 2003-2007, coming a close second after the United States.

While China and India have been the leading customers, Russia recently also has struck big weapons deals with Venezuela, Algeria and Iran.

Dmitriyev on Tuesday confirmed that Russia completed the delivery of 24 Su-30 fighter jets to Venezuela.

But despite the steady increase in sales, Russia has suffered several recent, highly publicized failures in arms exports which were widely attributed to swelling production costs and general inefficiency of the nation's weapons industries.

Russia demanded a revision of the contract price in a deal to refurbish a Soviet-era aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy, and difficult talks with the disgruntled Indian officials are still ongoing. It also has failed to fulfill China's order for 38 Il-76 transport planes and Il-78 tankers, leading to the suspension of the deal.

Earlier this year Algeria also returned the MiG-29 fighter jets it bought from Russia, complaining of their poor quality.

Dmitriyev acknowledged Tuesday that the Russian military industries have struggled to fulfill the earlier contracts.

"At present, we have a queue of foreign customers waiting for military products, foremost air defense systems under earlier contracts," Dmitriyev said, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

[forbes.com]

Weldon's Firm Lobbied White House to Buy East European Arms for Iraq

By Sharon Weinberger 

In may, Defense Solutions, the Pennsylvania-based arms-dealer employing former Congressman Curt Weldon, paid a visit to the White House to discuss weapons sales to Iraq. The company's hope was to convince White House officials that Iraq should buy East European arms, rather than those made in the United States. After meeting with staff in the vice president's office, Defense Solutions CEO Timothy Ringgold sent an e-mail, a copy of which was provided to DANGER ROOM, to some of his colleagues. In it, he sums up his sales pitch. The idea, Ringgold says, is to supply former Soviet Bloc tanks, armored personnel carriers, and fighting vehicles as a "near term solution" for beefing up the Iraqi military.

We learned that the US government has not agreed, but "is considering" providing M1A1 Abrams to Iraq... Our [p]rogram was presented as a near term solution (next 1-4 years) to Iraq's need for wheeled and tracked armor vehicles... to speed the operational readiness of the Iraqi Army... 

Should a decision be made to supply Abrams, it doubtful that more than 20 or 30 could be supplied in the first two years... while we could supply [former Soviet bloc armor, like] 500+ modernized T-72s [tanks], 500+ upgraded BMPs [fighting vehicles], and nearly 400 new production BTRs [armored personnel carriers]. We are likely months, perhaps longer from a decision on Abrams. In the mean time, the Iraqi Defense Minister is apparently making no decisions.

Continue reading "Weldon's Firm Lobbied White House to Buy East European Arms for Iraq" »

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09/06/2008 19:10

MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow is considering resuming deliveries of Russian arms to Afghanistan, Russia's first deputy foreign minister said on Monday.

"We are working out parameters for resuming bilateral cooperation in this field with our Afghan colleagues, and we expect Afghanistan's defense minister to visit Moscow," Andrei Denisov said.

Faced with an increase in the activities of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists, the Afghan authorities recently asked Russia to resume aid programs suspended in 2005. According to the diplomat, Russia has already rendered military technical aid to Afghanistan worth $220 million.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said in Moscow in May that the issue of resuming arms supplies to equip the Afghan army would be discussed during a visit by the defense minister.

Afghanistan began receiving Russian arms in the 1970s prior to the Soviet invasion of the Central Asian country. Although the supplies stopped with the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1988, Soviet aircraft, tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as the world-renowned Kalashnikov automatic rifle, have remained the basis of the Afghan army.

[RIA Novosti]

By John Shiffman
Inquirer Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - A Wilkes-Barre area firearms shop owner and a Russian broker of military gear have been arrested as part of an illegal arms-export investigation, officials said yesterday.
The Russian, Sergey Korznikov, and the American, Mark Komoroski of D&R Sports in Nanticoke, Luzerne County, are charged with conspiracy to smuggle goods overseas. The charges have not been publicly announced, but were confirmed by officials familiar with the case.

They have been under investigation by agents of the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement; the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives; the Pennsylvania State Police and the Commerce Department for nearly two years.

Federal agents raided D&R Sports in late 2006, and a related affidavit cites billing documents that authorities say showed the two men smuggled $247,000 worth of restricted gear to Russia, Kuwait and Japan without obtaining the proper licenses.

In August, sources said, federal agents seized a shipment from D&R to Korznikov's Russian company, Tactia. The manifest said the shipment was filled with clothes, but actually included restricted rifle scopes and weapon magazines. A person familiar with the case said that D&R failed to obtain the appropriate federal export licenses for those items.

The Russian defense industry is looking to increase its foothold in South America, in addition to the sweet deal penned with Venezuela, Defense Industry Daily is reporting. Venezuela's buying spree is expected to draw attention from many of its neighbors on the continent, namely Brazil, who is reported to be increasing its defense budget from $3.5B to $5B.

DID Article

Moscow expects a doubling or trebling of Russia's weapons sales (currently amounting to US$4 billion) in agreements with Venezuela over the next few years, according to Russian state arms exporting agency Rosoboronexport executive Serguei Ladiguin.

"We have initialed agreements for US$4 billion with Venezuela and we are to at least  double or treble this sum," Ladiguin told Russian television in a direct broadcast from Caracas, where he was taking part in Venezuela-Russia bilateral cooperation meetings.

• Ladiguin stressed that Russia and Venezuela are drafting supply agreements for warships, warplanes and helicopter gunships, as well as a wide range of weapons for the Army.

Reported by Interfax, Ladiguin reminded his audience that Moscow is actually supplying Su-30 warplanes, different types of helicopter gunships and cargo choppers, as well as Kalashnikov rifles to Venezuela and that Russia is also building three military manufacturing facilities in Venezuela ... one Kalashnikov manufacturing plant, an ammunutions factory and one helicopter maintenance and repair workshops.

Over the last few years, Venezuela has made significant weapon purchases from Russia, including 24 Su-30MK warplanes, 50 helicopter gunships and cargo choppers, Tor-M1 anti-aircraft defense systems and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

Ladiguin confirmed that Rosoboronexport has an interest in consolidating its position in the Latin American marketplace.

"We do believe our company can offer a lot to Latin America, particularly in transferring certain technologies and supplying a number of equipment, not only military items."

[vheadline.com]

by Stephen Bandera, Kyiv Post Editor
Aug 29 2007, 23:24
Ukraine earned some $750 million through weaponry sales to 19 countries in 2006

Ukraine, one of the world’s top 10 arms exporting countries, earned some $750 million through weaponry sales to 19 countries in 2006, with exports to Azerbaijan and China leading the way, according to the country’s annual report to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.

Azerbaijan received 17 battle tanks, while 20 were bought by the Congo and one was purchased by the United States. Ukraine has reported the transfer of more than 720 tanks to 11 different countries since the country joined the voluntary reporting mechanism established by the UN nearly 15 years ago.

Azerbaijan and the Congo also purchased 23 armored combat vehicles, while 50 armored combat vehicles (ACV) were delivered to Iraq and 10 to Nigeria. Earlier this month, Ukraine won a contract to supply 96 ACVs for $117 million to Thailand, which will take two years to complete.

In addition, Azerbaijan acquired 13 units of large-caliber artillery, according to the report published this month.

OK - wait for it - the Russians are upset their AKs are being copied worldwide. Now that the same threat has been regurgitated in the news for the 5,000th time in five years, has anyone yet to see any type of formal lawsuit filed?

These guys need to go out and hire themselves a real lawyer if they want to start fighting piracy.

By Hannah Gardner and Ellen Pinchuk

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Sixty years after the Kalashnikov assault rifle went into production, Russia is fighting to stop unlicensed manufacture of the weapon in other countries.

Global production of the world's most abundant firearm ``creates the possibility in a series of countries to avoid responsibility for what is basically the production of counterfeit goods,'' Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in an interview in Izhevsk, in the western Ural Mountains. ``We will, of course, fight for our rights.''

Russia's targeting of counterfeit Kalashnikovs underscores the success of the brand since Mikhail Kalashnikov first began to design a weapon while lying wounded in a hospital bed during World War II. In 1947, his work culminated in the AK-47, the most successful assault rifle in history, for which the Soviet Union granted production licenses to friendly states.

UPI
August 15, 2007 Wednesday 3:09 PM EST

MARTIN SIEFF

International small-arms contracts usually don't make the big headlines the way seven-figure, heavy weapons system sales of main battle tanks, warships or combat aircraft do. But they can be of equal or greater importance. The announcement earlier this month by Russia's Izhevsk Manufacturing Plant in the Urals of its new deal to build two new factories to manufacture arms and ammunition in Venezuela is a case in point.

Not only were no top-dollar, high-profile items like anti-aircraft missiles or fighter-bombers involved, but the guns in question weren't even new ones. IMP has undertaken to build a plant to manufacture under license the famous Kalashnikov, or AK-47 assault rifle for the Venezuelan government. The announcement was even made at a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the gun's design.

The AK-47, like the old U.S. Army Jeep and the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, is an example of a weapons system design that never grows old because it is virtually impossible to improve on
it. The gun itself was the perfected product of a long line of previous rifles, most notably the U.S. Army's beloved Garand M-1 and the Wehrmacht's SturmGevehr StG44 during World War II. And variants or knockoffs of it have abounded, most ably the Israeli Army's Galil assault rifle.

Russia may resume arms sales to Afghanistan

09/06/2008 19:10

MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow is considering resuming deliveries of Russian arms to Afghanistan, Russia's first deputy foreign minister said on Monday.

"We are working out parameters for resuming bilateral cooperation in this field with our Afghan colleagues, and we expect Afghanistan's defense minister to visit Moscow," Andrei Denisov said.

Faced with an increase in the activities of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists, the Afghan authorities recently asked Russia to resume aid programs suspended in 2005. According to the diplomat, Russia has already rendered military technical aid to Afghanistan worth $220 million.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said in Moscow in May that the issue of resuming arms supplies to equip the Afghan army would be discussed during a visit by the defense minister.

Afghanistan began receiving Russian arms in the 1970s prior to the Soviet invasion of the Central Asian country. Although the supplies stopped with the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1988, Soviet aircraft, tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as the world-renowned Kalashnikov automatic rifle, have remained the basis of the Afghan army.

[RIA Novosti]

Arms-export probe arrests link Pennsylvania, Russia

By John Shiffman
Inquirer Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - A Wilkes-Barre area firearms shop owner and a Russian broker of military gear have been arrested as part of an illegal arms-export investigation, officials said yesterday.
The Russian, Sergey Korznikov, and the American, Mark Komoroski of D&R Sports in Nanticoke, Luzerne County, are charged with conspiracy to smuggle goods overseas. The charges have not been publicly announced, but were confirmed by officials familiar with the case.

They have been under investigation by agents of the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement; the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives; the Pennsylvania State Police and the Commerce Department for nearly two years.

Federal agents raided D&R Sports in late 2006, and a related affidavit cites billing documents that authorities say showed the two men smuggled $247,000 worth of restricted gear to Russia, Kuwait and Japan without obtaining the proper licenses.

In August, sources said, federal agents seized a shipment from D&R to Korznikov's Russian company, Tactia. The manifest said the shipment was filled with clothes, but actually included restricted rifle scopes and weapon magazines. A person familiar with the case said that D&R failed to obtain the appropriate federal export licenses for those items.

Latin America: From Russia with Love

The Russian defense industry is looking to increase its foothold in South America, in addition to the sweet deal penned with Venezuela, Defense Industry Daily is reporting. Venezuela's buying spree is expected to draw attention from many of its neighbors on the continent, namely Brazil, who is reported to be increasing its defense budget from $3.5B to $5B.

DID Article

Moscow expects doubling or trebling of Russia's weapons sales to Venezuela

Moscow expects a doubling or trebling of Russia's weapons sales (currently amounting to US$4 billion) in agreements with Venezuela over the next few years, according to Russian state arms exporting agency Rosoboronexport executive Serguei Ladiguin.

"We have initialed agreements for US$4 billion with Venezuela and we are to at least  double or treble this sum," Ladiguin told Russian television in a direct broadcast from Caracas, where he was taking part in Venezuela-Russia bilateral cooperation meetings.

• Ladiguin stressed that Russia and Venezuela are drafting supply agreements for warships, warplanes and helicopter gunships, as well as a wide range of weapons for the Army.

Reported by Interfax, Ladiguin reminded his audience that Moscow is actually supplying Su-30 warplanes, different types of helicopter gunships and cargo choppers, as well as Kalashnikov rifles to Venezuela and that Russia is also building three military manufacturing facilities in Venezuela ... one Kalashnikov manufacturing plant, an ammunutions factory and one helicopter maintenance and repair workshops.

Over the last few years, Venezuela has made significant weapon purchases from Russia, including 24 Su-30MK warplanes, 50 helicopter gunships and cargo choppers, Tor-M1 anti-aircraft defense systems and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

Ladiguin confirmed that Rosoboronexport has an interest in consolidating its position in the Latin American marketplace.

"We do believe our company can offer a lot to Latin America, particularly in transferring certain technologies and supplying a number of equipment, not only military items."

[vheadline.com]

Ukraine holds firm as a top world arms exporter, but lags far behind Russia

by Stephen Bandera, Kyiv Post Editor
Aug 29 2007, 23:24
Ukraine earned some $750 million through weaponry sales to 19 countries in 2006

Ukraine, one of the world’s top 10 arms exporting countries, earned some $750 million through weaponry sales to 19 countries in 2006, with exports to Azerbaijan and China leading the way, according to the country’s annual report to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.

Azerbaijan received 17 battle tanks, while 20 were bought by the Congo and one was purchased by the United States. Ukraine has reported the transfer of more than 720 tanks to 11 different countries since the country joined the voluntary reporting mechanism established by the UN nearly 15 years ago.

Azerbaijan and the Congo also purchased 23 armored combat vehicles, while 50 armored combat vehicles (ACV) were delivered to Iraq and 10 to Nigeria. Earlier this month, Ukraine won a contract to supply 96 ACVs for $117 million to Thailand, which will take two years to complete.

In addition, Azerbaijan acquired 13 units of large-caliber artillery, according to the report published this month.

Russia Targets Kalashnikov Counterfeiters in Global Piracy Push

OK - wait for it - the Russians are upset their AKs are being copied worldwide. Now that the same threat has been regurgitated in the news for the 5,000th time in five years, has anyone yet to see any type of formal lawsuit filed?

These guys need to go out and hire themselves a real lawyer if they want to start fighting piracy.

By Hannah Gardner and Ellen Pinchuk

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Sixty years after the Kalashnikov assault rifle went into production, Russia is fighting to stop unlicensed manufacture of the weapon in other countries.

Global production of the world's most abundant firearm ``creates the possibility in a series of countries to avoid responsibility for what is basically the production of counterfeit goods,'' Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in an interview in Izhevsk, in the western Ural Mountains. ``We will, of course, fight for our rights.''

Russia's targeting of counterfeit Kalashnikovs underscores the success of the brand since Mikhail Kalashnikov first began to design a weapon while lying wounded in a hospital bed during World War II. In 1947, his work culminated in the AK-47, the most successful assault rifle in history, for which the Soviet Union granted production licenses to friendly states.

Defense Focus: Venezuela's Kalashnikovs

UPI
August 15, 2007 Wednesday 3:09 PM EST

MARTIN SIEFF

International small-arms contracts usually don't make the big headlines the way seven-figure, heavy weapons system sales of main battle tanks, warships or combat aircraft do. But they can be of equal or greater importance. The announcement earlier this month by Russia's Izhevsk Manufacturing Plant in the Urals of its new deal to build two new factories to manufacture arms and ammunition in Venezuela is a case in point.

Not only were no top-dollar, high-profile items like anti-aircraft missiles or fighter-bombers involved, but the guns in question weren't even new ones. IMP has undertaken to build a plant to manufacture under license the famous Kalashnikov, or AK-47 assault rifle for the Venezuelan government. The announcement was even made at a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the gun's design.

The AK-47, like the old U.S. Army Jeep and the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, is an example of a weapons system design that never grows old because it is virtually impossible to improve on
it. The gun itself was the perfected product of a long line of previous rifles, most notably the U.S. Army's beloved Garand M-1 and the Wehrmacht's SturmGevehr StG44 during World War II. And variants or knockoffs of it have abounded, most ably the Israeli Army's Galil assault rifle.