Air Defense Forces will receive new missile systems

Army air defense of the Russian armed forces will receive new anti-aircraft missile systems, according to RIA Novosti news agency reported quoting chief of the Air Defense Forces ground troops Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Alexander Leonov.

“There is a planned refitting of the armed forces, and quite dynamic – are supplied. And not just re – we form new connections and is equipped with brand new weapons. State tests were conducted and put into service a new line of modern complexes,” – said Leonov. According to head of the Air Defense Forces ground troops, it is primarily a question of such complexes as “Tor-M2” MANPADS “Willow,” anti-aircraft missile system S-300VM.

At the same time Alexander Leonov recalled that the approved plans by the end of this year, the troops will be re-equipped with new equipment by 30 percent, and by 2020 – 70 percent.

We add that the complex “Thor M2U” for air defense units of the ground forces in the fighting and in areas of concentration, the protection of command posts, communication centers, radio equipment, bridges, airports, etc. by guided missiles, bombs, airplanes, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and other elements of high-precision weapons. The complex was developed in the Research Institute of Electromechanics in Moscow and produced at the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant “cupola”. All the facilities of the family “Thor” use a single surface-to-air missile (SAM), which is established in the ICD “Torch”.

“Thor-M2U” has high reflection efficiency of massive attacks of modern means of air attack under intense fire and electronic countermeasures.

All-weather tactical air defense missile system “top M2U” range in Alabino

Turkey could eventually choose the Chinese-made FD-2000 as new air defense missile system

Turkey is open to an improvised bid from its preferred bidder China in a long-range missile defense system tender, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, ahead of a visit to Beijing. U.S. and European allies want Turkey to use a system that is compatible with NATO’s air defense and because they are worried about inherent security risks from Chinese technology.

In 2013, Turkey chose China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp as the preferred candidate for the US$3.4 billion deal, stirring U.S. and Western concern about security and the compatibility of the weaponry with NATO systems.

In March 2015, China confirmed an agreement to sell the HQ-9 air defense missile system to Turkey. A representative of China National Precision Machinery Import & Export Corporation said it was well-known that the Chinese FD-2000 system, a HQ-9 model for export, was chosen for the contract with Turkey in 2013.

According to a Turkish defense industry official, Ankara has not yet taken a final decision on its planned long-range missile defense system and contract talks with China are continuing.

The other contenders for the contract were the Patriot made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin in the US, theSAMP/T made by the French-Italian consortium Eurosam, and Russia’s Antey-2500 made by Rosoboronexport.

According to a report from CCTV’s website, the winning Chinese  FD-2000 system beat the US Patriot, the Russian S-400 and the French-Italian Eurosam Samp-T.

After Turkey announced the decision to award the contract to China, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said a few days later that he expected Turkey to choose a system that was compatible with those of other allies.

In recent years, China and Turkey have enjoyed the steady development of their bilateral trade relations, with China becoming Turkey’s second largest source of imports and its third largest trading partner.