http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081001/117366006.html

Russia's Iskander-E missile systems see strong foreign demand


MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - Several countries have shown an interest in purchasing Russia's advanced Iskander-E short-range ballistic missile systems, state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Wednesday.

The Iskander-E (SS-26 Stone) is a tactical surface-to-surface missile complex designed to deliver high-precision strikes at a variety of ground targets at a range of up to 280 km (170 miles). It carries a single warhead with a payload of 400 kg to comply with the limits laid down by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

"Syria, the UAE, Malaysia, India and some other countries have shown an interest in the missile system," said Rosoboronexport official Nikolai Dimidyuk.

Russia will also seek to export the Iskander-E to Algeria, Kuwait, Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea, he added.

The Iskander-E has a launch weight of 3,800 kg and is deployed on a transporter erector launcher (TEL) vehicle that carries two missiles. The missiles incorporate 'stealth' technology and feature variable flight trajectory.

They can reportedly be launched within a minute of each other and have a circular-error probable (CEP) of 30 meters.

An Iskander battery comprises TELs, loaders, and a command vehicle. Target acquisition is supported by a mobile data-processing center.

Dimidyuk also said Russia is forming a brigade of Iskander-M SRBM systems with longer ranges and heavier payloads than the export [Iskander-E] version.

"The system has been adopted in service with Russia's armed forces and, as far as I know, a brigade [of Iskander systems] is being formed," he said.

In an interview with the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily in July, Col. Gen. Viktor Yesin, a former commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, said Moscow could deploy tactical Iskander-M missiles in the Kaliningrad Region or in Belarus, from where they could reach U.S. ground based interceptors in Poland.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080930/117331145.html

Russia plans to raise defense expenditure by 50% in 3 years

MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is planning to increase its spending on defense by 50% in the next three years, a senior MP said Tuesday.

Russia's defense budget is believed to be less than a tenth of the United States', but the country's military expenditure has been steadily growing in the past few years.

"According to a draft federal budget for 2009-2011, expenditure on national defense will increase in 2009 by 25.7% from 1.02 trillion rubles ($40 billion) to 1.28 trillion rubles ($51.3 billion) and would account for 14% of total budget spending," said Viktor Zavarzin, chairman of the Defense Committee in Russia's lower house of parliament.

He also said that by 2011 the total defense expenditures would increase by 45.6% compared with 2008.

A large portion of additional expenditures would go toward raising salaries and improving the living conditions of military personnel, he added.

Russia is soon to adopt a new military doctrine that aims to transform the Armed Forces into a mobile and effective military force. Their structures will be "optimized" through the use of combined arms units performing similar tasks.

President Dmitry Medvedev said last week that Russia would make the modernization of its nuclear deterrent and Armed Forces a priority in the decade up to 2020.

"We must ensure air superiority, precision strikes at land and sea targets, and timely deployment of troops," Medvedev said. "We are planning to launch large-scale production of warships, primarily, nuclear submarines with cruise missiles and multi-purpose attack submarines."

Russia's Defense Ministry earlier said it would spend around 1 trillion rubles ($40 billion) of federal budget funds in 2008, 20% more than in 2007, and that in 2008-10 military spending would account for 15.5-16% of total federal budget spending.