Brazil May Purchase Pantsir-S1 and Igla Anti-Aircraft Defense Systems from Russia

The Brazilian Armed Forces intend to purchase anti-aircraft defense systems from Russia. This statement has been made by General Jose Carlos De Nardi, the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Brazil. According to the information available, the Brazilian Army is interested in acquiring three batteries of Pantsir-S1 missiles (12-18 machines) and two batteries of Igla missiles.

This issue will be discussed during the upcoming visit of the Russian Prime Minister to Brazil.

De Nardi noted that the agreement between Russia and Brazil is likely to include the sharing of technologies and construction of a production plant in Brazil.

The technical details of this transaction and different implementation issues are now under discussion. The officials have already prepared a draft of the bilateral agreement on equal partnership in this area. The offer will be subject to approval by Dilma Rousseff, the President of Brazil.

The potential purchase of Pantsir-S1 and Igla anti-aircraft defense systems was discussed between General Jose Carlos De Nardi and Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, on January 23, 2013.

GLONASS to Be Completed with New Satellites

Information Satellite Systems company is currently implementing a successful program which consists in the production of navigation satellites in order to support the GLONASS orbit group.

The company plans to launch five or six navigation satellites in 2013, including three Glonass-M satellites and one or two single Glonass-M and Glonass-K1 satellites.

According to Nikolay Testoyedov, the general designer and Director General of Information Satellite Systems, five new Glonass-M satellites are to be manufactured this year. At the same time, he noted that the total number of satellites and their launch time will totally depend on the current state of the existing satellite group.

It’s planned to launch the first Glonass-K2 only at the turn of 2015, as this satellite is a breakthrough machine. On the one hand, as a multi-frequency system, this satellite complies with the specifications stipulated by GLONASS Federal Target Program, on the other hand, as a multi-function system, it will be used not only in navigation, but also in many other spheres.

Russian Knights to Carry Out 10 Demonstration Flights in the Indian Skies

The Russian Knights will take part in Aero India 2013, the 9th International Exhibition on Aerospace, Defence & Civil Aviation. The aerobatic team will carry out 10 demonstration flights on February 6-10.

According to the Directorate for Press Service and Information of the Ministry of Defense, on February 2, five SU-27 aircrafts and IL-76 leading aircraft started their flight along the following route: Kubinka – Chelyabinsk – Kant – Delhi – Bangalore.

The pilots will demonstrate individual, group and counter maneuvers. The crowning part of the performance will be two group aerobatic elements, including a simultaneous bell-formation by two fighter planes and formation of rhombus at full reheat thrust.

Today, the Russian Knights group is one of the best aerobatic teams in the world. In August 2012, the pilots participated in the International Air Show dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Russian Air Force.

In April 2013, the Russian Knights will celebrate the 22^nd anniversary of its foundation.

Gunsmiths from Tula to Present a Single Combat Module for Armored Vehicles

Instrument Design Bureau (KBP, Tula) plans to present the new weapon systems for armored vehicles by this autumn. The developers expect these systems to have the greater potential as compared to their foreign counterparts.

The research and development works aimed at creating the perspective weapon systems for armored vehicles were started in 2011. The working construction documentation was completely elaborated at the turn of 2012. Today, the company embarks on a new stage of the project implementation which consists in the production of specimens for pre-testing purposes.

The elaboration of WCD has resulted in the creation of a single combat module, thus facilitating the production, operation and personnel training. It’s interesting to note that the new module is equipped with a brand new fire control system ensuring the automatic combat work with different kind of weapons. The chief designer stated that the new weapon systems would outperform their domestic and foreign competitors, such as Puma (Germany) and Bradley (USA).

According to KBP, the new weapon systems for armored vehicles will be presented at the exhibition in Nizhny Tagil in September 2013.