Russian President Highly Appreciates Zapad-2013

Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, has highly appreciated the results of the extensive Russian-Belarusian military exercise Zapad-2013.

“Our troops have demonstrated a sufficiently high degree of coordination and worked smoothly together in solving a number of practice and combat tasks. This is an integral step in ensuring defence of the Union State” Mr. Putin stated, adding that more than 10,000 soldiers operating new weapons and military equipment were involved in the drills.

“I hope these exercises will make it possible to assess our long-term plans aimed at improving security of the Union State. Special attention was paid to coordination between the Defence Ministry and executive authorities to ensure the needs of the Armed Forces in the performance of defence tasks,” Mr. Putin commented, noting that this year mainly focused on combat training, with five snap inspections of troops included in the activities.

“As a result, we have been presented with a real picture of the condition of the Armed Forces and their combat potential. The results of the exercise would be used to guide the development of the Russian military,” Russian President concluded.

Rosatom Ready to Cooperate with Hungarian Enterprises

Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation hopes to cooperate with Hungarian entrepreneurs in implementing its projects. This came in a statement by Bulat Nureev, Chief Localization Officer of Rusatom Overseas, at a meeting with representatives of the Hungarian industry, which was held in Budapest on September 26.

“Apart from nuclear energy, we have opportunities to extend our cooperation in the sphere of renewable energy sources and thermal electric power stations. Localization has a positive effect on the development of the economy, as it creates new jobs, involves more taxes, and provides local businesses with an opportunity to develop their competence” Mr. Nureev commented, adding that the first seminar on localization issues was organized in Budapest in April 2013 with participation of 146 Hungarian companies.

“Two lists of enterprises, which are treated as potential partners of Rosatom, will be made up. Our cooperation with Hungarian companies has a big potential. There are huge prospects for cooperation in the machine-building industry to produce equipment, pump units, cooling and fire-fighting systems,” Mr. Nureev concluded.

Russia and NATO Finish Joint Anti-Terror Drills

NATO and Russia have successfully completed a three-day joint exercise to test their capacity to counter terrorist threats in the skies over NATO and Russian territory. According to the information available, the exercise involved fighter aircraft from Turkish, Polish and Russian Air Forces as well as air traffic controllers from the NATO-Russia Council Cooperative Airspace Initiative.

“The scenario involved two separate air terrorism incidents involving the hijacking of civilian aircraft in Turkish, Russian and Polish airspace by terrorists on board the planes. All incidents were successfully resolved after NATO and Russian air traffic controllers coordinated Allied and Russian military authorities to scramble fighter jets to escort the aircraft to safe landings,” NATO said in a statement.

It should be mentioned that the Cooperative Airspace Initiative was launched at the first NATO-Russia Council summit in Rome in May 2002. According to NATO, its aim is to operate and further develop a capability for reciprocal air traffic information exchange and coordination of air security incidents which pose a terrorist threat.

Indian Companies Willing to Extend Military-Technical Cooperation with Russia

About 20 Indian companies have expressed their interest in developing military-technical cooperation with Russia at the NAMEXPO-2013 Naval Show. This came in a statement by Viktor Komardin, Deputy Director General of Rosoboronexport.

These companies include Larsen&Toubro (India’s biggest machine-building company), Pipavav (the first private port in the Indian state of Gujarat), ABG Shipyard Limited (shipbuilding company in Mumbai), Hindustan Shipyard Limited (shipyard in the city of Visakhapatnam in the state of Orissa), Bharat Electronics Limited (state-owned company in India, one of the largest suppliers of electronic equipment for the Indian Army), as well as Cochin Shipyard.

As part of the negotiations, representatives of Rosoboronexport and Indian companies discussed the possibility of producing hydraulic systems for submarines, desalination plants, chillers, pumps, ventilation systems, power systems and fire protection systems. “Under the Indian law, foreign companies are allowed to participate up to 26 percent in production and up to 49 percent in after-sales service,” Mr. Komardin pointed out.

Astra-2E Satellite Successfully Launched from Baikonur

The Proton-M carrier rocket with the Astra-2E satellite was successfully launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome early Monday. This statement was made by a spokesman for the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation.

It should be noted that the satellite launch was performed from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 1:38, Moscow time. Nine minutes after the blastoff, the Briz-M acceleration unit with the Astra-2E satellite separated from the carrier rocket.

It’s worth noting that the Astra-2E, belonging to SES ASTRA Company, is designed for broadcasting radio and TV programs in analog and digital format and providing automobile and Internet services for subscribers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Ku-band capacity will allow SES ASTRA to enhance and secure its existing offering to major Direct-to-Home markets in the UK and Ireland. With a Ku-band payload, the satellites will have spot beam and pan-European beam switching capabilities to accommodate both pay-TV and free-to-air broadcasters, and to provide these customers with increased functionality.

Russia Ready to Develop Smart Weaponry

The new state armaments program, which is currently being developed for the period until 2025, will mainly focus on the intellectualization of weapons and application of unconventional target engagement forms. This information was presented by Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

“The future armaments program will be highly innovative. Moreover, it will be concentrated on the intellectualization of weapons and will be based on the use of unconventional target engagement methods,” Mr. Rogozin commented, explaining that new military systems should be developed and designed with regard to the capabilities of advanced weapons, which can be operated in different environments, including water, underwater, air and space systems.

“The future state armaments program will be aimed at developing a wide range of robotics,” Mr. Rogozin pointed out, adding that it will allow a modern soldier to avoid excessive exposure to the fire of battle and fight alone against five enemies.

Russia to Design New Flying Laboratory

The Federal Security Service of the Russia Federation has announced a tender to develop a new flying laboratory based on the Mi-8 helicopter. Development work will be conducted under the Shershen code. The total amount of the project is estimated at 8 million rubles. The flying laboratory should be developed until April 30, 2014.

Under the approved technical assignment, Shershen will be used to study and evaluate the effectiveness of new air weapons, as well as test new landing and evacuation means. The flying laboratory based on the Mi-8 should be equipped with mass-produced components, accessories and systems.

In addition, the machine should be fitted with a main power unit (2.500 hp in emergency mode) and an auxiliary power unit, armor protection of the cockpit, gear compartment and hydraulic panel, vibration dampers, sighting system, etc. The results of the tender are to be announced by Russia’s Federal Security Service on October 31, 2013.

Mini BrahMos May Enter Service in 2017

The work on a mini version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile produced by Russia and India is at the initial stage. The missile may be adopted in 2017. This statement was made by Sivathanu Pillai, Director General of BrahMos Aerospace Company.

“It is essential to reduce the weight of a missile to be installed on a fighter jet. The small version got the name of BrahMos-M. After work on a detail design and an initial configuration of the missile is completed, we will start developing the missile,” Mr. Pillai stated, adding that the weight of the advanced missile will be 1.5 tons and its length will be equal to 6 meters. It will be designed for Su-30MKI and MiG-29 fighter jets.

It should noted that the first launch of the aviation BrahMos rocket (BrahMos-A) is scheduled for June 2014. The Su-30MKI fighter armed with this missile will be ready in September 2015. The Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos was founded in 1998. The company acts as a technological partner of India’s first naval and shipbuilding exhibition NAMEXPO-2013.

Russian Senior Officials Get Acquainted with Armata

Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and a group of senior officials got a sneak preview of a secret prototype of the country’s new-generation battle tank at the Russia Arms Expo 2013. The new Armata tank is expected to enter service with the Russian Army in 2015.

According to media reports, the new tank will incorporate elements presented in other projects, including Object 195 and Black Eagle, and will feature a remotely controlled gun and fully automated loading, as well as a separate crew compartment made from composite materials and protected by multilayered armor. Russian experts believe that the appearance of the remotely controlled gun would lead to the development of a fully robotic tank which could be deployed to spearhead an offensive.

It’s necessary to point out that the Armata is designed as a modular universal combat platform that could be used as the basis for a variety of combat vehicles, including fire support, mine clearing, heavy flame throwing, and bridge laying vehicles.

Rusatom Overseas Presents New Projects at Russia-Singapore Business Forum

Rusatom Overseas participated in the 8^th Russia-Singapore Business Forum. In his speech, Milko Kovachev, Vice-President of Rusatom Overseas, noted the importance of nuclear energy as an environmentally friendly source of energy for the Asia-Pacific region. According to Mr. Kovachev, the power consumption of these countries is growing rapidly, and the development of nuclear power may be the key to their secure long-term energy supply. In addition, Mr. Kovachev presented several projects in the field of radiation technologies.

“Today, Rosatom offers a wide range of high-tech solutions in such fields as medicine, ecology, and agriculture. This includes production of modern equipment for radionuclide diagnostics and radiation therapy, supply of isotope production and radiopharmaceuticals, manufacture of equipment for processing solid waste and wastewater treatment,” Mr. Kovachev emphasized.

Russia-Singapore Business Forum has become one of the leading business platforms for discussing key issues of economic cooperation between Russia and Asian countries. The Forum is traditionally attended by political and business leaders from the Russian Federation and Singapore.