The Hindu : Russia renews air defence offer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 31, 2002

International

International

Russia renews air defence offer

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW MARCH 30 . Russia will renew its proposal to help India set up a nationwide air and missile defence system when the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, visits Moscow. ``The integrated air defence proposal will certainly be on the table when Mr. Fernandes meets his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov,'' said Vladimir Simonov, head of the Russian Government agency for defence control systems, RASU.

The Russian proposal includes the sale to India of the S-300 long-range missile defence complexes, and the shorter-range systems such as Buk-M1, Tor-M1 and Tunguska-M1, as well as their integration with India's own missile systems. The two sides have been conducting talks on the issue since mid-1990, and India has eventually opted in favour of deploying indigenous air defence complexes.

Mr. Simonov told a press conference in Moscow on Friday that he still thought the Russian proposal was the best for India, but said his country was also willing to sell separate elements of the would-be air defence system. To retain its share of the Indian weapons market in the face of growing competition from Western companies, Russia intends to invest in the Indian defence industry.

``We are planning to set up several joint ventures with Indian companies to produce electronic devices and radars, both for civil aviation and military control of the air space,'' the RASU chief said.

He pointed out that Russia was targeting not only public sector undertakings, but also private firms, in line with India's disinvestment plans for the defence industry.

The first Indo-Russian joint venture company, BrahMos (short for Brahmaputra-Moscow), set up by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia company, last year, unveiled a supersonic cruise missile rated to be the best of its kind in the world.

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