Rusia obtiene un supercontrato con la India:
Russia to Sell India Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems Worth $450M — Source
Created: 03.02.2005 11:55 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:13 MSK
MosNews
Russia will sell India several dozen Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems, the Vedomosti business daily reported on Thursday, Feb. 3, quoting a top military official. The sum of the contract will amount to at least $450 million, making it Russia’s largest contract for the delivery of weapons for ground forces since 2001.
A source close to Russia’s state-controlled arms export agency Rosoboronexport told reporters that India will receive no less than 36 multiple-launch rocket systems for a sum of no less than $450 million (including the cost of additional equipment and ammunition).
Another source, a staff member of one of the military enterprises that cooperate on production of Smerch (Russian for whirlwind) systems, confirmed that the contract will be signed “possibly in the next few months”. The technical parameters of the deal are almost agreed upon, said the source.
The press service of Rosoboronexport declined to comment on the information.
The editor of the Moscow Defense Brief magazine, Ruslan Pukhov, said that the contract will become Russia’s largest deal for the delivery of arms for ground forces since 2001 when another contract with India worth $800 million was signed. Then, Russia was to deliver and assemble 310 T-90C tanks for India’s armed forces.
If the contract is signed, India will join only two other countries where Russia has delivered Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems. They were Algeria (18 systems in 1999) and Kuwait (27 systems in 1995-1996).