Russia suspends Iskander missile exports to equip military
MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti)
Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Wednesday it was not planning to export Iskander tactical missile systems until Russia’s Armed Forces have been fully supplied with them. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said earlier this month the country would deploy Iskander-M systems with a range of 500 km in the Kaliningrad exclave, sandwiched between NATO members Lithuania and Poland, to “neutralize if necessary” a proposed US missile defense system in Central Europe. “There will be a break in Iskander supplies abroad until we have supplied the Russian Armed Forces with them,” Nikolai Dimidyuk, a senior Rosoboronexport official, said, adding the companies producing the systems are not facing financial problems despite the ongoing credit crisis. However, Dimidyuk said neighboring Belarus would be supplied with the Iskander-E system, which is a shorter-range export version of the Iskander-M. The decision was announced in 2007 and was prompted by the proposed missile shield elements in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Medvedev’s move sparked a wave of criticism in Europe, while some experts in Russia have expressed doubts over the reliability of Moscow’s response to Washington’s missile shield plans. The relatively new Iskander missiles have only been subject to test firing. Although the tests were reported to have been successful, some experts believe it will be impossible to set up the five proposed Iskander brigades in Kaliningrad over the next 4-5 years due to a lack of production facilities and a workforce shortage. Kommersant daily earlier reported the army has been hit by delays in Iskander deliveries since 2005. A training battalion in southern Russia’s testing ground Kapustin Yar is the only unit armed with four Iskander systems so far. The planned brigades in Kaliningrad require 60 systems as well as other equipment. Dimidyuk earlier said a number of countries, including Syria, the UAE, Malaysia and India, had shown an interest in the missile system. Earlier Russia was reported to be interested in exporting the Iskander-E to Algeria, Kuwait, Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea. The Iskander-E 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. It carries a single warhead with a payload of 400kg to comply with the limits laid down by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
Niqnaq 
3 Comments
I don’t know where RIA Novosti stories come from, but this one is wrong.
The production time-lines are significantly overstated and the range, accuracy and evasive capabilities of Iskander II have all been tested. My understanding is that supplies to foreign states have not been suspended. The story is so far removed from the truth that one can only speculate on Putin’s motivation. If it proves to be true that supplies to foreign states have recently (within the last 4 to 6 weeks) been suspended then my guess is that he’s going to offer NATO an olive branch and a chance to abandon its confrontational posturing.
(Or else)
Did I ever mention to you, Niggler, how enamoured I am of Dugin and the Duginites? I am especially fond of the eight rayed star they use as symbol for their Eurasianist Movement, which the NatBols were unable to purloin:
Dugin’s theories make my head hurt.
My guess is that the products of his imagination are useful to Putin for the time being. Putin’s ultimate plan seems to be to restore some semblance of order to the world by neutering and isolating America. Thanks in large part to the sub-prime melt-down and the GWOT, America’s ‘enemies within’ have done most of the neutering for him. As I inferred above, I think he’ll offer America a chance to bury the hatchet and co-operate. But if America turns its back on the offer Putin is probably already in a position to demonstrate that America no longer matters, militarily or politically, and may be safely ignored.