Military Industrial Complex

Vadim Kotikov,

Moscow, May 24 2000 - Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a U.S. $500 million contract, under which Russia will supply its Pantsir-S1 close-in air defense missile-gun systems to UAE, the press secretary for Russian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of military industry and technology Ilya Klebanov said Wednesday.

"Wednesday, Klebanov presented the signed contract to the UAE military attache in Russia," Oksana Onishchenko told BridgeNews.

She said the contract was to be implemented over the next few years and was "one of Russia's most important arms export deals in the past 12 months." She gave no further details of the deal. Pantsir was developed jointly by the Russian Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering (KBP) and the Fazotron-NIIR joint stock company.

KBP currently focuses on the development of anti-tank missile systems and short-range air-defense systems, combining guns and missiles.

Pantsir comprises a combat vehicle based on the Ural truck chassis, surface-to-air missiles and a gun armament.

The system has a range of 0.2 to 12 kilometers and is capable of engaging a wide variety of targets, including tactical aircraft, helicopters, ballistic and cruise missiles and guided bombs.

Klebanov said earlier Russian arms exports this year would be at about $4.5 billion, up from $3.4 billion last year.