Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
Russia and Turkey are in the final stages of negotiating a new contract to supply Ankara with additional S-400 air defense units, Russia’s state-run arms exporter has announced.
A new deal with Turkey on the delivery of the advanced medium-to-long-range air defense missile system is set to be signed soon, Alexander Mikheyev, CEO of arms exporter Rosoboronexport, said on Monday, as cited by the Russian media.
Speaking at the Army-2021 international military-technical forum on Monday, Mikheyev confirmed that “the consultations continue and are at the final stage. We will start formalizing a contract with our partners soon.”
He also hailed as a success the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) held in Turkey in August 2021. “The exhibition was a success and our delegation brought back a fairly good program of requests.”
Moscow and Ankara signed an agreement in 2017 to deliver S-400 to Turkey, making it the first NATO member to purchase the air defense missile system from Russia.
The deal angered the US and NATO, with Washington pressuring Turkey to abandon the Russian air defense system.
The US claims that the Russian missile systems are not compatible with the military hardware within the Western military alliance.
The Turkish government, however, stresses that it needs more air defense systems and the deal falls well within its rights to acquire armaments from various sources.
Russia’s S-400 ‘Triumf’ entered service with the Russian army in 2007 and is considered Russia’s most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system.
Capable of engaging targets at a distance of 400 kilometers and at an altitude of up to 30 kilometers, the missile system can destroy aircraft as well as cruise and ballistic missiles. It can also be used against land-based targets.
