August 26, 2004 :: News
Russia and China are expected to sign another arms deal later this year, by which China will purchase an additional four to eight S-300PMU air and missile defenses to China. The deal is worth between 450 and 900 million dollars—the more advanced S-300PMUs, known in the West as the SA-10, reportedly sell for over 100 million per battery. The S-300P has both air and missile defense capabilities.
The contract is said to have been initialed by Russia’s arms export company, Rosoboronexport, and the S-300 PMU will be built by the Almaz-Antey company. Russia previously sold eight S-300 systems to China in 1993. An additional four batteries from a 2002 contract were delivered earlier this year.
The Saint Petersburg Times and the Moscow Vedomosti news service cite Russian experts who suggest that the interceptors may be used to defend the cities of Beijing and Shanghai, reasoning that the previously sold batteries would probably provide insufficient coverage, and others which suggest that the sale could indicate that China’s development of its own reverse-engineered system, the HQ-9 and similar systems, has not yet reached adequate readiness. Given the many strategic targets China would like to protect, however, this is not necessarily the case. China’s “redundant” acquisition and development programs are also well known.
Both newspapers also noted that defense sources were very tight lipped about the sale because of an agreement which makes arms sales between Russia and China classified information. (Article)
» More stories on: Chinese Missile Defenses, Russian Missile Defenses
» Missile system details for: Hongqi-9 (HQ-9), S-300P (SA-10 Grumble)
