Russian military denies plans to buy Italian IVECO M65 Light Multirole Vehicles (LMV)

MOSCOW, – The Russian Defense Ministry dismissed on Wednesday media reports that it was planning to purchase a large number of armored vehicles from Italy.

IVECO Light Multirole Vehicles (LMV)
Russian and Italian media said on Tuesday that Russia was in negotiations to buy up to 1,000 IVECO M65 (LMV) Light Multirole Vehicles.”The Defense Ministry has no [...]

Russia must match Western advances in military technology :Dmitry Medvedev

MOSCOW  - Russia must stop “patching up” old weapons and build new ones as it tries to adapt its armed forces to current threats, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday, Russian news agencies reported.
“A fundamental task stands before us: to re-equip the army and navy with new weapons,” state-owned RIA quoted Medvedev as saying at [...]

Georgia, Russia agree to reopen border crossing

TBILISI,  – Georgia and Russia have agreed to reopen the sole checkpoint on their border three years after its closure, Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
The Kazbegi-Upper Lars crossing is likely to reopen next March, Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov confirmed that the checkpoint could “in theory” reopen as [...]

Post Soviet states to hold military drills in Kazakhstan

MOSCOW,   – Over 7,000 service personnel from member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will take part in large-scale regional security drills in Kazakhstan, the Russian military said on Thursday.
The exercise of the CSTO collective rapid reaction force will be held at Kazakhstan’s Matybulak training grounds on October 2-15, and involve units [...]

Mongolia’s PM meets with Russian armed forces chief of staff

ULAN BATOR, April 29 — Mongolia’s prime minister Sanjaa Bayar met with Russian armed forces chief of staff Nikolai Makarov here on Tuesday to discuss further improvement of military cooperation between their two countries.

The chief of the Russian military’s general staff Gen. Nikolai Makarov (AP)
Sanjaa Bayar said Russia is Mongolia’s important partner in the reform [...]

Russia to axe top military personnel over lack of skills

MOSCOW, April 28 – A large number of senior Russian military officials are to be discharged over a failure to pass an aptitude test, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov said on Tuesday.

Deputy Defense Minister,  General Nikolay Pankov
“We are not going to keep officers who are not fit for their positions,” Gen. Pankov told journalists, as [...]

Russia confirms spy drone deal with Israel

MOSCOW, April 10 – The Russian Defense Ministry has signed a deal with an Israeli company to buy several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), a Russian deputy defense minister said on Friday.

The Bird-Eye 400 UAV (Israel Aerospace Industries)
“We have closed a deal with an Israeli company on the delivery of a range of UAVs,” [...]

Russia says won’t stand still in race for Arctic

MOSCOW, March 26, 2009  –  Russia will not allow itself to be left behind in the race to exploit the resources of the Arctic now being opened up by global warming, the Kremlin’s special representative for the region said in an interview.

Russian Marshal Ustinov missile cruiser leaves for the Barents Sea, Arctic waters . Aug [...]

Russian navy to rely on tactical nukes

MOSCOW,  March 23, 2009 — The role of tactical nuclear weapons in the Russian navy may grow, a news agency quoted a senior Russian admiral as saying Monday.

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev visits the nuclear submarine St. George the Victor at a military base in Krasheninnikov bay in the Kamchatka peninsula, September 25, 2008. (Reuters)
Vice Adm. [...]

90 percent of Russia’s military technology is outdated

Moscow, March 20, 2009 — Russian President Dmitri Medvedev this week announced a large-scale military rearmament program, which he says will require considerable resources despite difficulties associated with the current global economic crisis. There are political and economic realities that could be driving as well as hindering Mr. Medvedev’s proposal.

Russian T-90 battle tanks roll through [...]