DefenceTalkThe Russian Defense Ministry has signed a $470 million contract with the MiG corporation for the delivery of 16 advanced MiG-29 SMT fighters, the ministry said Tuesday. The company had earlier confirmed the deal in an interview with RIA Novosti, but did not specify its value. “The value of the contract, including the ground support […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-air-force-to-receive-16-new-mig-fighters-59314/

DefenceTalkRussia on Monday drew Kiev’s attention over media reports that a Ukrainian military-space enterprise had allegedly been negotiating with third countries on missile technology sale. Referring to the Yuzhmash plant based in the city of Dnepropetrovsk in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry reminded that Ukraine is a participant of the Missile Technology Control Regime […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-warns-ukraine-against-missile-technologies-proliferation-59263/

DefenceTalkRussian lawmakers have endorsed draft legislation to allow the country to set up a satellite navigation monitoring system in Nicaragua, a Cabinet committee said Tuesday. “The agreement is aimed at creating an organizational and legal framework for mutually beneficial partnership between Russia and Nicaragua in terms of exploring and using space for peaceful purposes,” the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-lawmakers-approve-satellite-navigation-hub-in-nicaragua-59258/

DefenceTalkSweden’s Defense Minister Karin Enstrom says the military should get a total of 70 new JAS Gripen combat aircraft, ten more than Parliament had earlier decided. Enstrom’s comments came in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine and also of widely publicized Russian military flight incidents last year, when Moscow attack aircraft flew practice missions […]https://www.defencetalk.com/defense-minister-calls-for-more-jas-gripen-to-counter-russian-threat-59230/

DefenceTalkSeveral mothballed Mikoyan Mig-29 Fulcrum fourth-generation fighter jets were returned to combat service in western Ukraine, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Friday. “Specialists of our team have already returned several planes to service,” the ministry quoted an unnamed commander of an Air Force unit near Ivano-Frankivsk as saying. “We are now conducting test flights. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ukraine-puts-mothballed-mig-29-fighter-jets-back-in-service-59228/

DefenceTalkRenault Trucks Defense said Wednesday its project to develop an armored infantry fighting vehicle together with a Russian manufacturer is on hold due to the Ukraine crisis. “The project is on hold because of the political situation, but that is not saying it has been halted,” RTD marketing director Marc Chassilian told journalists in Paris. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/french-russian-tank-project-on-hold-due-to-ukraine-crisis-59218/

DefenceTalkNATO foreign ministers on Tuesday (1 April 2014) reaffirmed their commitment to enhance the Alliance’s collective defence, agreed to further support Ukraine and to suspend NATO’s practical cooperation with Russia. “NATO’s greatest responsibility is to protect and defend our territory and our people. And make no mistake, this is what we will do,” NATO Secretary […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-takes-measures-to-reinforce-collective-defense-59208/

DefenceTalkThe 2014 Komodo multilateral naval exercises of 17 countries that are drawing to a close in Indonesian waters have been very useful to Russia, Mikhail Galuzin, the country’s envoy to Indonesia told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. “The exercise not only allowed Russia to practice cooperation with other participants but, just as important, contributed to a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/komodo-2014-naval-exercises-prove-beneficial-for-russia-59205/

DefenceTalkNATO will suspend cooperation with Russia on the maintenance of Afghan helicopters and a joint anti-drug operation, a source in the alliance told RIA Novosti. Foreign chiefs of NATO’s 28 member states earlier froze “practical civilian and military cooperation” with Moscow but vowed to keep intact the NATO-Russia Council and diplomatic contacts at the ambassadorial […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-to-suspend-cooperation-with-russia-on-afghan-choppers-training-59203/

DefenceTalkThe West’s relations with Russia are at an historic low. This comes after years of NATO’s enlargement policy in Eastern Europe. Should the military alliance have acted more cautiously? Jamie Shea likes to reference knowledgeable people. In the context of the NATO enlargement process, he quotes Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, who said: “All great […]https://www.defencetalk.com/is-nato-expansion-to-blame-for-crimean-crisis-59190/