Military news 'super-tank'[ 413 ]

Russian military denies existence of new 'super-tank'

Aleksey Vladykin

• Video:

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• Photo:

  Restored WWII tank unveiled in St. Petersburg

• Video:

  Night vision for Russian tanks

MOSCOW, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian military has denied the existence of a new-generation main battle tank (MBT) based on T-80 design and featuring explosive reactive armor and a box-shaped turret.

The Russian media has recently resumed discussion of the secret tank, dubbed Black Eagle, which was developed by the Omsk Transmash design bureau and whose pictures were shown in several publications and on the Internet.

"There was no such project...and those 20-year-old pictures show a mock-up of a futuristic tank which remained just a product of someone's imagination," Col. Vladimir Voitov, head of research at the Main Directorate of the Armored Troops, said in an interview with the Echo Moskvy radio on Saturday.

He added that he was aware of a prototype of an experimental tank, but insisted that 'the turret of the vehicle did not have anything inside."

According to the Russian media, an early prototype of the Black Eagle was shown at an arms exposition in Siberia, in June 1999. It appeared to be based on a lengthened T-80U hull, and to have very thick front armor and new-generation Kaktus explosive reactive armor.

However, recent reports in open sources suggest that the Black Eagle program has been halted due to the acceptance of the T-90, built by the Uralvagonzavod plant, into the Russian military in the mid-1990s.

In addition, Russia has reportedly opted for Uralvagonzavod as the developer and manufacturer of a new-generation MBT, which will most likely have a designation as T-95.

Sergei Mayev, head of the Federal Service for Defense Contracts (Rosoboronzakaz) told a news conference in July 2008 that the Russian Armed Forces would start receiving new-generation tanks superior to the T-90 main battle tank after 2010.

The new tank will feature better firepower, maneuverability, electronics and armor protection than the T-90 MBT.

Its speed will increase from 30-50 kph to 50-65 kph (19-31 mph to 31-40 mph).

According to some sources, the new tank may be equipped with a 152-mm smoothbore gun capable of firing guided missiles with a range of 6,000-7,000 meters.

In comparison, the T-90 MBT has a 125-mm 2A46M smoothbore gun, which can fire AT-11 Sniper anti-tank guided missiles with a range of 4,000 meters.

Summit of Caspian countries[ 412 ]

All participants of informal summit of Caspian countries' presidents arrive in Aktau

11.09.2009 18:10

Four participants of the informal summit, including Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov arrived in Aktau, akimat told KazTAG correspondent.

"All four presidents have already arrived and gone to the meeting," interlocutor said.

It was earlier reported that the informal summit of heads of the Caspian countries will be held on September 11-13 in Aktau.

Participants of the summit intend to discuss cooperation within integration unions in the post-Soviet sphere, including CIS.

Moreover, the issues in energy and transport spheres of the region are expected to be considered.

Russia : Suicide bombings....[ 411 ]

International News
Suicide bombings, slayings and clashes kill 7 in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region

September 12, 2009 |Musa Sadulayev, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Police officers and investigators gather at the site of a suicide bomb blast in the provincial capital Grozny, Chechnya, southern Russia. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Musa Sadulayev)

GROZNY, Russia - Militant attacks and gunbattles across Russia's violence-plagued North Caucasus left seven people dead Saturday, including the second suicide bomber to strike in less than 24 hours, law enforcement and emergency officials said.

The bomber blew himself up after approaching police on patrol near a school in Grozny, the capital of the war-scarred Chechnya province, said Marat Prokopenkov, a spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry in southern Russia. He said three police were wounded, two severely.

The provinces along the Caucasus Mountain ridge that marks Russia's southern border have suffered a surge in suicide bombings and other attacks in recent months. The spike in violence is shaking the Kremlin's grip on the heavily Muslim region nearly a decade after large-scale fighting ended in the second of two devastating wars against separatist rebels in Chechnya.

Many of the attacks have occurred in Chechnya, undermining Moscow-backed Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's claims to have brought peace. Kadyrov's critics accuse his security forces of rights abuses, but the Kremlin relies on him to keep a lid on separatist sentiment and keep the violence from spreading deeper into Russia.

Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said the police were trying to detain the suicide attacker when he set off his explosives.

In a separate incident Saturday in Chechnya, police killed an alleged militant wanted for attacks on law enforcement officers, the Interior Ministry said.

In Dagestan, east of Chechnya, security forces besieged a home early Saturday and killed three alleged militants and one of their wives after they refused to surrender, law enforcement authorities said.

In Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya to the west, gunmen shot and killed a police investigator outside his home in the city of Nazran on Saturday, according to provincial Interior Ministry spokeswoman Madina Khadziyeva. Law enforcement officers and government officials are targeted in most attacks in the North Caucasus.

On Friday, a suicide bomb blast destroyed a traffic police post near Nazran. Khadziyeva said Saturday that one civilian was killed in that blast and four police and security officers were wounded.

The surge of violence included a suicide attack that killed at least 25 people at a police station in Ingushetia last month and another that nearly killed Ingushetia's president.

In July, Natalya Estemirova, a human rights activist who exposed rights abuses in the North Caucasus, was abducted outside her home in Chechnya and found dead in Ingushetia.

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Associated Press Writers Sergei Venyavsky in Rostov-on-Don, Shamsudin Bokov in Nazran and Arsen Mollayev in Makhachkala, Russia, contributed to this report.

Διάπλους Αρκτικών ακτών...[ 410 ]

Γερμανικά εμπορικά πλοία διέπλευσαν τις αρκτικές ακτές της Ρωσίας, χωρίς βοήθεια παγοθραυστικών

ΑΠΕ Σάββατο, Τελευταία Ενημέρωση : 12/09/2009 11:55

Δύο γερμανικά εμπορικά πλοία διέπλευσαν κατά μήκος των αρκτικών ακτών της Ρωσίας, από τη Νότια Κορέα προς τη Σιβηρία, χωρίς τη βοήθεια παγοθραυστικών, όπως ανακοίνωσε η ναυτιλιακή εταιρία.

Τα δύο σκάφη, που ανήκουν στην εταιρία Beluga Shipping, κατάφεραν να κάνουν τη συγκεκριμένη πορεία - που έχει μικρότερο κόστος- περνώντας από το Βόρειο-ανατολικό Πέρασμα, λόγω της συρρίκνωσης των πάγων στους πόλους, που προκαλείται από την υπερθέρμανση του πλανήτη.

"Είμαστε πολύ υπερήφανοι και χαρούμενοι που είμαστε η πρώτη δυτική ναυτιλιακή εταιρία, που με επιτυχία έκανε τον διάπλου του θρυλικού Βορειο-ανατολικού Περάσματος και μεταφέραμε το φορτίο με ασφάλεια σε αυτή την απαιτητική θαλάσσια περιοχή", δήλωσε ο Νιλς Στολμπεργκ, πρόεδρος της ναυτιλιακής εταιρίας Beluga.

Τα πλοία "Beluga Fraternity" και "Beluga Foresight" απέπλευσαν από το ρωσικό λιμάνι του Βλαδιβοστόκ με φορτίο που είχαν φορτώσει τον Ιούλιο, στη Νότια Κορέα και με προορισμό την Ολλανδία. Τα σκάφη αγκυροβόλησαν στο σιβηριανό λιμάνι Γιαμπουργκ, τη Δευτέρα.

Το Βορειο-ανατολικό Πέρασμα μειώνει τη διαδρομή κατά 4.000 ναυτικά μίλια, αφού η μόνη εναλλακτική πορεία για ένα σκάφος είναι το ταξίδι των 11.000 μιλίων μέσω του Καναλιού του Σουέζ.

"Ρωσικά υποβρύχια και παγοθραυστικά είχαν χρησιμοποιήσει τη Βόρεια Οδό στο παρελθόν, αλλά δεν ήταν ανοικτή για εμπορικά πλοία, έως τώρα, διότι σε αρκετές περιοχές υπάρχει στρώμα πάγου", δήλωσε ο Στόλμπεργκ, στο Ρόιτερ.

"Μόνο το τελευταίο καλοκαίρι οι δορυφορικές εικόνες έδειξαν ότι ο πάγος λιώνει και άνοιξε ένας μικρός διάδρομος που θα μπορούσε να χρησιμοποιηθεί από εμπορικά πλοία, στο Βορειοανατολικό Πέρασμα", πρόσθεσε ο Στόλμπεργκ

Chavez bought Russian arms, [ 409]

Venezuela bought Russian arms, Chavez says as trip concludes

(CNN) -Sat. 12.09.09 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home Friday after a sometimes controversial nine-country tour and said he had purchased weapons from Russia.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez waves a book Friday during a visit to Madrid, Spain.

Chavez appeared on Venezuelan news channel Globovision in Caracas, and he had a message about a purchase he made in Russia.

"By the way, we signed some military agreements with Russia. Well ... soon will arrive some little rockets," Chavez said. "We are not going to attack anyone. ... Those are only defense instruments because we are going to defend the nation, from any threat, from wherever it comes."

Chavez said the rockets could fly as far as missiles with a range of 185 miles.

Chavez's tour

Chavez made news on many parts of his recent tour.

In Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, he announced that Venezuela has decided to recognize the independent republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, becoming just the third country, after Russia and Nicaragua, to do so.

Chavez earlier had visited Iran, where he pledged to export 20,000 barrels per day of gasoline to strengthen bilateral ties.

He also visited Syria, where news reports said he told thousands at a soccer stadium that Israel's government was "genocidal."

Chavez's tour also included stops in Libya, Algeria, Spain, Turkmenistan, Belarus and Italy.