Rosoboronexport Supplied Weapons Worth $5.1 billion In First-Half Of 2014

Rosboronexport, Russia’s main weapons exporter supplied approximately $5.1 billion worth of military goods in the first half of 2014, according to Director General Anatoly Isaykin.

According to Isaykin, orders increased from $38 billion to almost $39 billion. “The figure is constantly changing but has been hovering near this level in the last years, ensuring full capacity utilization for several years to follow,” he said, adding that contracting did not decrease.

Equipment and weapons for air forces accounted for the largest portion of the portfolio - 36.7%, followed by air defense means (25.7%), land force weapons (21.2%) and the navy segment (11.8%), Itar-Tass reported.

Rosboronexport will sustain annual sales at $13 billion until 2017, Isaykin said on Tuesday. “We have annual plans approved by the president and the government. The plan for 2014 is being fulfilled on schedule, and all the goals will be achieved,” he said, adding that the company had a development strategy up to 2020.

“Any record achievements are not to be expected in the following years” due to a great amount of work on state defense procurement, Isaykin said. Rearmament of the Russian army and navy was a priority, he added.

He told ITAR-TASS that the major package of agreements concluded with Iraq was a good example. “Bearing in mind the situation that has taken shape there, we promptly reacted to our partners’ request. Thereby, we proved that in critical situations, Russia is one of the few countries that is capable of dramatically raising the combat potential of any country’s armed forces,” he said.

Isaykin said that supplies under the newly-concluded contracts with Iraq had already begun to give Iraq’s ground and air forces far greater resources to crack down on terrorists. “I would describe the current stage as renaissance of military-technical cooperation in the Middle East,” he said.

Moscow and Beijing are in talks over supply of Amur-1650 conventional submarines to China, he added.

"We're having talks; the parties are coordinating the technical image of submarines," Isaikin said in the first official confirmation of the reports. "No date for signing the contract has been named yet. There's still much work to do."