Iraq does not abandon plans to purchase Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system
Iraq is not abandoning plans to purchase an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system from Russia, the country's government is considering such an option, said the head of the Defense and Security Committee of the Iraqi parliament, Muhammad Rida al-Haydar.
According to a representative of the Iraqi parliament, an Iraqi military delegation led by the commander of the air defense forces visited Russia and held preliminary negotiations on the purchase of the S-300. However, at present "the case has been suspended" and it is not known when it will get off the ground.
It is worth noting that it is not the first year that there has been talk that Iraq will "just about" purchase the S-300 anti-aircraft system from Russia. At the beginning of last year, the same Muhammad Rida al-Haydar said that negotiations on the S-300 had resumed, but in fact there has been no progress in this matter for a long time. A possible reason is the US threat to impose sanctions against Baghdad for the purchase of Russian anti-aircraft systems.
Muhammad Rida al-Haydar noted that the Iraqi air defense system includes some Russian systems, but they are already outdated, and the country wants to acquire modern Russian air defense systems. He stressed that the share of Russian weapons, in his opinion, in the armed forces of Iraq should exceed 50%, since they are reliable and cheaper than American ones.
If with the S-300 air defense system not everything is as simple as it seems, then equipping the armored brigade of the Iraqi army tanks The T-90S, which the Iraqi parliamentarian also mentioned, is in full swing. Russian tanks entered service with the 35th brigade of the 9th armored division, which moved to T-90S from the American M1A1 Abrams.
Information