THE US ARMY has acquired a Russian S-300 (SA-10 Grumble) air-defence system for evaluation. The S-300, Russia's equivalent of the US Raytheon Patriot surface-to-air missile system, is believed to have been purchased from Belarus in a $50 million deal brokered by US defence firm BDM International, despite Russian objections.
Equipment flown aboard a Volga-Dnper Antonov An-124 to the Army's Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville, Alabama, on 19 December 1994, is believed to consist of S-300 launch and fire control vehicles. The US Defense Intelligence Agency unit, which analyses foreign missile systems, is based at Redstone.
The US Department of Defense admits publicly only that it has "...worked to acquire a piece of equipment that is in the arsenals of several countries", and that the equipment was "...acquired under contract" for evaluation. Pentagon officials confirm that it is a SA-10 air-defence system.
The An-124 was unloaded before dawn on 19 December. Attempts by a Canadian firm to acquire S-300 systems from Belarus were reportedly blocked by pressure from the Russian Federal Counter-Intelligence Service.
Source: Flight International