Russia to supply T-90S tanks to Iraq

Despite the fact that combat operation in Baghdad were conducted by the U.S., Kremlin announced that Russia will deliver a large batch of T-90S/SK battle tanks to Iraqi armed forces. The Russian hardware will be deployed alongside the U.S. M1A1 Abrams tanks.

Vladimir Kozhinm Russian president's aide for military technical cooperation said Russia's manufacturer Uralvagonzavod corporation plans to supply seventy-three T-90S/SK tanks to Iraq in 2017.

"It is a big contract for a big batch. I cannot name the exact sum, the number of tanks is big," Kozhin said.

"In this case, we can speak about supplies of several hundreds of tanks and the sum of the contract may exceed one billion U.S. dollars. This order is a big help to Uralvagonzavod.

The T-90S is an export modification of the T-90 tank. Equipped with powerful weapons, it is an all-weather round-the-clock tank with a state-of-the-art fire control system, reliable armor and can boast high maneuverability. The T-90SK is a command modification. While Abrams main battle tank has been the mainstay of the U.S. Army's armored forces since 1970s.

It is considered a foreign policy success for Russia because the combat operation in Iraq were conducted by the Americans, the Iraqi military in the long run have opted for the Russian tank," Russia Today quoted Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, as saying.

-ANI