Ukraine, free from Radars

Russia will no longer use Soviet-made radars in Ukraine due to its attempts to become NATO’s member. Russia’s lower House of Parliament voted to stop using the radars but extended deal that calls on the neighboring state to maintain Russia's intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The move reflects strong military industrial ties between the countries, the AP reported. Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov aid that Ukraine’s strong will to join NATO had made the military to reconsider the agreement.

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With Ukraine's constant push to become part of NATO, it is almost as if Russia just now recognized their "rights" as a country. This removing of satellites and radars that have monitoring Ukraine for many years now shows some progress for both countries. Russia has decided to trust Ukraine enough to remove their equipment, and Ukraine has gained enough attention to be recognized. For the most part I am unsure if the radars were doing much good seeing how they were left over from the Soviet Union. With inaccurate readings it was best they were removed before the "untrue" readings sparked unnecessary conflict between the countries. This proved as a major step for both countries, and will hopefully become a peaceful relation for both countries.

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Russian Arms Deals

Algeria wants to return 15 fighter jets it bought fromRussia because of their poor quality, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday,citing an official from Russia's state United Aerospace Corporation.

The official said Russia was proposing to take back the
MiG-29 jets, which were delivered to Algeria in 2006 and 2007, but only if Algeria bought more modern and expensive planes such as the MiG-29M2 or the MiG-35.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks on "military cooperation" in the Kremlin on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP, without giving further details.

In return for Russia agreeing to cancel Algeria's Soviet-era debts, Algerian authorities bought Russian arms worth 6.3 billion dollars, including 3.5 billion dollars in fighter jets, during a visit by Putin to Algeria in 2006.

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After Russia erased the debt of Algeria, there was an agreement that Algeria would buy arms from Russia. If Russia is trying to make quick arms money, it would probably be easier for them to sell up to date equitment. These jets they tried to pass of on Algeria were made and used in the 1980's, most of the planes have been used and they are falling apart. Russia needs to find a new route of money making, because thier planes are being returned. So now they have lost money, and they are trying to keep the algerian buisness by selling them only slightly better planes.

The planes Russia is selling are not even remotely comparable to the technology available today. I predict that Algeria and many other countries may switch to buying French weapons that are better in quality. This would force the Russia economy to focus on more up to date products.

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Russia Resumes Flight Runs

He said two Tu-160 bombers tested the missiles in neutral waters in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France and Spain on Tuesday. The jets were tracked by British and Norwegian planes, the official said. The exercises come amid Russia's growing military assertiveness in recent years.

Russia has also recently resumed long-range patrols by its bomber aircraft. The practice was suspended after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was revived last August as part of a more assertive foreign policy pursued by President Vladimir Putin.

"The crews of two Tu-160 planes... are successfully carrying out exercises over the Atlantic and firing rockets," Col Alexander Drobyshevsky, an aide to Russia's air force commander, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. Read the Full Story [Here]

It appears that Russia is now complying more with international law. They did this flying in neutral airspace which is good considering almost ever move they make is closely watched. This implies that their economy may be improving giving them the money to fund these runs, and Russia's growing military leads us to believe that they want back their status as a super power.

I believe the UN should keep a close watch on how far Russia's military grows, because a Russia that is to powerful could result in war, panic, and another Soviet Union.

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