Technologies for the production of night vision devices for armored vehicles were transferred to Russia. The corresponding contract was signed by Rosoboronexport and the French company Thales. Now instruments for T-90 tanks will be produced at the optical-mechanical plant in Vologda.
Rosoboronexport and French Thales have signed a contract for the transfer of technology to Russia for the production of night vision devices for armored vehicles, Igor Sevastyanov, Deputy Director General of Rosoboronexport, told RIA Novosti.
“According to the contract, Russia received the right to assemble thermal imaging systems for armored vehicles in Vologda under license with subsequent servicing,” said the head of the state company.
The amount of the contract, signed the day before in Paris, has not been specified. A center for the production of night vision devices for T-90 tanks has already been created at the Vologda optical-mechanical enterprise. It is scheduled to open in July 2010.
Thales has been cooperating with Rosoboronexport for many years, in particular in the area of export defense programs. The company is a supplier of equipment and on-board systems for MiG-21, MiG-29, Su-30 MKI, Su-30 MKM aircraft, T-90 tanks, BMP-3 combat vehicles and many others.
Recently it became known that the Russian Ministry of Defense is negotiating with the French corporation Safran on the purchase of a limited batch of FELIN "soldier of the future" equipment for the GRU special forces.
As the Deputy Minister of Defense, Chief of Armaments of the Armed Forces Vladimir Popovkin specified, Russian specialists will study the characteristics of the equipment and make a decision. He stressed that for the Ministry of Defense, it is not the volume of equipment purchased abroad that is important, but the technologies that Russia should have. “The Defense Ministry conducts limited arms purchases in order to study new technologies. This is necessary so that we can produce the latest technology at any time, regardless of the prevailing political conditions,”Popovkin explained.
The FELIN complex includes navigation aids, secure radio communications, a special shock-resistant computer that displays information about the enemy and the position of other soldiers and units, a helmet-mounted sight of individual small arms, target designation means integrated into a single electronic system, and protective equipment. The electronics of the complex is powered by batteries, which are enough for a day.
