Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Venezuela signs arms deal with China

Note:
To a large extent, the commercial and military uses of space overlap—communication, navigation, remote sensing/intelligence gathering, and weather prediction. Thus the satellites used for these purposes can be considered dual use, despite the different levels of sophistication in military versus civilian satellites.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:1zrft3GOsFIJ:www.acdis.uiuc.edu:16080/Reinventing/ch_4_2.shtml+ho....

see also:

So great is Chavez' interest in rockets, space and missiles that the government of Venezuela has created a special commission to advise him on such issues. Chavez with a nuclear weapon is bad enough. Chavez with a medium-range ballistic missile just minutes from the southern United States is a disaster waiting to happen.
#msg-6511466

Venezuela and Cuba have the Russian Onyx
#msg-6509438

-Am

Venezuela signs arms deal with China
06/08/2005 - 09:20:04

Venezuela’s defence minister has signed a deal to buy Chinese radar systems, the latest in a series of military purchases by the government of President Hugo Chavez.

The Chinese-made long range surveillance radars will be used by Venezuela’s air force, defence officials said yesterday.

Defence Minister Adm. Ramon Orlando Maniglia and Qu Huimin, the vice president of China’s Electronics Import and Export, signed the accord on Thursday, the state-run Bolivarian News Agency reported.

The deal also includes the purchase of “other air security equipment” such as radios, and the possibility of renting a satellite communications system, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. The cost of the deal was not disclosed.

Venezuela has stepped up purchases of military equipment this year, agreeing to buy Russian rifles and military helicopters.

US officials have ccused Chavez of backing Colombian guerrillas with weapons - charges Chavez denies as ridiculous.

The former army paratrooper has made a priority of fortifying Venezuela’s military, saying troops are ready to face any foreign attack if necessary.




http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=151782234&p=y5y78z94x