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Russia to lease long-range bombers: PTI

Russia is preparing to okay the lease of four TU-22M3 (backfire) long-range bombers armed with deadly KH-22 cruise missiles to India next week, despite United States objections, Air Chief Gen Anatoly Kornukov stated.

The deal, under negotiations between India and Russia since 1998, was put on the backburner by Boris Yeltsin's government fearing 'unwanted political consequences', the Vremya Novostyei daily reported.

Despite Moscow's claim that the TU-22M3 bombers are sub-strategic weapons and India will get KH-22 cruise missiles with conventional, non-nuclear warheads, Washington considers them strategic weapons, automatically banning their export or lease, the daily said.

"Judging from the statement of Kornukov, the Kremlin seems to have permitted Russian arms exporters not to pay attention to these 'petty differences' with the Americans," defence analyst Yuri Golotyuk wrote in an article - Russia will help India become a great military power.

Moscow's mention of the 'non-nuclear' character of the deal is no more than a tribute to the traditional custom of 'decent conduct' on the arms market, especially in view of the Indian declarations about possessing nuclear warheads of various capacities which can be fitted on any type of delivery vehicles, the daily said.

The supersonic TU-22M3 bomber has a maximum range of 2,410 km, if flying at subsonic speed and carrying a 12-tonne payload of bombs and missiles.

It can carry five KH-22MA air-to-ground missiles, which have a range of up to 500 km.

The aircraft can also carry up to 10 short-range air-to-ground missiles as well as both nuclear and conventional bombs with a total weight of 24 tonnes.

Under the US-Soviet START-I arms control treaty, its mid-air refuelling system was dismantled.

Though the START-I treaty bars Russia from extending the range of these bombers, the Indian military could also upgrade the bombers to extend their range to 5,000 km, with mid-air refuelling, sufficient to allow India to reach targets in the United States or Europe, should it so desire, Russian experts say.

Moscow could be forthcoming to help India in this if the US walks out of 1972 ABM treaty and deploys a national missile defence, seen by Russia as Washington's attempt to ensure impunity for itself, they say.

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