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Russia to sell 1,000 infantry fighting vehicles to Greece

RIA Novosti

13:5922/06/2009 MOSCOW, June 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Greece are finalizing a contract on the delivery of 1,000 BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles to the Greek army, a Russian government official said on Monday.

Earlier reports said Russia was negotiating a contract to sell around 415 BMP-3M infantry fighting vehicles to Greece.

"We are going through the final stages of negotiations with Greece on the delivery of 1,000 BMP-3 vehicles. They [the Greeks] want to buy vehicles for both ground forces and naval infantry," Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.

The purchase would be one of the largest arms deals between Russia and a NATO member state. In the 1990s, Greece acquired over $1 billion worth of Russian weapons.

Russian TOR-M1 air defense systems, Kornet and Fagot antitank weapons, as well as air cushion landing craft Zubr are in service with the Greek Armed Forces.

The BMP-3M is the successor to the BMP-3, which entered service with the Soviet army in 1987. The vehicle features an upgraded turret with digital fire control system, additional armor protection, and more powerful engines.