MOSCOW. Nov 17 (Interfax-AVN) - The United Arab Emirates is showing interest in Russian air defense systems, armored vehicles and is also eager to cooperate with Russia in space, Mikhail Dmitriyev, director of the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service, told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
Commenting on the intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation between Russia and the UAE, signed on Monday, Dmitriyev stressed that this framework agreement will provide legal cornerstone for the development of the military-technical cooperation.
"The UAE is one of Russia's main partners in military-technical cooperation, with the most promising fields of this cooperation to include supplies of Russian air defense systems, armored vehicles and spares for them. Russia is also eager to upgrade weapons and systems supplied to the Emirates earlier, and provide maintenance to them," he said.
He recalled that the UAE armed forces operate Russian BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles and man-portable air defense systems.
The UAE is also willing to develop cooperation in space, Dmitriyev said.
According to the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service, estimated in monetary values, the military-technical cooperation between the two sides in the past decade exceeded $1 billion.