MOSCOW. Sept 18 (Interfax) - The S-300 and S-400 air defense missile systems may provide significant advantages to Saudi Arabia's air defense, the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) told Interfax on Tuesday.
"The high technical performance of the S-300, and particularly the S-400 provide the air defense system equipped with them a considerable advantage in comparison with the foreign countries' short-range air defense means," the FSMTC press service said.
"Further still, there are currently no analogues to the S-400 system in terms of tactical and technical characteristics in the world," the FSMTC said.
"The leaders of the two countries reiterated their commitment to the development of Russian-Saudi cooperation during the meeting in Moscow in October 2017. The possibility of expanding and deepening interaction, taking into consideration Russia and Saudi Arabia's mutual interests, is now being discussed," the FSMTC press service said.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Saudi Arabia to purchase the Russian air defense systems, which could reliably protect any oil facilities.
Drones attacked Saudi oil facilities over the past weekend.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have already been drafting a contract for supplies of the S-400 Triumf long-rang air defense missile systems produced by the Almaz Antey Group.
The FSMTC said in February 2017 that Russia and Saudi Arabia were discussing the conditions to put the contract into effect.
"Our specialists are continuing to discuss mutually acceptable conditions for putting into effect the contract for delivering the S-400 Triumph to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which, as has been reported on numerous occasions, was signed in May 2017," it said.
Several documents on military-technical cooperation were signed following Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's visit to Moscow in the fall of 2017. They included a memorandum of procurement and localized production of the TOS-1A Solntsepyok heavy flamethrowers, the Kornet-EM anti-tank missile systems, and the AGS-30 grenade launchers.
In April 2019, a source told Interfax that Russia began supplying the TOS-1A Solntsepyok heavy flamethrowers to Saudi Arabia.
FSMTC head Dmitry Shugayev told journalists at the MAKS 2019 Air Show in August that Russia is delivering weapons to Saudi Arabia.