MOSCOW. Aug 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The Defense Ministry denies that law-enforcement agencies reportedly found abandoned weapons at a plant in the Moscow region.
"The T-72 tank and three MTLB light APCs found on the territory of the Konversia research and production enterprise will remain there for repairs. The firearm control system was removed from the tank and there is no ammunition. Two of the MTLB are dummies and the third one is a medical vehicle," the deputy head of the Defense Ministry's automobile and tank department, Lieutenant General Nikolai Kovalyov, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
Furthermore, repairs and tests of two Smerch multiple launch rocket systems and charge machines are underway at Konversia, the head of the Defense Ministry's Rocket and Artillery Department Colonel General Nikolai Sertilov said. The weapons will subsequently be returned to the department's testing ground, he said.
It is impossible to fire these weapons. "Moreover, not a single charge for these systems can be found within a 500km radius from Moscow," Sertilov said.
Konversia is working for the Defense Ministry in line with agreements and its license, they said.
"Improvements should probably be made to the security systems of the equipment under repair," Sertilov said.