Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan may procure "BAL-E" Coastal Missile System

: Posted On Tuesday, 27 May 2014 07:39

Naval Defense Industry News - Russia, Azerbaijan

Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan may procure "BAL-E" Coastal Missile System

According to Russian business daily Kommersant the Republic of Azerbaijan has expressed its intend to procure "BAL-E" Coastal Missile System from Russia. "BAL-E" is the export version of the BAL missile complex in service with the coastal missile unit of the Russian Navy Caspian Flotilla.

BAL-E Coastal Missile System at IMDS 2013

According to " Kommersant" Azerbaijan has been eyeing this missile system for a long time because of its need to protect its coastal zone of the Caspian Sea . Azerbaijan previously expressed interest in the "Bastion" coastal missile system with "Yakhont" anti-ship missile, however Moscow never gave its approval for this system.

Azerbaijan is a frequent customer of Russian weapons: Between 2010 and 2012 , contracts for the purchase of two battalions of air defense missile systems S-300PMU- 2 , several batteries of Tor- 2ME air defense systems, more than 70 helicopters for various purposes, and 100 T-90S tanks and 100 BMP-3 , self-propelled artillery battalions " MSTA-S" , multiple rocket launchers "Smerch" have been signed totaling at least $ 4 billion.

The New Zealand Ministry of Defence signed a contract on 21st May with MBDA for the provision of Sea Ceptor for the Local Area Air Defence element of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s ANZAC Frigate Systems Upgrade (FSU) project. This contract confirms the selection of the system by the RNZN for its ANZAC frigates that was announced in October 2013.

KH-35 Anti-ship missile at IMDS 2013

The Bal-E mobile coastal missile system with the KH-35 type anti-ship missile was developed on the order of the Russian Navy in the late 1990s and adopted for service in 2008. The system consists of a self-propelled command control and communications centre, self-propelled launchers, a transport and reloader machine and communications vehicle, a total of up to 11 special vehicles.

The coastal missile system is capable of hitting targets at ranges up to 120 kilometers at any time and under any weather conditions. The time of deployment after a march - 10 minutes, cruising range - 850 kilometers, ammunition - 64 missiles, the number of missiles in one salvo - 32.