Kazakhstan To Buy Used Russian Missile Launchers

A spokesman for the ministry said the refurbished S-300 launchers, known in the West as SA-10, would be shipped `in the nearest future.`

Kazakhstan will buy up to 40 second-hand Russian surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers to boost its air defences, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

A spokesman for the ministry said the refurbished S-300 launchers, known in the West as SA-10, would be shipped "in the nearest future". He declined to say how much Kazakhstan would pay Russia for the weapons.

Kazakhstan inherited its military forces from the Soviet Union and it relies on Moscow for most of its defence contracts. Any deviation from this tradition annoys Russia which sees Central Asia as part of its sphere of interest.

The United States has shown interest in Kazakh plans to build up its naval force on the Caspian Sea to guard its offshore oilfields and diversify arms imports. But Kazakhstan has stressed it would continue buying hardware from Russia.