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Azerbaijan has purchased anti-aircraft missile systems worth $300 million from Russia in the largest single arms purchase by one of Moscow's former Soviet satellites, a Russian newspaper reported on Thursday.Azerbaijan last year signed a deal with Russia's state arms exporter to purchase two batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft systems, the Vedomosti daily reported, citing Russian arms industry sources.Vedomosti quoted an unidentified Russian military official as saying Azerbaijan had probably purchased the anti-aircraft system to help secure itself against any deterioration in the situation involving neighbouring Iran.Oil-producing, mainly Muslim Azerbaijan has also spent billions of dollars over the past decade in building its armed forces in an effort to tilt the balance in a long-running conflict with Armenia over the rebel region of Nagorno-Karabakh.The report said the S-300 was unlikely to be of much use in any renewed fighting over Karabakh, since Armenia does not possess the kind of modern strike aircraft or missiles that such a sophisticated system would normally be deployed against.A ceasefire was agreed in 1994, but Azerbaijan -- host to oil majors including BP, ExonnMobil and Chevron -- has threatened to us force to take back Karabakh, a mainly Armenian-populated territory that declared independence.An official at Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport declined to comment on the report.Armenia has traditionally been Russia's chief strategic ally in the South Caucasus, but Moscow has in recent years developed closer ties with Azerbaijan as it vies with the West for influence over oil and gas reserves in the Caspian Sea.A spokesman for the Azeri Defence Ministry declined to confirm the purchase, saying only: "The Azeri army is strengthening itself, and will continue to strengthen itself."Russia has put on hold delivery of the same S-300 system to Iran after throwing its support behind new United Nations sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.Opponents of the Iran deal say the S-300s could shift the balance of power in the region by undermining Israel's ability to use air power to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities.Citing the Moscow Defence Brief military journal, Vedomosti said the $300 million price tag for the Azeri deal would make it the largest arms purchase by any ex-Soviet state other than Russia.In Russia's armed forces, an S-300 battery normally consists of four truck-mounted installations, each with four missiles held in metal tubes.(Reporting by Conor Humphries, Dmitry Solovyov and Afet Mehtiyeva in Baku; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Matt Robinson and Peter Graff)
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