Russia confirms sale of S-400 missile systems to Saudi Arabia

The Kremlin has confirmed the sale of the Russian-made S-400 air defense missile system to Saudi Arabia. Experts say this means Riyadh, traditionally a US customer, is looking for military hardware alternatives.

"An agreement was reached with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to supply S-400 air defense systems, Kornet-EM anti-tank missiles, TOS-1A systems, automatic AGS-30 grenade launchers, AK-103 [export version of the AK-47] Kalashnikov assault rifles," a spokesperson for Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Maria Vorobyova told RIA Novosti.

According to business daily Kommersant, the new arms contracts with Saudi Arabia are worth more than $3 billion, $2 billion of which will be spent by Saudis on the S-400. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud visited Moscow last week, becoming the first Saudi monarch to visit Russia.

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