Maksim covers aerospace developments in Central Asia for Aviation Week. He has worked for Russia's Air Transport Observer magazine and was in charge of several ATO sister aerospace publications after working for the Moscow-based CAST defense think tank.
Maksim has a degree in international relations from MGIMO University, Moscow.
Russia's armed forces will receive the first new-generation, Almaz-Antey S-400 Triumf air-defense systems later this year. Col.-Gen. Yuri Soloviev, head of the air force special command, says units that protect Moscow will be the first to get the long-range system. Plans call for acquisition of 23 Triumf battalions through 2015, at a rate of two regiments per year. The S-400 is a joint system that replaces the S-300V (known by NATO as the SA-12 Gladiator) in the army and the S-300PMU (SA-10 Grumble) in the air-defense force.
Although the legendary family of Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles continues to enjoy brisk sales, Russian manufacturers are ready with a new generation of infantry weapons that offers better accuracy than the classic Kalashnikov design.
