Armenia intends to acquire Russian rocket artillery systems with a firing range of 90km, a senior Russian defence industry executive from Rosoboronexport has said.

Voenno-Promyshlenny Kurier quoted Nikolay Dimidyuk as saying that Armenian officials, as well as military officials from Kazakhstan, showed an interest in the BM-30 Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems.

Dimidyuk added: “These were not mere courtesy visits, we discussed concrete issues. We have not cooperated so closely with members states of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) before.”

Armenian Defence Ministry spokesman Davit Karapetian said the nation’s armed forces have been constantly supplied with new and modern weaponry.