Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain is seriously interested in Russian air defense systems S-400 "Triumph", one of the most capable and lethal long-range air defense missile systems in the world, reported the Russian "Kommersant" newspaper, citing sources close to the Kremlin.

The paper noted that the issue was raised at King of Bahrain Hamad Al Khalifa's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on September 6, 2016. According to the source, no fundamental objections were made by the Russian President.

The first round of consultations may be held soon between the Bahrain Ministry of Defense and "Rosoboronexport", the newspaper further stated, adding that Bahrain requested detailed information on the technical characteristics of the system and promised to determine the required number of launchers soon.

Prior to the Bahraini King's visit to Moscow, Bahrain's Ambassador to Russia Ahmed Abdulrahman Saati told Sputnik that Bahrain is interested in renewing its air defense systems, and its delegation, headed by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, will assess S-300 and S-400 systems at the Army-2016 expo in Russia.

"We are interested in everything new, in renewing [air defense] systems. However, we do not have information regarding the contracts or acquisitions being made, this is classified military information," Saati said.

The paper further noted that King Hamad expressed his interest in purchasing the S-400 system after visiting the Army-2016 expo, which was followed by brief talks behind closed doors between Al Khalifa and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who will visit Manama soon to discuss details of the proposed deal, according to Kommersant.

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