ASTANA, February 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will supply Kazakhstan with S-300 air defense systems in the near future, the Kazakh defense minister said on Thursday.
 "We are actively cooperating with Russia, and Kazakhstan will receive modern air defense systems in the near future," Danial Akhmetov said, adding that the Central Asian state was expecting to take delivery of "a significant number of S-300 systems."
 Russia announced last year it was planning to expand military-technical cooperation with members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and build a CSTO integrated air defense network.
 The CSTO is a post-Soviet security grouping comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
 According to Akhmetov, Russia will deliver the latest version of the S-300 missile system, called S-300PMU2 Favorit (SA-20 Gargoyle), to Kazakhstan.
 "This will help our republic's integration into the CSTO and significantly enhance the protection of the country's airspace," the Kazakh defense minister said.
 The S-300PMU2 Favorit has a range of up to 195 kilometers (about 120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 kilometers.
 It is considered one of the world's most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system.
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