Aviaconversiya (russian: ООО Авиаконверсия) is a Russian manufacturer of surface-based

electronic countermeasures An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...

products, namely

satellite navigation system A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisoto ...

s deceivers. Oleg Antonov is the director of the company. Aviaconversiya was founded in the early 1990s as a private company, and it introduced its GPS jamming device at the 1997

MAKS Air Show MAKS (russian: МАКС, russian: label=short for, Международный авиационно-космический салон, Mezhdunarodnyj aviatsionno-kosmicheskij salon, "International Aviation and Space Show") is an international air ...

. In 2002 the US Department of Defense had bought $192,000 worth of equipment from the company. According to Western sources, Aviaconversiya deceivers were activated around

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

by the

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

government of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

in order to disrupt Coalition GPS devices, namely satellite-guided munitions, during the

2003 Iraq War The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including ...

. Russian officials dismissed the allegations, as did Aviaconversiya. In 2003 Aviaconversiya was described by

SIPRI Sipri may refer to: * As-Safira, a city in Syria, known in pre-Islamic times as Sipri *Shivpuri, a city and a municipality in Madhya Pradesh, India, formerly known as Sipri *Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Stockholm Internati ...

as a small company, whose leadership included ex-Soviet army commanders who grew rich on a government monopoly for processing scrap metal from Soviet military hardware.

References

External links

Aviaconversiya Company Profile
on the MAKS 2003 website (archived)

{{authority control Electronic countermeasures Defence companies of Russia Companies based in Moscow

See also

References

External links