At least two machine complex “Pantsir-S1” Russia supplied Ethiopia, was put out of action by a direct hit of lightning. It happened at a time when these complexes were essential for Ethiopia to protect against possible air attacks by Egypt of a new dam on the Blue Nile river.
This information of Defense Express, said the representative of one of the Ukrainian military-industrial companies with reference to the experts on Ethiopian territory.
“The cause of lightning in Russian anti-aircraft missile and gun complexes “Carapace-C1” was the careless attitude of their settlements to the ground. After the complexes were placed in the area with great thickness of rock soil. To cut inland a few meters of granite quite difficult. But the stone is actually an insulator. Therefore, the grounding complexes, providing for security measures was not done. During a thunderstorm in “ungrounded” as “Armor” was struck by lightning. She called the failure of a significant number of electronic equipment. War machine has now become unfit to perform assigned tasks. Such cases were at least two”, — said the Agency interlocutor.
The cause of lightning in Russian zrpk “Carapace-C1” — ignoring their calculations of events on the ground. Thunderstorms and heavy lightning are a very common natural phenomenon in Ethiopia in the rainy season, which lasts from mid-June until September.
Russia has put in Ethiopia some anti-aircraft missile and gun complexes “Pantsir-S1” in 2019. These new systems were deployed in the dam area of the “great Renaissance of Ethiopia” hydroelectric power plants “of Higasa”, the construction of which is nearing completion.
Ethiopia began construction on the Blue Nile (a tributary of the Nile) in Africa’s largest hydroelectric power station of “Higasa” in 2011. The facility cost $ 4.6 billion ready to almost 80 percent. According to experts, the new dam being built on the Blue Nile river, can significantly reduce the amount of water coming to Egypt and the Sudan.
The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed Ali seventh of July said that the country will start to fill the water reservoir hydroelectric power station “of Gidasa” in the month of July to take advantage of the beginning of the rainy season. In his words, there was no damage to Egypt and Sudan, this process will bring. But in Cairo and Khartoum assurances to the Ethiopian leaders are skeptical.
The grounds for this attitude, the neighbors of Ethiopia is. Suffice it to say that to fill the reservoir of the dam to be such an amount of water commensurate with almost half the annual flow of the Nile. And so the result of the work of Ethiopian hydropower plant on the Nile may experience water shortages, which will lead to numerous economic and environmental problems.
Ethiopia has planned to start the filling of the hydroelectric reservoir “of Gidasa” in July. The fifteenth of January 2020, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the reluctance of countries to engage in military conflict over the river’s resources, but called on the Ethiopia not to try to reduce the access of Egypt to the required volumes of water.
At the request of Cairo and the introduction of the Renaissance dam in July were discussed at the UN security Council. Egypt threatens Addis Ababa “consequences” if she starts to fill the tank without the signing of the agreement, which will be clearly stated how to work the dam.
During a recent trip to the airbase, President al-Sisi called on the Egyptian military pilots to “be ready to perform any mission, both within our borders and beyond them, if need be.” Shells essential Addis Ababa for the protection of new hydroelectric power stations “of Higasa” from the expected air attacks from Egypt.
But Ethiopia is set to not less militant. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed, by the way, last year’s Nobel peace prize laureate, warned: “no force can stop Ethiopia to build the dam. If you need to fight, then millions of our citizens ready for war”.
When the government ran out of money, the funds for the construction of a new hydroelectric power station collected all citizens of the country. So now all Ethiopia looks forward to filling with water before storage dam.
In the case of aggravation of the conflict with Egypt, “Shell” will be used to intercept enemy aircraft, but rather rockets, after Egyptian planes are unlikely to enter the area of the lesion. Therefore, efficient Shells for Ethiopia is extremely important.
In turn, Ukraine is implementing in Ethiopia a large-scale project on modernization of anti-aircraft missile system s-125.
Lately all the air defenses, which are the armed forces of Ethiopia, concentrated air cover of hydroelectric power “of Gidasa”. It is somewhat zrpk “Carapace-C1”, the battalions of s-125М1, and recently they added it is unclear who purchased the s-300PMU1.
