DigitalGlobe, a private satellite imagery firm, has provided STRATFOR with imagery that seems to depict a Russian S-300 (SA-10 “Grumble”) battery on the Gudauta Airbase in Abkhazia, a breakaway region from Georgia. The imagery was collected June 2 — long before Russian air force chief Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin's Aug. 11 announcement of the battery's emplacement. While American legal prohibitions limit the resolution of releasable imagery, making it impossible to conclusively identify the chassis of the vehicles depicted, the payloads appear to be consistent with the standard configuration of missile canisters on S-300PM transporter/erector/launchers (TELs) or fire units. This imagery, combined with Zelin's statement, confirmation from a reliable STRATFOR source close to the Kremlin saying the batteries have been there since February and other reports indicating they have been there for as long as two years, seem to argue conclusively for the longtime presence of these missile systems in Abkhazia.
