"This operation is a new step in the development of our cooperation," Sergei Ignatchenko, spokesman for Russia's Federal Security Bureau (FSB, the former KGB), told the RIA Novosti news agency.

"It took place for the first time since the end of the Cold War, when we opposed each other," Ignatchenko said.

His comments followed the arrest of three people, one of them a British citizen, in the US state of New Jersey on suspicion of trying to smuggle a Russian surface-to-air missile into the United States for sale to terrorists plotting an attack.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials have said the arrests were part of a sting operation carried out in conjunction with British and Russian authorities.

Russian intelligence officers reportedly posed as arms dealers and sold the man, a British national of Indian origin, the SA-18 surface-to-air missile, US television and Russian news agencies reported.

The man reportedly paid 85,000 dollars (75,000 euros) for the missile, which is known in Russia as the "Igla" (Needle) and is a heat-seeking missile that can reach altitudes of more than 10,000 feet (3,000 meters).

An earlier version of the missile was used by unknown assailants in November, when they tried to shoot down an Israeli charter flight taking off from Mombasa, Kenya.

That attack failed, but focused US officials' attention on the threat from shoulder-mounted missiles, which are fairly lightweight, cheap and easy to operate.

"One of the most convenient weapons for terrorists," is how Russian defense expert Alexander Golts described the arms on Moscow Echo radio Wednesday.

Along with US-made Stingers, Russia's SA series are among the best-known missiles.

Concern has mounted that following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent disintegration of the armed forces, many of them have been sold by cash-strapped soldiers from the Russian army.

In the sting that preceded Tuesday's arrests in New Jersey, FSB agents played the part of corrupt military officers when they sold the British national the SA-18.

But while the FSB and some analysts praised the operation, others were more skeptical.

"They got one small operator," Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent defense analyst in Moscow, told AFP. "No one is talking about eliminating the global net of arms trading."

And insofar as the FSB and FBI are concerned, "they still remain enemies for the most part."

SPACE.WIRE