Amman - A new generation of portable Russian grenade launchers that can fire multi-sized rounds and punch through tank armour will be built in Jordan starting next year, a senior official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

The project will be carried out by a joint Jordanian-Russian company that was established last year, Muayyad Samman, Chairman and CEO of King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) was quoted as saying by the Jordan Times.

"The factory will be a strategic project that seeks to transfer the technology to Jordan, provide the Jordan Armed Forces with its needs of this weapon, export to other markets, create jobs and bring hard currency into the Kingdom," Samman said.

The director of Russian defence contractor Bazalt, Vladimir Korendov, was quoted on Monday in Moscow as saying that talks to produce the Hashim RPG-32, a shoulder-fired grenade launcher, had been going on since 2007 when the company demonstrated the weapon for Jordan's King Abdullah.

Bazalt representatives said the Hashim can destroy any armoured vehicle at up to 700 metres.

During the 2006 Lebanese-Israeli war, Israel attributed its high armour losses in part to Hezbollah militants using Russian RPG-29 anti-tank grenade launchers manufactured by Bazalt and supplied by Iran. (dpa)