The tape at the centre of the row, recorded in summer 2000, has the head of the Ukrainian arms exports agency, Valery Malev, proposing to ship four Kolchuga radar systems to a Jordanian intermediary in falsely labelled crates, and to send installation experts to Iraq on false passports.

BBC: Analysis: From West's favourite to pariah

McCHESNEY: The ship is equipped with radar and GPS electronics.

NPR: San Francisco Bay Oil Spill Investigated

Switching on radar, or an anti-aircraft gun firing a single salvo, now brings down a hail of bombs on anything deemed threatening, from command bunkers to radar stations, and even anti-ship missiles.

ECONOMIST: Why the bombs are falling on Iraq