Russian arms exports. June 2018 of the year
Armenia is interested in Su-30CM fighters
Armenia is at an advanced stage of negotiations on the purchase of Russian Su-30CM multi-role fighters belonging to the 4 + generation, according to IA "Regnum". In mid-June, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan posted a photograph on his Facebook page, which was captured in the cockpit of a modern Russian multi-functional Su-30SM fighter. In the caption for the photo that appeared, Nikol Pashinyan noted that he was in the cockpit of one of the best fighters in the world, noting also that he was already in Yerevan (on the eve of his visit to the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic). At the same time, this photo raised a number of questions. From to aviation the Erebuni base, on which the Russian MiG-29 fighters are based, has the Su-30SM appeared? Does the new Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft belong, or was it bought by Armenia?
According to a source in the Armenian Ministry of Defense, who shared with the journalists of the news agency Regnum information on condition of anonymity, Yerevan is currently conducting substantive negotiations with Moscow on the purchase of a certain number of modern Russian fighters. At the same time, negotiations are already in a fairly advanced stage. If successful, the signing of the contract may take place within the next year or two years. Such information is fully correlated with information about the interest of Armenia to the Su-30CM fighter jets, which began to appear in the media of this country in the 2016 year. If we talk about the fighter in which the Prime Minister of Armenia was photographed, then this plane belongs to the Russian Aerospace Force, most likely, it arrived at the Erebuni air base as part of a group of machines to perform training flights, as well as to demonstrate the capabilities of the new Russian military and political equipment. to the leadership of Armenia.
Today, the Su-30 fighter is the most massive and successful Russian export aircraft. Only one India bought the 272 Su-30MKI, more than 100 machines are in service with the Russian VKS. The aircraft is built in large batches, which ensures high quality (the technology of production is well-developed), as well as low cost. The advantage is that in Syria the aircraft gained the necessary experience of combat use, which was reflected in the introduction of some changes in its design.
If we talk about Armenia, at the moment the country has no fighter aircraft. 15 Su-25 attack aircraft are available from combat aircraft, while 18 MiG-29 fighters are deployed at the Russian Erebuni air base near Yerevan, but these planes are not getting younger and more effective every year. In such a situation, it seems logical to buy the Su-30CM, especially if Russia helps with preparing the infrastructure necessary for them.
In general, the emergence of modern Su-30CM fighters in the Armenian armed forces can significantly increase the offensive capabilities of the country and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as jeopardize Azerbaijan’s oil and gas infrastructure, which is strategic for Baku, and other infrastructure facilities in the neighboring country . All this should play an additional role in ensuring the deterrence of the parties to the conflict from a full-scale war.
US ready to thwart the largest contracts between India and Russia
In Delhi and Washington, are completing preparations for the first stories meeting of the heads of diplomatic and defense departments of India and the United States in the format of "2 + 2". The dialogue, which is already scheduled for the beginning of July, 2018, promises to be quite difficult. In the United States, they are dissatisfied with defense cooperation between India and Russia, and they warn that purchases of Russian weapons by the Indian military could lead to the imposition of sanctions against Delhi. Considering that Russia remains India’s main military-technical partner, American pressure is already becoming a critical test for Delhi and Moscow, according to “Kommersant". According to the media in India, the parties have already begun to discuss various ways to neutralize possible US anti-Russian sanctions. One of the options is to switch to a settlement system in the national currencies of the two countries when concluding transactions in the military-technical sphere.
The US-India two-plus-two talks will be held in the US capital 6 on July 2018, a year after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first met in the US with Trump and reached a number of agreements in military-technical cooperation between the countries. The partners of the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the talks will be the Minister of Defense Nirmala Sitharaman and the head of the foreign ministry Sushma Svaraj. Two women will "take a punch" on fairly sensitive issues on the PTS. Many recent statements and leaks by US officials have shown us that in the US they are increasingly dissatisfied with the defense ties of India and Russia, which for a long time has been Delhi’s main partner in military-technical cooperation.
Confirming this, William Thornberry, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the US House of Representatives, during his visit to Delhi 28 in May 2018, stated that new major deals between New Delhi and Moscow in the field of military-technical cooperation that are actively discussed today at various levels us-indian defense partnership. William Thornberry warned his Indian colleagues that the planned Delhi procurement of Russian C-400 Triumph missiles (the cost of this contract is estimated at about 6 billion dollars) may adversely affect military-technical cooperation between Washington and Delhi. “Both in Congress and in the US administration today are very concerned about this issue,” said Thornberry in an interview with the Indian television channel NDTV. “It's not just India who wants to execute this deal. If any state receives these anti-aircraft missile systems, it will complicate our interaction with it, ”the congressman emphasized.
“In the case of Delhi, the potential for using US sanctions is rather limited, given that India depends on Russia for servicing and modernizing the vast fleet of previously supplied Soviet / Russian weapons, and also taking into account the fact that India is pursuing a policy of maintaining strategic autonomy in the procurement of weapons and military equipment, - explains the motives of the Indian side Vasily Kashin, a senior researcher at HSE. - Among other things, the Indians are well aware that their cooperation with Russia in this area serves as a deterrent to cooperation between Pakistan and Russia. Removing the brakes on the development of such relations can have very far-reaching consequences for India. ” According to Vasily Kashin, in general, US sanctions on arms transfers from Russia are ineffective. As examples, he cited contracts for the supply of C-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Turkey and Su-35 fighter jets to Indonesia. "Sanctions lead to complication of the system of settlements between countries, additional transaction costs and appeal to barter, as was the case with Indonesia, but rarely lead to failure of transactions," said Kashin.
In turn, Russia, a source in the Russian military-industrial complex told reporters from Kommersant, is confident in its Indian partner, despite American pressure. At the last informal meeting on the C-400 “Triumph” AAMS, the Indians assured that the issue of buying complexes was resolved. “The Indians simply could not have done otherwise,” the Kommersant interlocutor added. “China has C-400, so the US Patriot air defense systems of India will not work, since the American system is weaker.”
And yet it is worth noting that the anti-Russian restrictive measures on the part of Washington are already affecting those who work in the sphere of military-technical cooperation with Russia. Until recently, all transactions in this area were concluded between Delhi and Moscow in dollars. But now there is a problem with banks through which transactions could be carried out: Indian structures are seriously afraid of blacklisting announced by Washington and freezing payments. Under such a freeze of transactions since April 2018, as the Indian newspaper The Economic Times recently reported, a total of more than two billion dollars have already fallen. According to Indian journalists, this amount also includes funding for “critical projects,” for example, repairing the leased Russian nuclear submarine Chakra to India.
As a result, according to sources of The Economic Times newspaper, Delhi and Moscow are already exploring the possibility that all calculations in the sphere of military-technical cooperation should be carried out not in dollars, but in rupees and rubles at a rate linked to international currency, for example, to the Singapore dollar . However, the parties have not yet commented on this information officially.
Mi-171A2 helicopter certified in India
Russian Helicopters Holding has begun work on certification of its newest Mi-171А2 helicopter in India. At present, the aviation authorities of India (DGCA) are negotiating on the procedure for carrying out the necessary certification work, the official website reports Rosteha. Andrei Boginsky, Director General of the Russian Helicopters holding, noted that further development and strengthening of bilateral relations between the countries is extremely important for the holding. From this point of view, it is deeply symbolic that the Indian company became the first foreign customer of the newest Russian Mi-171А2 helicopter and it was in India that Russian Helicopters began the process of confirming its Russian certificate for the first time.
The holding notes that the need to recognize the certificate for the Mi-171-2 helicopter is related to the fact that there is a great interest in it from potential customers from the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region (APR). Currently, the company is working on a number of projects for the supply of these helicopters to different buyers from the Asia-Pacific Region. Customer interest in the new product is quite understandable. The Mi-171А2 is the result of a deep modernization of the Mi-8 / 17 / 171 helicopters that are well-known all over the world. Moreover, with respect to the base model, more than 80 changes were made to its design.
For example, Mi-171А2 received new Russian engines VK-2500PS-03, equipped with modern electronic automatic control system of the type FADEC. In addition, thanks to the implemented design solutions, this engine provides more reliable operation of helicopter technology in regions with a hot climate, as well as in high-altitude areas. The use of a modern digital flight-navigation complex with a display display of data on the helicopter made it possible to reduce the crew of the helicopter from three to two people. And the addition of equipment intended for diagnostics and monitoring of the state of the main systems to the composition of the onboard electronic equipment of the helicopter improved the reliability of the vehicle and led to a reduction in the time spent on its maintenance.
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