Ours in Latin America
Russia has a good potential for the further development of military-technical cooperation with Latin American states. In particular, Rosoboronexport notes a fresh wave of interest in the region for Russian military equipment and weapons.
At the exhibition “Sitdef Peru-2011” Sergey Ladigin, the head of the delegation of Rosoboronexport, in particular, said that Russia is progressively and actively promoting its military products to the Latin American market. In contrast to the defense structures of many other states, the Russian Federation is talking not only about the supply of finished equipment and equipment. weapons. The Russian offer is much broader, it consists in the whole range of post-warranty repair and maintenance services, the sale of spare parts, the modernization of military equipment and weapons, which were supplied during the Soviet era, as well as the licensed production of the latest systems.
The fruitful and constantly evolving relationship between the Republic of Peru and the Russian Federation contributes to the growth of interest in the products of the Russian "defense industry" and on the part of other Latin American countries. For example, on the basis of a service repair center, which is currently established in Mexico, helicopters of domestic production will be serviced, and its counterpart will be created in Venezuela. In addition, there will be a training base in Bolivia, where soldiers will be trained. We have signed and are implementing agreements on military-technical cooperation with Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, and other Latin American countries.
In general, the volume of military-technical cooperation of the Russian Federation with the countries of the region is increasing, and Russia has good prospects in the Latin American defense market. In this perspective, the head of the delegation Rosoboronexport said that sometimes the most fantastic things become real. No one could say ten years ago that today's Russia would be so active in Latin America and no one believed in it. Many said that no one would let Russia into this region, that this was not her zone, that Latin America was a very remote territory, and so on and so forth. Contrary to all predictions now in Latin America, Russia has a very good result in military-technical cooperation, Ladygin said.
The growing interaction is beneficial not only for Russia, but also for its partners. Now there are few states left in Latin America to which Rosoboronexport does not supply weapons. Somewhere contracts are big, some are small. There are no small and large contracts. The Russian Federation has cooperation between partners. And development always follows source. And this source over the last decade was laid, the head of the Russian delegation said. At the same time, he noted that now it is necessary to count not received dollars, but states with which the Russian Federation cooperates. Russia is ready to train people to supply their equipment. She is ready to supply spare parts to Latin America, to create repair and service centers, so that the equipment can work normally away from the Russian Federation, so as not to transport it to Russia, but to carry out repairs here. The Russian side is ready to transfer technology to virtually all weapons. “Yes, not for free, but on a mutually beneficial basis, in the interests of Russian industry, and Russia does not hide it,” said Ladigin.
Rosoboronexport hopes that in the near future, Cuba will again become one of the main Latin American buyers of Russian weapons.
When Rosoboronexport starts supplying new equipment and provides its service, Cuba will be able to use it with the same performance as before. “Cuba is an old friend of Russia, with which Rosoboronexport would like to restore and expand cooperation to the maximum,” Ladygin said. Nowadays, the relations are reduced to the fact that Cuba is acquiring from the Russian Federation spare parts for equipment that has been supplied earlier.
Sergey Ladygin stressed that this is a very difficult process, because the technique has often changed lately. One production changes another, which makes it difficult to find spare parts for old equipment, and it is not always profitable to keep producing spare parts for outdated equipment. This is not an easy task, but we solve it: we either take it from warehouses, or remove it from equipment that is in good condition but not used. That is, we seek a solution to this issue and satisfy the requests of Cuban customers.
Peruvian direction
In turn, Victor Polyakov, head of the Peruvian representative of Russian Technologies, said at an exhibition in Lima that the volume of military-technical cooperation between Peru and Russia over the past few years amounted to over 130 million dollars. This amount was created thanks to the contract for the supply of 8-Mi helicopters: 2-x Mi-35P and 6-ti Mi-171Sh. The contract value is 107 million dollars. The remaining funds are other contracts.
Polyakov noted that the 1-batch of three Mi-171Sh helicopters that Peru bought will be delivered to the customer after 20 in May of this year, and the remaining three cars will be presented to the customer at the end of July. Representatives of Russian Technologies are satisfied with the progress of this contract. In addition, the customer is also pleased with its implementation, Polyakov stressed.
Also, the question of building a service center for the overhaul and maintenance of Mi-8, Mi-26T and Mi-17 helicopters in Peru remains vital. A proper agreement was signed in 2008 year with the participation of the presidents of Peru and Russia, said Rosoboronexport representatives.
However, Lima is a traditional partner of the Russian Federation in the field of military-technical cooperation. The beginning of cooperation dates back to the period of the USSR. In accordance with the information provided by the press service of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rosoboronexport, starting in 1973, Peru purchased Tanks T-55, Mi-8 helicopters, MiG-29 aircraft, other types of weapons and equipment. For a short period, this state has become one of the leading buyers in the region of military and civil aircraft, various types of weapons that were produced in the Soviet Union, becoming the leader in this indicator.
It is fair to say that in the period of the 90-ies, the military-technical cooperation between Russia and Peru was not actually conducted. But more recently, this cooperation has once again begun to actively develop. Contracts have already been signed for the repair and modernization of MiG-29 fighters and Mi-17 helicopters. Another famous contract is the purchase by the Peruvian army of Russian Cornet-E anti-tank missile systems.
Peru is showing great interest in Russian armored vehicles, means of fighting tanks and naval technology. This year the Peruvian submarine fleet will celebrate its centenary. And, probably, the time has come for renewing the submarine fleet, Ladigin noted. He does not know when this will happen, but the Peruvians have begun to look at what the world's leading submarine manufacturers offer. Russia is participating in this process, familiarizing itself with its materials, the head of the delegation said.
Latin American countries, including Peru, are showing increasing interest in anti-aircraft missile systems. Russia will take part in a tender for the supply of medium-range and short-range air defense systems to the Republic of Peru, Ladygin said. He called the weapons market of Peru very promising. The Russian Federation offers Peruvians mutually beneficial cooperation options.
According to the information the Russian delegation gave at the exhibition in Lima, Rosoboronexport for the tender in Peru will present Tor-M2E, short-range air defense systems and Buk-M2E, medium-range air defense systems, which were developed and produced by the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern. The Tor-M2E anti-aircraft missile system is an effective weapon for hitting airplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, guided missiles and other high-precision weapon elements that fly at extremely small, small and medium altitudes in a difficult jamming and air environment. Air targets can be searched for, detected and recognized both when the combat vehicle is moving and on the spot. The transition to tracking the target and launching rockets is carried out from a short stop. The Tor-M2 ЗРС battery consists of four combat vehicles. The Buk-М2Е air defense system, thanks to the introduction of phased-array antenna complexes, makes it possible to simultaneously detect up to 24 air targets and simultaneously attack the six most dangerous ones. The equipment of the complex with a radar of illumination and guidance with an antenna post, which rises to a height of up to the 21 meter, made it possible to significantly increase the efficiency of the complex for low-flying targets.
The head of the Rosoboronexport delegation confirmed that the Peruvian contract for the modernization of Su-25 attack aircraft besides Russia is also claimed by Georgia and Belarus. He told about this when he answered the question whether it was true that one of the Belarusian aircraft repair plants was participating in the modernization of the Su-25 of the Peruvian Air Force. Sergey Ladygin noted that this plant does not participate in the work, but makes suggestions. Similar proposals come from Georgia. What can be said in this vein? There was a USSR. After him there were enterprises in Georgia and Belarus. They have their right to look for customers. Russia, too. Let's see who will be the executor of the work, said the representative of Rosoboronexport.
Ladygin also said that the MiG company is now engaged in the modernization of the MiG-29 fighter jets, which are in service with the Peruvian Air Force. He clarified that this contract is not with Rosoboronexport, but with the MiG corporation, and now it is in a stage of active development. Representatives of the Russian delegation at the military exhibition, which takes place in the capital of Peru, noted that Liu could make the final decision on the modernization of the Su-25 attack aircraft of the Peru air force after the 2 stage of the presidential election in the republic, which is scheduled for June 5.
Surprises are not excluded
Responding to the claims of some media that, in connection with past events in several regions of the Earth, for example, in North Africa, the Russian Federation may be left without many, very large arms contracts, Sergey Ladygin stressed that the political processes that are currently taking place in some states - traditional buyers of domestic weapons will not lead to a radical change in their priorities in the PTS. He said that, of course, the new government can decide for itself what policy to build and what to do next, but let's look at the times of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This was preceded by the loss of our positions in Eastern European countries. Former allies of the USSR very quickly ran into the NATO camp. Many believed that NATO would give them their modern, new weapons. But how many Eastern European countries now have weapons from NATO? Russia, on the other hand, participates in the repair and modernization of the equipment that was still supplied to the Warsaw Pact states and which is still in use by them. In this regard, Ladygin thinks that no change of government, no change of power will not lead to the abandonment of technology that is already in use. As an example, he cited the Republic of Peru. At the end of the 80-s many military equipment of the USSR was supplied to this country. Over the years, both in Russia and in this country, politics has changed greatly. But the repair and supply of spare parts for vehicles remained, and now - and the supply of new types of weapons. As they say, technology is out of politics. The technique is either bad or good. And there is no need to weight it with labels. Both in Iraq and in Afghanistan, the Americans successfully use a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Therefore, Ladygin does not think that a change of power in a particular state will lead to the abandonment of military equipment and weapons used.
Russian experts have noticed to journalists that on July 5, during the parade in the capital of Venezuela in Caracas, which is dedicated to the 200 anniversary of the independence of this state, surprises are not excluded. Sergei Ladygin, wanting to keep the intrigue, did not specify to journalists what kind of technique will appear on the parade. He said that quite a lot of contracts are being implemented with Venezuela today and it is difficult to list them.
Meanwhile, in Lima, journalists learned another news. According to the Russian Technologies State Corporation, Uruguay became the first Latin American country that decided to purchase Russian Tiger multi-purpose off-road armored vehicles. The contract for the supply of "Tigers" was signed 28 April. Recall that earlier the "Tigers" have been well tested in the Republic of Brazil, but so far this has not led to any agreements with this state.
An important feature of the contract signed with Uruguay is that it is the first one signed with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of this state, said Russian Technologies representative Anatoly Zuev. In his opinion, this is a political contract. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of this country is counting on the "Tigers" to combat the increasing drug traffic.
Another feature of the contract is that with the help of it, Russian cars broke through into the Latin American market. He says that Uruguay is one of the windows of Latin America. Deliveries of cars "Ural" in this region also began with Uruguay.
Speaking about the military-technical cooperation of Uruguay and Russia, Zuev noted that with this country for more than 10-year history cooperation concluded over ten contracts.
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