Summer is a time of vacations, serenity and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. It is football that has become the main topic of recent weeks, and the entry of the Russian national team into the quarterfinals of the championship is the biggest sensation of the tournament so far. Stanislav Cherchesov's wards knocked out one of the favorites from the tournament - Spain. The fans propose to give the goalkeeper of the national team Igor Akinfeev a Hero of Russia, at the same time erecting a monument to his left leg. Against this background, there was practically no news regarding the export of Russian weapons, and one of the few contracts discussed was the possible supply of multifunctional Su-30SM fighters to Armenia.
Armenia interested in Su-30SM fighters
Armenia is at an advanced stage of negotiations on the purchase of Russian multifunctional Su-30SM fighters belonging to the 4+ generation, according to IA Regnum. In mid-June, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted a photo on his Facebook page showing him in the cockpit of a modern Russian multifunctional Su-30SM fighter jet. In the caption to the photo that appeared, Nikol Pashinyan noted that he was in the cockpit of one of the world's best fighters, noting also that he was already in Yerevan (on the eve he made a visit to the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic). However, this photo raised a number of questions. Where did the Su-30SM come from at the Erebuni air base, on which the Russian MiG-29 fighters are based? Does the new aircraft belong to the Russian Aerospace Forces, or was it bought by Armenia?
According to information from a source in the Armenian Defense Ministry, who shared information with “Regnum” journalists on condition of anonymity, currently Yerevan is conducting substantive negotiations with Moscow on the purchase of a number of modern Russian fighters. At the same time, the negotiations are already at a fairly advanced stage. In case of a successful scenario, the signing of the contract may take place within the next year or two years. Such information is quite consistent with information about Armenia's interest in Su-30SM fighters, which began to appear in the media of this country back in 2016. If we talk about the fighter in which the Prime Minister of Armenia was photographed, then this aircraft belongs to the Russian Aerospace Forces, most likely, it arrived at the Erebuni airbase as part of a group of aircraft to perform training flights, as well as to demonstrate the capabilities of new Russian technology to the military and political the leadership of Armenia.
Today, the Su-30 fighter is the most popular and successful Russian export aircraft. India alone has bought 272 Su-30MKIs, while more than 100 vehicles are in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces. The aircraft is being built on a large scale, which ensures high quality (the production technology is perfectly developed), as well as low cost. The advantage is that in Syria the plane received the necessary experience of combat use, which was reflected in the introduction of some changes in its design.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in the cockpit of the Su-30SM fighter
If we talk about Armenia, then at the moment the country does not have fighter aircraft. Of the combat aircraft, there are 15 Su-25 attack aircraft, and 18 MiG-29 fighters are deployed at the Russian Erebuni air base near Yerevan, but these aircraft do not become younger and more efficient every year. In such a situation, it seems quite logical to buy the Su-30SM, especially if Russia helps with the preparation of the necessary infrastructure for them.
In general, the appearance of modern Su-30SM fighters in the Armenian armed forces can significantly increase the offensive capabilities of the country and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as jeopardize the oil and gas infrastructure of Azerbaijan, which is strategic for Baku, and other infrastructure facilities on the territory of 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.
The United States is ready to disrupt the largest contracts between India and Russia
In Delhi and Washington, preparations are being finalized for the first ever meeting of the heads of diplomatic and defense ministries of India and the United States in the "2 + 2" format. The dialogue, which is already scheduled for early July 2018, promises to be quite difficult. The United States is unhappy with the defense cooperation between India and Russia and warns that the purchase of Russian weapons by the Indian military may 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 Indian media, the parties have already begun discussing various ways to neutralize possible US anti-Russian sanctions. One of the options is to switch to a system of settlements 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 on July 6, 2018, a year after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Trump in the US for the first time and reached a number of agreements on military-technical cooperation between the countries. Defense Secretary Nirmala Sitharaman and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj will be partners of US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the talks. Two women will “take a hit” on rather sensitive military-technical cooperation issues. Numerous recent statements and leaks by American officials testify to us that the United States is increasingly dissatisfied with the defense ties between India and Russia, which has long been Delhi's main partner in military-technical cooperation.
Confirming this, William Thornberry, who is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the US House of Representatives, during a visit to Delhi on May 28, 2018, said that the new major deals between Delhi and Moscow in the field of military-technical cooperation, which are actively discussed today at various levels, do not fit into American-Indian Defense Partnership. William Thornberry warned his Indian colleagues that Delhi's planned purchases of Russian S-400 Triumph air defense systems (the cost of this contract is estimated at about $ 6 billion) could negatively affect military-technical cooperation between Washington and Delhi. "Both Congress and the US administration are very concerned about this issue today," Thornberry said in an interview with Indian television station NDTV. “It's not just India that would like to complete this deal. If any state receives these anti-aircraft missile systems, this 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 to maintain and modernize a huge fleet of previously delivered Soviet / Russian weapons, and also, taking into account the fact thatthat India is pursuing a policy of maintaining strategic autonomy in the procurement of arms and military equipment, explains the motives of the Indian side, Vasily Kashin, Senior Research Fellow at the Higher School of Economics. - Among other things, the Indians are well aware that their cooperation with Russia in this area plays the role of a constraining factor in relation to cooperation between Pakistan and Russia. Removing the brakes on the development of such a relationship could have very far-reaching consequences for India.” According to Vasily Kashin, in general, US sanctions on arms supplies from Russia are ineffective. As examples, he cited contracts for the supply of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Turkey and Su-35 fighters to Indonesia. "Sanctions lead to a complication of the system of settlements between countries, additional transaction costs and recourse to barter, as was the case with Indonesia, but rarely lead to the disruption of transactions," Kashin said.
In turn, Russia, as a source in the Russian military-industrial complex told Kommersant reporters, is confident in its Indian partner, despite American pressure. At the last unofficial meeting on the S-400 Triumph air defense system, the Indians assured that the issue of purchasing the complexes was resolved. “The Indians simply could not have acted differently,” added the source of Kommersant. "The PRC has the S-400, so the American Patriot air defense systems of India will not work, since the American system is weaker."
Still, it is worth noting that Washington's anti-Russian restrictive measures are already affecting those who work in the field of military-technical cooperation with Russia. Until recently, all deals 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 being included in the black lists announced by Washington and are 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 financing of "critical projects", for example, the repair of the Russian nuclear submarine Chakra, which was leased to India.
As a result, according to sources in The Economic Times, Delhi and Moscow are already working on the possibility of making all payments in the field of military-technical cooperation not in dollars, but in rupees and rubles at a rate pegged to an 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 began work on certification of its newest Mi-171A2 helicopter in India. Currently, negotiations are underway with the aviation authorities of India (DGCA) on the procedure for carrying out the necessary certification work, according to the official website of Rostec. Andrey Boginsky, General Director 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 first foreign customer of the newest Russian Mi-171A2 helicopter was an Indian company, and it was in India that Russian Helicopters first began the process of confirming its Russian certificate.
The holding notes that the need to recognize the certificate for the Mi-171A2 helicopter is due to the fact that there is great interest in it from potential customers from the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (APR). The company is currently working on a number of projects to supply these helicopters to various buyers from the Asia-Pacific region. Buyers' interest in the new product is quite understandable. The Mi-171A2 is the result of a deep modernization of the Mi-8/17/171 helicopters that have proven themselves well all over the world. At the same time, more than 80 changes were made to its design relative to the base model.
For example, the Mi-171A2 received new Russian VK-2500PS-03 engines equipped with a modern electronic automatic control system of the FADEC type. In addition, thanks to the implemented design solutions, this engine provides more reliable operation of helicopter technology in regions with hot climates, as well as in high mountain areas. The use of a modern digital flight and navigation complex with display data on the helicopter made it possible to reduce the crew of the rotorcraft from three to two people. And the addition of equipment designed to diagnose and monitor the state of the main systems to the onboard electronic equipment of the helicopter made it possible to increase the reliability of the machine and led to a decrease in the time spent on its maintenance.
