The main news regarding the export of Russian weapons in December 2017 can be attributed to exhibitions and the continuation of the supply of aviation equipment to foreign customers under previously concluded contracts. In the last month of the outgoing year, Rosoboronexport demonstrated various domestically produced military equipment at two major exhibitions. The products of the Russian defense industry were presented in Colombia at the Expodefensa 2017 exhibition (Rosoboronexport took part in this exhibition for the first time), as well as in Kuwait at the Gulf Defense & Aerospace 2017 exhibition.
Russian weapons were first shown at "Expodefensa 2017"
For the first time in history, Rosoboronexport took part in the Expodefensa 2017 International Exhibition of Scientific and Technological Advances in Defense and Security. The exhibition took place in the capital of Colombia, Bogota, from 4 to 6 December. Moreover, the history of military-technical cooperation between Russia and Colombia is more than 20 years old. All this time, the countries maintained and strengthened friendly and mutually beneficial relations, while the volume of supplies to Colombia of Russian military products and services approached the $ 500 million mark. Currently, the army of this Latin American country is armed with more than 20 Mi-17 helicopters, Rosoboronexport is engaged in their timely maintenance and repair, the press service of the Rostec state corporation reports.
Experts note that the Yak-130 combat trainers, the MiG-29M multifunctional front-line fighter, and the Su-30MK and Su-35 super-maneuverable multifunctional fighters are among the most promising aircraft models for the Latin American region, which were presented in Colombia. In addition, foreign customers are showing interest in Russian Ansat, Mi-17, Mi-26T2 helicopters. Traditionally, the attention of foreign partners in this region is attracted by Russian air defense systems, especially the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and cannon system, as well as the Buk-M2E and Tor-M2MK air defense systems, and the Igla portable anti-aircraft missile system has not been deprived of attention. -WITH.
Representatives of the naval forces of Latin American countries may be interested in Russian ships and submarines, which were presented in the form of models at a separate stand. In Colombia, a patrol boat of project 14130 Mirage, a small patrol ship (corvette) of project 20382 Tiger, and a large diesel-electric submarine of project 636 Varshavyanka were demonstrated to potential customers. In addition to Russia, these submarines are already in service with the fleets of China, Vietnam and Algeria.
Rosoboronexport also demonstrated modern Russian military equipment for the ground forces, which can also be successfully used by special forces to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and crime, for many Latin American countries these are very serious problems. At the Expodefensa 2017 exhibition were presented armored personnel carriers BTR-80A / 82A, BMP-3M infantry fighting vehicles, various armored vehicles of the Typhoon-K and Tiger-M families, as well as small arms and melee weapons.
It should be noted that participation in the Expodefensa 2017 exhibition fits into the strategy of searching for new sales markets for the products of the Russian defense industry. Although Russia occupies a solid second place in terms of arms supplies on the world market, it will be more and more difficult to keep sales in monetary terms in the future, new markets and diversification of supplies are needed with an increase in the share of sales of equipment and weapons not to the military, but to paramilitary structures: the police, special forces, border guards, rescuers.
As Alexander Denisov, who headed the Rosoboronexport delegation at the Expodefensa 2017, said in an interview with AiF journalists, its results exceeded all expectations. In terms of quality and number of contacts, it was not inferior to analogs in Brazil, Mexico and Chile, the head of the Russian delegation acknowledged. More than 20 delegations visited Rosoboronexport's stands, including two deputy defense ministers of neighboring countries, 6 commanders of the branches of the armed forces. Many of them not only made courtesy visits, but also showed a keen interest in specific samples of military equipment. According to "AiF", the most interesting from the point of view of future contracts were negotiations with representatives of Colombia, Bolivia and Paraguay.
2017 Gulf Defense & Aerospace Exhibition in Kuwait
From December 12 to 14, Rosoboronexport took part in the International Exhibition and Conference of Arms and Military Equipment called Gulf Defense & Aerospace 2017, the exhibition was held in the capital of Kuwait, Kuwait City under the patronage of the country's Ministry of Defense. As part of the exhibition, the Russian side demonstrated 200 samples of the latest Russian weapons. It should be noted that 2017 marked the 40th anniversary of the start of military-technical cooperation between Russia and Kuwait. Mainly, our country supplied weapons to the Kuwaiti Ground Forces.
According to a Rostec press release, the most promising for the Kuwaiti Ground Forces of the weapons and military equipment presented at the exhibition are considered the main battle tanks T-90S and T-90MS, armored personnel carriers BTR-82A, as well as the Kornet-EM anti-tank missile system. Russian aircraft also arouses great interest in the region; the Mi-28NE and Ka-52 combat helicopters, the Mi-35 military transport helicopter and the Mi-171Sh military transport helicopter have been added to the vehicles that were demonstrated in Colombia. Also at the exhibition was the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, which is a Russian bestseller on the international arms market. For the army and special units of Kuwait and neighboring states, modern models of small arms and melee weapons were presented. Including the Kalashnikov assault rifles of the "hundredth" series, the RPG-27 anti-tank grenade launchers and the AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers.
The exhibition took place without significant contracts. At the same time, Kuwait continues to be considered a potential buyer of 146 T-90MS tanks of the latest modification. In 2017, the countries carried out pre-contract work on this issue. In addition to Kuwait, Egypt is another Middle Eastern country interested in Russian T-90 tanks. In general, it is most likely that in the near future, contracts in the field of military-technical cooperation will be concluded with countries located on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula. In particular, experts talk about possible deliveries of air defense systems to Sudan and Egypt.
Myanmar received the first six Yak-130 combat trainers
According to information posted on the official pages on social networks of Senior General Min Aung Hline, who is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Myanmar, on December 15, 2017, the country's air force accepted the 6 first Russian-made Yak-130 combat training aircraft. On this day, celebrations in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Myanmar (Burmese) military aviation were held at the airfield of the Myanmar Air Force Flight School in Meithila (near Mandalay). As part of this event, in addition to the Russian Yak-130, the Myanmar Air Force included 4 transport and passenger aircraft purchased on the secondary market - two ATR 42-32 turboprop and two Fokker 70 jet propellers.
As noted in the bmpd blog, initially the contract for the supply of an unnamed number of Yak-130 aircraft to Myanmar was not publicly advertised (presumably Russia will supply 16 aircraft to Myanmar). The contract was signed back on June 22, 2015. It is executed by the Irkutsk Aviation Plant of PJSC Irkut Corporation. The first three Yak-130s under this contract were transferred to the Myanmar Air Force in February 2017, three more - in the fall of 2017. Thus, Myanmar is officially the fourth foreign recipient of Russian Yak-130 combat training aircraft after Algeria (received 16 aircraft), Bangladesh (16 aircraft) and Belarus (8 aircraft).
China received another five Su-35 fighters
According to the bmpd blog, citing unofficial Chinese sources, on November 30, 2017, five regular Su-35 multifunctional fighters, delivered to the country under a 2015 contract, were sent to China. Five Su-35 fighters manufactured by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant named after Yu. A. Gagarin (KnAAZ, a branch of PJSC Sukhoi Company) flew from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to China together with the leader, which was the Il -76TD-90 of the Russian airline Volga-Dnepr.
After this delivery, the number of Su-35 fighters transferred to China increased to 14 units out of 24, which were ordered under a contract signed by the parties in November 2015. The first 4 Su-35 fighters under this contract were built in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in 2016 and transferred to China on December 25, 2016, the next 5 fighters were transferred to China on July 3, 2017. In the PLA Air Force, the latest Russian fighters enter service with the 6th Aviation Brigade (the former 6th Aviation Regiment of the 2nd Aviation Division), located at the Suizi airfield near Zhanjiang (Guangdong province) and equipped with Russian Su-27SK fighters.
In total, 20 Su-35 fighters were assembled at the KnAAZ plant in 2017. Ten of them joined the ranks of the Russian Aerospace Forces, and ten export ones were transferred to China. The remaining ten Su-35 fighters under the 2015 contract will be built and handed over to Beijing in 2018.
Ka-226T will take part in a tender for a helicopter for the Indian Navy
As the journalists of Kommersant write in the article “Russian Helicopters Fly Over Three Seas,” the Russian holding intends to expand its cooperation with India in the segment of light helicopter supplies. Russian Helicopters have already announced their desire to take part in a tender for the supply of 111 Ka-226T carrier-based helicopters to the Indian Navy. The shipborne version of this helicopter has already been certified. According to experts, against the background of the market downturn, Indian government orders are becoming especially important for the holding.
Official Delhi announced a tender for the supply of more than 100 helicopters weighing up to 5 tons in 2017. Andrey Boginsky, General Director of the Russian Helicopters holding company, notes that the Ka-226T helicopters will be produced within the framework of the Indo-Russian Helicopters Private Ltd registered Russian-Indian joint venture to localize the production of the Ka-226T. Rosoboronexport told Kommersant journalists that the company traditionally strives to participate in all Indian tenders, since Delhi is a long-standing partner of our country in matters of military-technical cooperation.
The Ka-226T is a light multipurpose helicopter featuring a coaxial twin-rotor carrier system. The helicopter has a maximum weight of 3.6 tons, while it is capable of carrying up to a ton of payload. A distinctive feature of the helicopter is its modular design. For example, a transport cabin is easily installed on a helicopter, the design of which allows transporting up to 6 people or modules equipped with various special equipment. The helicopter is powered by two Arrius engines manufactured by the French company Safran. Russia has already produced about 70 Ka-226 helicopters of all modifications, which are mainly used by government agencies.
In mid-December 2017, the Rostec press service published information that the Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise (KumAPP), which is part of the Russian Helicopters holding, handed over to the customer two ship-based Ka-226T helicopters. The message says that the helicopters have passed the entire range of acceptance tests and will soon replenish the fleet of state aviation. This delivery was the second in 2017, in March KumAPP handed over the first two ship-based helicopters to the state customer. Unlike the "land" version, the Ka-226T light ship-based multipurpose helicopter has a folding system for the rotor blades, and its systems and components are specially prepared for working in an aggressive marine environment. Due to its small size, this helicopter can be placed on ships and vessels of even small displacement.
“The decline in the state defense order and the general downturn in the market force the Russian Helicopters holding to pay maximum attention to finding new markets for its products,” said Vladimir Karnozov, an expert at the Aviation Explorer portal. Over the past few years, the supply of aviation equipment to China has decreased, while to India, on the contrary, it has increased, notes Karnozov, adding that the Indian Navy has been operating domestically-made Kamov helicopters since the 1980s, when Delhi received 6 Project 61ME frigates with a full-fledged hangar for the Ka-25 helicopters, and with the Ka-28 and Ka-31 helicopters, India bought more than 30 Russian carrier-based helicopters. At the same time, the Indian Navy, after testing, refused to purchase an Indian carrier-based helicopter, created on the HAL Dhruv platform. At the same time, India has already made a fundamental decision on the choice of the Russian Ka-226T helicopter for the army aviation, but this does not mean an “automatic” victory of the same model in the competition announced by the country's navy. Vladimir Karnozov notes that the requirements for a deck-based helicopter are different, while Russia will have to act in tough competition with Western manufacturers of such equipment.
RSK "MiG" can start restoring the airworthiness of the Bulgarian MiG-29
The Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria turned to the Russian company RSK MiG with a proposal to restore the airworthiness of the MiG-29 fighters in service with the Bulgarian Air Force. This follows from the materials that were posted on the official website of the Bulgarian Public Procurement Agency, RBC reports. According to the submitted documentation, we are talking about the repair of 15 fighters - 12 single-seat MiG-29A and three combat training MiG-29UB. The MiG-29 fighters were delivered to the Bulgarian Air Force in the late 1980s. The message from the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense emphasizes that maintaining the airworthiness of aircraft is of paramount importance for national security, including for Bulgaria's participation in the mission to protect the airspace of NATO countries. Currently, only 7 aircraft are in airworthiness, the rest require serious repair.
The maximum total cost of works ordered from RSK MiG within the framework of the posted documents is 81, 3 million Bulgarian levs (approximately 49 million dollars). The framework agreement is planned to be concluded for a period of 4 years. Under the terms of this agreement, two-thirds of the fighters serviced by the Russian company must be serviceable and constantly ready to fly. Within the framework of the integrated logistic support (which is the subject of the competition), it is envisaged to restore the flight readiness of aircraft with a total annual flight time of fighters of at least 1450 hours (1000 hours for the MiG-29A and 450 hours for the MiG-29UB) with a fixed cost of each flight hour.
The Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria admits that RSK MiG is the only company capable of performing the entire range of necessary repairs in full. At the same time, earlier the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov in an interview with TASS said that he had held preliminary negotiations with representatives of the Russian company, expressing the hope that an agreement on the repair of MiG-29 fighters would be signed.
