Russia has good potential for the further development of military-technical cooperation with the states of Latin America. In particular, Rosoboronexport notes a fresh wave of interest in the region in Russian models of military equipment and weapons.
At the Sitdef Peru-2011 exhibition, Sergei Ladygin, head of the Rosoboronexport delegation, in particular, said that Russia is progressively and actively promoting its military products to the Latin American market. Unlike the defense structures of many other states, the Russian Federation is talking not only about the supply of finished equipment and weapons. The Russian offer is much wider, it consists of a whole range of services for post-warranty repair and maintenance, the sale of spare parts, the modernization of military equipment and weapons that were supplied during the Soviet Union, as well as the licensed production of the latest systems.
The fruitful and constantly developing relationship between the Republic of Peru and the Russian Federation contributes to the growth of interest in products of the Russian "defense industry" on the part of other Latin American countries. For example, domestically produced helicopters will be serviced on the basis of a service repair center, which is currently established in Mexico, and its analogue is being created in Venezuela. In addition, a training base will appear in Bolivia, where military personnel will be trained. Now agreements in the field of military-technical cooperation have been signed and are being implemented with Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, as well as other states of Latin America.
In general, the volume of Russian military-technical cooperation with the countries of the region is increasing, and Russia has good prospects in the Latin American defense market. From this perspective, the head of the Rosoboronexport delegation said that sometimes the most fantastic things become real. No one could have said ten years ago that today's Russia would be so active in Latin America, and no one believed in that. Many said that no one would let Russia into this region, that this was not its zone, that Latin America was a very remote territory, and so on and so forth. Contrary to all forecasts, Russia now has a very good result in military-technical cooperation in Latin America, Ladygin said.
Strengthening cooperation is beneficial not only for Russia, but also for its partners. Nowadays there are only a few states in Latin America to which Rosoboronexport does not supply weapons. Somewhere the contracts are big, somewhere they are small. There are no big or small contracts. The Russian Federation has cooperation between partners. And development always follows the source. And this source has been laid over the past decade, said the head of the Russian delegation. At the same time, he noted that now it is necessary to count not the dollars received, but the states with which the Russian Federation cooperates. Russia is ready to train people and supply its own equipment. She is ready to supply spare parts to Latin America, create repair and service centers so that the equipment works normally away from the Russian Federation, so as not to take it to Russia, but to carry out repairs here. The Russian side is ready to transfer technology to virtually all weapons. "Yes, not free of charge, but on a mutually beneficial basis, in the interests of the Russian industry, and Russia does not hide this," Ladygin said.
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 after-sales service, Cuba will be able to use it with the same efficiency as before. "Cuba is an old friend of Russia, with whom Rosoboronexport would like to restore and expand cooperation to the maximum," Ladygin said. Now the relationship boils down to the fact that Cuba purchases spare parts from the Russian Federation for equipment that was supplied earlier.
Sergei Ladygin emphasized that this is a very difficult process, because the technique has often changed lately. One production changes another, which is why it is quite problematic to find spare parts for old equipment, and maintaining the production of spare parts for outdated equipment is not always profitable. This is not an easy task, but we solve it: either we take it from the warehouses, or we remove it from equipment that is in good condition, but not used. That is, we are looking for a solution to this issue and satisfy the requests of Cuban customers.
On the Peruvian direction
In turn, Viktor Polyakov, head of the Peruvian office 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. This amount was created thanks to a contract for the supply of 8 helicopters: 2 Mi-35P and 6 Mi-171Sh. The contract value is $ 107 million. The rest of the funds are other contracts.
Polyakov noted that the first batch of three Mi-171SH helicopters purchased by Peru will be delivered to the customer after May 20 of this year, and the remaining three aircraft 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, stressed Polyakov.
Also of vital importance is the construction of a service center in Peru for overhaul and maintenance of Mi-8, Mi-26T and Mi-17 helicopters. A proper agreement was signed in 2008 with the participation of the presidents of Peru and Russia, representatives of Rosoboronexport said.
However, Lima is a traditional partner of the Russian Federation in the field of military-technical cooperation. The beginning of cooperation falls back to the period of the existence of the USSR. In accordance with the information provided by the press service of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Rosoboronexport", since 1973, Peru has been purchasing T-55 tanks, Mi-8 helicopters, MiG-29 aircraft, and other types of weapons and equipment. In a short period of time, this state has become one of the region's leading buyers of military and civil aircraft, various types of weapons that were produced in the Soviet Union, becoming a leader in this indicator.
It is fair to say that during the 90s there was virtually no military technical cooperation between Russia and Peru. But recently, this cooperation began to actively develop again. Contracts have already been signed for the repair and modernization of MiG-29 fighters and Mi-17 helicopters. Another famous contract is the purchase of the Russian Kornet-E anti-tank missile systems by the Peruvian army.
Peru is showing great interest in Russian armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons and naval equipment. This year, the Peruvian submarine fleet will celebrate its centenary. And, probably, the time has come to renew the fleet of submarines, Ladygin noted. He doesn't know when this will happen, but the Peruvians have begun to look at what the world's top submarine manufacturers are offering. Russia is also participating in this process, acquainting with its materials, the head of the delegation said.
The countries of Latin America, including Peru, are showing increasing interest in anti-aircraft missile systems. Russia will take part in a tender for the supply of medium and short-range air defense systems to the Republic of Peru, Ladygin said. He called the Peruvian arms market very promising. The Russian Federation offers the Peruvians mutually beneficial cooperation options.
According to the information provided by the Russian delegation at the exhibition in Lima, Rosoboronexport 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, for a tender in Peru. The Tor-M2E anti-aircraft missile system is an effective weapon for destroying aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, guided missiles and other precision weapons that fly at extremely low, low and medium altitudes in a difficult jamming and air environment. Air targets can be searched for, detected and identified both when the combat vehicle is moving and on the spot. The transition to target tracking and missile launch is carried out with a short stop. The battery of the Tor-M2E air defense missile system consists of four combat vehicles. The Buk-M2E air defense missile system, thanks to the introduction of phased array antenna complexes into combat assets, allows simultaneously detecting up to 24 air targets and simultaneously attacking six of the most dangerous. Equipping the complex with a radar for illumination and guidance with an antenna post, which rises to a height of 21 meters, made it possible to significantly increase the efficiency of the complex for low-flying targets.
The head of the Rosoboronexport delegation confirmed that in addition to Russia, Georgia and Belarus are also claiming the Peruvian contract for the modernization of Su-25 attack aircraft. He spoke about this when he was answering the question whether it was true that one of the Belarusian aircraft repair plants was involved in the modernization of the Su-25 of the Peruvian Air Force. Sergey Ladygin noticed that this plant does not participate in the work, but makes proposals. Similar proposals are coming from Georgia. What can be said in this vein? There was the USSR. After him there were enterprises in Georgia and Belarus. They have their own right to look for customers. Russia too. Let's see who will be the executor of the work, said a representative of Rosoboronexport.
Ladygin also said that the MiG company is now dealing with the issue of modernizing the MiG-29 fighters, 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 the stage of lively development. Representatives of the Russian delegation at the military exhibition, which is taking place in the capital of Peru, noted that the final decision on the modernization of the Su-25 attack aircraft of the Peruvian Air Force, Lima can take after the 2nd stage of the presidential elections in the republic, which is scheduled for June 5 this year.
Surprises are possible
Responding to the assertions of some mass media that in connection with the past events in a number of 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 now taking place in some states - traditional buyers of domestic weapons will not lead to a radical change in their priorities in military-technical cooperation. He said that, undoubtedly, the new government can decide for itself what policy to build and what to do in the future, but let's look at the times of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This was preceded by the loss of our positions in the Eastern European states. Former allies of the USSR very quickly fled to the NATO camp. Many believed that NATO would give them its modern, new weapon. But how many East 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 states of the Warsaw Pact and which is still used by them. In this regard, Ladygin thinks that no change of government, no change of power will lead to the abandonment of the technology that is already in use. He cited the Republic of Peru as an example. In the late 1980s, a lot of Soviet military equipment was supplied to this country. Over the years, both in Russia and in this country, policy has changed dramatically. But the repair and supply of spare parts for the equipment remained, and now - the supply of new types of weapons. As the saying goes, technology is outside of politics. The technique is either bad or good. And there is no need to label it. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, the Americans have successfully used the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Therefore, Ladygin does not think that the change of power in this or that state will lead to the abandonment of the used military equipment and weapons.
Russian experts noticed to journalists that on July 5, during the parade in the capital of Venezuela in Caracas, which is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the independence of this state, surprises are not excluded. Sergei Ladygin, wishing to keep the intrigue, did not specify to the journalists what kind of equipment will appear at the parade. He said that quite a few contracts are being implemented with Venezuela today and it is difficult to list them.
Meanwhile, in Lima, journalists learned another piece of news. According to the state corporation "Russian Technologies", Uruguay became the first Latin American country that decided to purchase Russian multifunctional off-road armored vehicles "Tiger". The contract for the supply of "Tigers" was signed on April 28. We will remind that earlier "Tigers" were 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 Anatoly Zuev, a representative of Russian Technologies. In his opinion, this is a political contract. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of this country counts very much on the "Tigers" to combat the growing drug trafficking.
Another feature of the concluded contract is that with its help Russian cars broke into the Latin American market. He says that Uruguay is one of the showcases of Latin America. The deliveries of Ural vehicles to this region also began from Uruguay.
Talking about the military-technical cooperation of Uruguay and Russia, Zuev noted that more than ten contracts have been concluded with this country over the more than 10-year history of cooperation.
