Central Asia
Russia shoots to rule Asian skies
By John Helmer
MOSCOW - Singapore defense officials have told Russia's arms export
agency Rosoboronexport that they expect the Sukhoi Su-30
fighter-bomber will make it to the short list of three aircraft to
be considered in the current tender to replace the Singapore Air
Force's aging fleet of US-made A-4 Skyhawks.
A military agency official told Asia Times Online that the
multi-purpose Sukhoi combat aircraft impressed the Singapore
officers who observed the aircraft in demonstrations at the Moscow
air show last August, and at the Asian Aerospace-2002 show in
Singapore this year. The official added that in the current
competition between the European Typhoon, France's Rafale and three
US models, the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon and F-18 Super-Hornet, the
Su-30 should reach the second round of the selection process.
The confidence of Rosoboronexport has been enhanced in recent weeks
by signals of interest from other countries in Russian arms,
particularly Sukhoi aircraft.
The Malaysian government remains close to a decision, but is still
uncommitted on whether to buy the Su-30. The aircraft was flown in
demonstrations at Malaysia's Langkawi International Maritime and
Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition last October.
After several years of negotiations in the early 1990s, which saw
intense rivalry from Washington for Malaysia to buy the F-18
Hornet, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad split his air force
acquisition into two, buying 18 Mikoyan MiG-29s and an equal number
of Hornets. The Malaysian Air Force has been considering a
follow-on order, and the Boeing-built F-18, in a modified form, is
again competing against the Russians.
China's Air Force has already contracted to buy the Su-30MKK, which
is equipped with Russian avionics. The Su-30MKM model to be offered
to Malaysia is equipped with Russian and European avionics, and is
more suited to English-speaking pilots. The first two Su30MKI
aircraft were delivered to India on June 21, and another eight are
being transported over the next few weeks.
Starting in 2004, licensed production of the aircraft will begin in
India, and local production lines are expected to roll out a total
of 140 aircraft, according to the terms of a deal signed in 2000.
According to Rosoboronexport, the radar and engines of the Su-30MKI
have not been exported anywhere else in the world. The agency
claims that the radar allows the aircraft to fight effectively with
several enemy aircraft at the same time.
And Brazil, too, is close to preferring Sukhoi over intense
competition from the US and France. In the Brazilian tender,
Rosoboronexport has offered licensed production by Brazilian
aerospace companies of the Su-35. The bidding for replacement of
Brazil's old Mirage-III fighters has been sharpened by the
Brazilian government's decision to exclude the US F-16 and F-18
from the final round, leaving Sukhoi running against
Mirage-2000.
The general director of Rosoboronexport, Andrei Belyaninov, said
last week that in the first half of this year revenues from arms
sales topped US$2 billion. "We expect the results for the second
half of the year to be at least equal to the first half." However,
he said that the recent estimate placing Russia as the leading arms
exporter in the world - in a publication last month by the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) - is
inaccurate.
"In our opinion," Belyaninov said, "Russia is currently in the
third or fourth place among the world's leading arms exporters,
while the US is the leader."
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact [email protected] for information on our sales and
syndication policies.)
[/b]
waddya think?[/b]
