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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 content@atimes.com
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