Armenia turns to India because it... runs out of patience with Russia?

The Armenian Defense Ministry has officially initiated negotiations with India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on the purchase of Su-30MKI fighter jets and special weapons.

Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force. (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

According to Avions Legendaires , Armenia plans to buy 8-12 Su-30MKIs and upgrade 4 existing Su-30SMs to the same standard. This could be India's first Su-30MKI export contract.

The weapons package includes the Astra 1 long-range air-to-air missile, Rudram 1 anti-radar missile and Indian-made SAAW guided bombs.

Currently, Armenia's fighter fleet consists of four new Sukhoi Su-30SM Flanker-Cs, received in spring 2019, and about 15 much older Su-25K Frogfoots.

A few weeks after receiving these fighters, Armenia decided to order eight more Su-30SMs from Russia.

The decision to switch to the Indian supplier came after Armenia reportedly lost patience with the order of eight Su-30SMs.

Accordingly, despite having paid in advance about 70% of the contract value, since then, Moscow has not yet produced and delivered any aircraft.

According to Avions Legendaires, the reason given is that Sukhoi does not produce any of them and the only Su-30s that have left its factory so far are for Russia's own needs.

Russia has not yet commented on the above information.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/armenia-tim-den-an-do-vi-het-kien-nhan-voi-nga-292158.html