Armenia turns to India because... it's 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.

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

According to the Avions Legendaires website, 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 the spring of 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, although about 70% of the contract value had been paid in advance, 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 so far left its factory 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