Armenia, which has been in two wars with neighboring Azerbaijan since the dissolution of the USSR, hopes to acquire Indian help in improving its Russian-supplied Su-30SM fighter aircraft fleet. This development happened when Armenia had placed several orders with India earlier for various military equipment such as rocket systems, artillery guns, and weapon-locating radars, sources privy to the information said. The sort of upgrade that Armenia is aspiring for is the improvement of avionics, electronic warfare suite, and armament of its Su-30 fighters.
The Commander of Armenia’s Air Force Department, Colonel Hovhannes Vardanyan, affirmed Armenia’s intent to work with the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for such modernizations. According to Vardanyan, through an interpreter during the multi-territorial Tarang Shakti 2024 Air Combat Exercise conducted at the Jodhpur base, “We are eyeing to advance our Su 30s with HAL help because it is very experienced in the field”. These drills ended on September 13 and involved 28 air forces from across the globe.
The Russian HAL has been assembling Su-30 multi-role fighter aircraft for the IAF under license at its manufacturing center in Nashik. Although Armenia will be flying an edition of Su-30 different from that of India’s Su-30 MKI, there is hope for such a partnership. This came from an Indian official but an anonymous senior level who said that current discussions about the upgrade are still in their preliminary stage. The Armenian variant that was reportedly targeted is the Su-30, which is different from the Su-30MKIs in IAF service, according to the officials, and the fact has to be taken into account owing to the rather fragile political situation in the region.
Unfortunately, the geopolitics of Armenia’s request is intricate, as Russia, a long-time friend of Armenia, has consistently gravitated toward Azerbaijan after the Ukrainian conflict. This shift is also due to the fact that Russia depends on Turkey, which has close relations with Azerbaijan, especially when it comes to Nagorno-Karabakh.
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