Rosoboronexport Signs Weapon Export Contract Worth Over 20.3 billion Rubles at Army 2018
Rosoboronexport, part of the Rostec State Corporation, has signed 15 different contract documents with foreign customers of Russian military equipment and weapons at the Army 2018 International Military Technical Forum in Kubinka, Moscow region.
“The sum of the export contracts signed by Rosoboronexport on the margins of the Army forum has exceeded 20.3 billion Rubles. This relates to modern land forces’ military equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems, close combat weapons and much more. The Company’s portfolio has been replenished with firm orders from Asian and African countries, as well as from member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” said director general, Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev.
Several agreements on cooperation between Rosoboronexport and Russian actors in military-technical cooperation were also signed at the forum.
The documents signed at the forum seal the accords reached with foreign partners on export deliveries of final Russian military hardware and its after-sales service, repair and modernisation.
In total, Rosoboronexport conducted negotiations and consultations with delegations from 45 countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Europe during the first days of the Army 2018 forum. For them, Rosoboronexport specialists carried out presentations and demonstrations of over 150 pieces of modern Russian weaponry and military equipment exported by the company. Foreign guests particularly noted the excellent organisation of the forum, primarily a comprehensive program of events and live demonstrations of the Russian military hardware’s capabilities.
Despite the ongoing anti-Russian propaganda, Rosoboronexport held a series of successful negotiations with delegations from a number of European countries which visited the Army forum.
“Many in the world, including Europe, are fairly outraged by actions of the US, which is trying to prevent other countries from developing military-technical cooperation with Russia. Rosoboronexport is engaged in dialogue with foreign customers at the level of authorities, and the export deals are approved by either president or at a high government level in the G2G format. That is, sanctions have the effect of a boomerang: the partners reasonably regard them as interference in the internal affairs of the state. As a result, we are consistently moving away from the US dollar in mutual settlements in favour of national currencies, especially since Rosoboronexport has accumulated a lot of experience of successful cooperation in various foreign economic circumstances,” the head of Rosoboronexport stressed.
Russian Helicopters Showcases Dazzling Portfolio at ARMY-2018
Russian Helicopters showcased its modernised Mi-26T2V helicopter made for the Russian Aerospace Forces at the International Military-Technical Forum ‘ARMY-2018’ which was held from August 21 through August 26 in Kubinka in the Moscow region.
The helicopter recently took its first flight at the flight-test centre of Rostvertol company of Russian Helicopters Holding and the prototype made by Rostvertol company was sent to the Moscow region under its own power, where it participated in the show, being presented at the static exposition.
“The first successful flight shows that technical solutions used for upgrading the Mi-26T2 helicopter in the interests of the Russian ministry of defence were right. We have managed to considerably reduce the load on the crew by automating the flight and landing such a large and complex machine. Besides, the helicopter’s survivability was considerably increased due to modern onboard defensive aid,” noted CEO, Russian Helicopters, Andrey Boginsky.
Russian Helicopters also presented a new version of the Mi-28NE attack helicopter at the show. The attack helicopter can interact with drones and operate them remotely.
The improvements to the helicopter were primarily related to armaments. The ‘Night Hunter’ has the new Khrizantema-M anti-tank missile with a dual guidance system. Using this missile will increase the tank-type target engagement range to 10 km. The helicopter is also fitted with the modernised Ataka guided missiles with laser guidance. It can also use aerial bombs weighing up to 500 kg.
“Modernisation involved engine power and blades, which improved aircraft performance in highland regions and in hot climates, increased the cruising speed of the machine and its capabilities in terms of advanced aerobatics. A larger tailplane improved the controllability of the helicopter. New armaments installed on the machine will increase its firepower, and the fact that the aircraft can be used in more fields will mean that it will be in greater demand on the market,” said industrial director, aviation cluster of Rostec State Corporation, Anatoly Serdyukov.
Also, on display was modernised Mi-35M and Mi-35P attack helicopters. The helicopters have avionics which has undergone a considerable upgrade, and new military equipment.
The modernised Mi-35P helicopter has the OPS-24N-1L observation-sight system with a third-generation matrix long wavelength thermal imager, a TV camera and a laser rangefinder. The new digital flight simulator based on the PKV-8 automatic flight control system will increase the helicopter’s steadiness and automate piloting to assist a pilot. In addition, a modernised sight and computing system will increase the accuracy of target engagement.
Kazan Helicopters of Russian Helicopters Holding Company also presented its light utility Ansat helicopter in Patrol modification and Mi-17V-5 military and transport helicopter.
A police version of Ansat helicopter is designed to perform patrol and rescue operations, render assistance in emergency situations and ecological catastrophes.
“Army-2018 forum is one of the largest platform in the world used for demonstration of armament and military materiel; Russian and foreign customers will be in for a treat at the exposition of Kazan Helicopters. We are showcasing two modern helicopters, Mi-17V-5 and Ansat, fitted with state-of-the-art equipment for performing a wide range of missions for law-enforcement agencies,” stated managing director, Kazan Helicopters, Yuriy Pustovgarov.
On the side-lines, Ansat helicopter also successfully completed high mountain tests and proved its capability to operate in the mountainous area at the altitudes of up to 3,500 metres.
During the tests the helicopter performed a series of flights in the area of Bermamit plateau (Karachay-Cherkessia), practicing among other things landings with a simulation of engine failure at the heights of 2,000-2,500 metres. Earlier, the confirmed pressure altitude for taking-off and landing of Ansat constituted not more than 1,000 metres.
While the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) issued to Kazan Helicopters an approval of the major modification for the extension of the service life of a number of assemblies on Ansat helicopter.
The major modification involves the extension of assigned service life of a number of helicopter assemblies and systems, which makes Ansat more attractive for operators and potential customers.