Armenia sought help from India
– Photo : Amar Ujala
Expansion
Armenia is becoming a big arms market for India. India has already signed agreements with Armenia for the supply of Pinaka rockets, Akash missiles and other weapons including multi-barrel rocket launchers. At the same time, Armenia has now sought help from India to upgrade its small fleet of Russian-made Sukhoi-30SM fighter jets. Let us tell you that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been two wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the deadlock between the two still persists.
Armenia wants to upgrade its Sukhoi-30 with avionics, electronic warfare equipment and weapons. This is because four Sukhoi-30 aircraft purchased from Russia in 2019 could not participate in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan because they did not have air-to-air guided missiles. Therefore, it wants to buy Beyond the Visual Range Astra MK-1 air-to-air missiles from India and install them in Sukhoi-30. Army sources related to the matter say that Armenia has ordered rocket systems, artillery guns and weapons locating radars from India.
What help did Armenia ask for?
The four Sukhoi-30s purchased by Armenia are known as “white elephants” because they were not used in the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, purchased drones and loitering munitions, which targeted several air defense assets of Armenia and destroyed the armored columns of the Armenian army. Sources said that Armenia’s Sukhoi-30s are different from India’s Sukhoi-30MKI. We have to see whether Astra missiles can be installed in them or not. Sources said that Armenia has also sought help for the maintenance of Sukhoi-30 aircraft and training of its pilots.
Russia distances itself from Armenia after Ukraine conflict
Sources said that Russia initially stood with Armenia, but after the war with Ukraine started, it became close to Azerbaijan, because Moscow needed Turkey’s support. At the same time, Armenia is now engaged in strengthening defense relations with India. Because now Azerbaijan is threatening Armenia with the help of Turkish and Pakistani weapons, due to which Armenia is buying weapons from India on a large scale. Since the conflict with Azerbaijan, Armenia has also purchased some missiles, mortars, radars, small arms and site systems from India apart from cannons. Kalyani Strategic Systems Limited will supply 155 mm artillery guns to Armenia. Earlier, Armenia had decided to buy Pinaka rocket system from India.
The Indian Air Force has a fleet of 260 Sukhoi-30 aircraft
Sources said that Armenia’s approach to India to upgrade Sukhoi-30 is not surprising. Because the Indian Air Force already has a fleet of 260 Sukhoi-30 aircraft. The first 50 of these Sukhoi came from Russia, while the rest were manufactured in the country by HAL under the To-O-T license. At the same time, India is also working on a plan to upgrade its Sukhoi, under which avionics, radar and mission computer will be installed in the upgrade process of Sukhoi. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has got approval to upgrade the first batch of 84 Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft. The cost of upgrading Sukhoi will be around Rs 130-140 crore per aircraft. HAL will upgrade these fighter aircraft at its Nashik facility. HAL’s Nashik division has already overhauled Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft. This upgrade process will increase the life of the Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets, and they will continue to operate till 2055. The development, testing and certification of these upgrades can take up to seven years from the date of approval, while the completion of upgrades for all 84 jets can take another eight years.
HAL’s status will increase in the world
These upgrades will also increase the status of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) across the world. This will also create a new market for HAL. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, Russia has agreed for the upgrade of Sukhoi jets, joint manufacturing and technology transfer. More than 600 Sukhoi 27/30 fighter jets have been manufactured across the world. Countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Algeria have Sukhoi fighter jets. With these upgrades in Sukhoi, these countries will also turn towards India.