- Sergey Ivanovich, what products of Russian MIS does Rosoboronexport promote in Latin America?
- First of all I would like to admit that military-technical cooperation is not just arms trade, it is a specific area of international relations. The treatment of arms is defined on the basis of strategy for provision of national safety. For example, problems connected with the expansion of helicopter fleet are solved by almost every country in the region. These are the countries with challenging terrain and climate: mountains and deserts occupy large areas, plus the spectre of disaster (there was a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Chile in 2010).

We offer Mi-17-V5 helicopters to the Army of Chile. The vehicle has passed tests in Chile in 2006 – it performed flights above mountains and deserts. We received only raves. But the arms market has its own specificity – all the decisions are taken slowly. Recently this country was looking up to American vehicles. However, the country seeks to diversify its purchases as well as many other states. Thus, Chile has acquired Leopard tanks and Dutch frigates. In other words, the countries of this region have their own procurement programs. Our aim is to participate in tenders and win. Our helicopters are reliable, easy-to-operate and so we have good chances to win. The countries are also taking interest in Yak-130 operational trainer.
 

- What other countries of the region are important for us as the potential customers?
- We do not divide our customers in more and less important ones. All the customers are important for us. And all the contracts are important regardless of their volume and terms. We both know that in the end this refers to Russian military-industrial sector. Eventually it is referred to the workers and specialists of the industry. That is why it is a very important area.
- Maybe then we should try to make a review covering all the countries of the region. Let’s start from Argentina.
- We have already delivered two Mi-171E helicopters to Argentina and we hope to continue deliveries to this country. Negotiations on another three helicopters intended for supporting the Arctic stations are currently underway. The helicopters will be used for delivering equipment and other cargo to the Arctic stations. That is why the vehicles should meet specific requirements. And our helicopters are adapted to arctic conditions.

Moreover, almost all the countries of this region are willing to develop their own industry, science and technologies. That is why, generally, the issue is transfer of technologies and their participation in post-sales support of our vehicles. You must provide post-sales support for the delivered vehicles. And it is rather hard to support customers in different regions of the country using only manufacturer’s own resources. So we are interested in partners and we are ready to hand over the maintenance documentation to them. By no means all the procedures may be performed by a partner and the manufacturer has to control activities of its partners.

For example, Transas Company, which is delivering simulators and equipment all over the world. According to some contracts the manufacturer must restore the operability of the equipment in 24 hours. And they are solving such problems successfully. There is a special 24-hour service in St. Petersburg, which is able to test the equipment remotely via internet. Then they send the report to the company’s representative office in the country and they fix the problem. Or, in case the problem is connected with software, they may solve the problem remotely. It is the world-class company. Today 45% of the market in the area of civil naval simulators is owned by Transas. These simulators are purchased by USA, UK and other developed countries. Transas has 100% of the navigation charts market. The Full-Flight Simulator for An-148 has recently been installed in Moscow Region. And it is better and more advanced than the foreign ones standing next to it. (Editor’s note Russian Ministry of Transport has purchased two Full-Flight Simulators for An-148 and Boeing 737 aircraft from Transas; they will be installed at the St. Petersburg-based training center this year).

We have world-class products. And success depends on whether we choose the right marketing policy. Our helicopters are great, for example Mi-17. Or Kornet-E system, which is being delivered to many countries of the world, including Latin America.

- What products are delivered to Peru?
- Yes, Peru is our traditional partner – we have longstanding relations in the area of military-technical cooperation. There were good and not really good times. At present there is a program for reconstruction and repair of the delivered vehicles.
Urgent delivery of helicopters to Peru has been carried out. Although all of our enterprises have a high workload, we have managed to find such possibility. 6 Мi-171Еs and 2 Мi-35Ps have been delivered to the customer. Now we are offering package deal approach for personnel training. In other words, we are not just offering simulators, classrooms and different training aids; we have carried out analysis and calculations for the customer in order to define the best way to organize the training,   minimize the costs and provide the highest quality of training. And our offers are exciting a great interest.

- Are you going to promote Yak-130 in the region?
- We have already been promoting it for a long time. At present the interest in this jet has significantly increased. It is already operated by the Russian air forces so it is easier to refine the aircraft. And it is absolutely necessary stage in the network of developing new vehicles. I believe that Yak-130 will be delivered to this continent soon and then we will start receiving orders from other countries of the region. Because they are watching for each other and some of them do not have a good neighborhood. Of course we are against war, but not a single country has abandoned its army and deterrent posture. And the events at Middle East confirm that a country should invest in its army and prepare for a war in advance, especially in our modern, complicated and contradictive world.

- I guess now it is Brazil’s turn.
- Brazil has a rapidly developing economy. The country is manufacturing some kinds of armament and we may see the trend of acquiring new technologies as well as commitment to developing its own military-industrial sector. And it has great needs as every large country. For example, it needs transport aircraft in order to perform troop shifts and evacuation of civilians during acts of God. The country also needs to patrol its long borders, which are often located in hard-to-reach regions. And it is not because of some external threat, but there are criminality and drug traffic.
That is why Brazil is pursuing special policy in the area of arms procurement and creation of security systems. It is planned to issue a large tender on automated control systems for land and maritime boundaries. These are very expensive projects. Some of the Russian companies are developing and delivering such systems to different countries. Most probably some conglomerate of companies, which are able to offer state-of-the-art solutions, including Brazilian company – future operator of the systems, will win the tender. We have created a control system for littoral and economic zone, which is based upon systems manufactured by different companies. We have told about the philosophy of this system at international conferences and the audience has taken great interest in it. At present we have a lot of proposals.

- Can you give a brief description of the system?
- The system includes information collecting media, information-processing equipment and vehicles providing reaction capabilities such as patrol ships and helicopters. Every service had its own system before: maritime gendarmerie, navy, police fighting drug traffic, etc. And we have consolidated them in the single system. By creating a single information center, which is distributing information for the needs of different ministries and agencies, we are making the control system cheaper and more consistent. The customers understand this philosophy and they are taking interest in it.
Eventually we have a great competitive edge: state-of-the-art and efficient philosophy, lower cost and cheaper equipment. Moreover, some elements of this system are unique, for example, over-the-horizon warning facilities.
At present Rosoboronexport is offering new systems and package deal approach. We know the market; we have learned to keep a close watch on it, monitor and analyze it, make conclusions, compare different systems and make the most interesting offers.

-  Let’s get back to the aviation-related topic. I know that Brazil is acquiring Russian helicopters.
- Yes, we have already delivered a batch of Mi-35Ms to Brazil and we will try to deliver more soon. Thanks to the new VK-2500 engine the helicopter may be operated in hot climate with minimum loss of performance. The helicopter also performs well under conditions of high altitude. It has new instrumentation panel and controls. This is anything but Mi-24 as some people believe. It is the advanced vehicle created on the basis of widely recognized solutions. But it is made of different materials; it has different electronics and so on. The layout of Mi-24 is so successful that Mi-35 created on its basis is very popular among potential customers.

- There is a model of Su-35 at UAC’s stand. But we have not heard anything about contracts on delivery of these vehicles.
- It is a brand-new product. The fifth-generation technologies have been used during its development. It has advanced electronic computing system; that is why one pilot is able to perform a wide range of missions. This aircraft is able to trace 30 targets and attack 8 of them. It may trace 8 ground targets and attack 4 of them. The jet has great capabilities, including super maneuverability. The interest in this fighter is high and sooner or later the quantity will turn into quality and the sales lift will take place. I think we will sign the first contract soon.

- There is one more segment, where we can offer competitive products – air defense systems.
- At present the demand for air defense systems is going up. And it is quite understandable. Military-political leaders of many countries are troubled by escalation of conflicts, while air defense systems are unable to countervail the advanced strike systems of the leading countries. Our manufacturers are quite competitive in this segment. We have unique S-300 systems. Recently our industry has managed to increase the range of one of the most powerful systems – Antey-2500. Its maximum firing range was increased from 250 to 350 km. It is the world record. We will offer this system to one of the largest countries in this region.
There are medium- and short-range systems. For example, a new version of Tor system has been presented recently – Tor-M2. At that there are three modifications: with crawling traction, wheels and with modular design. The firing range was increased by 3 km (the current operating radius is 15 km). The squadron formed by four four-channel Tor-M2Es may hit simultaneously 16 targets approaching from any directions at the range of up to 15 km and altitude of up to 10 km under any weather conditions and the time of day. The high automation level and unique algorithms for combat performance allow decreasing the workload on combat crew. Tor-M2E is the best system for rebuff of massed air threat. Pantsir S1 system is also in great demand. These are short-range systems.
In the medium-range category we are offering Buk systems. At present we have Buk-M2E with crawling traction and wheels. One division of Buk-M2E systems is able to hit simultaneously 24 targets flying from different directions at the range of 3 – 45 km and the altitudes from 15 meters to 25 km, under conditions of heavy enemy electronic countermeasures and firing countereffort. The critical distinction from the previous version (Buk-M1) is tracking of targets using phased antenna array, which increases the firing capabilities of the system four times. The system is effective even for hitting above-water targets and ground radiocontrast ones. This system is actively promoted in Latin America.

And I also must mention the wide-spread Igla-S system. The countries of this region are taking interest in it and they are purchasing the system. Brazil was operating the system for quite some time. They are acquiring additional batches regularly. Mexico and other countries are also very happy with it.

At present Brazil and Peru are holding some tenders aimed at dramatic renewal and strengthening of the existing air defense systems. We are taking part in the tenders and expecting the victory.

- What about your rivals?
- The competition is intensifying. USA and several European countries were our main rivals before but nowadays the number of manufacturers is growing very fast. First of all, this refers to Israel and China. Israel has learned to develop good systems. China is offering several systems similar to our ones. Another problem is promotion of illegal copies of our systems at dumping prices. The number of such cases is increasing. But the operating experience is counting in favor of the original products now.

-I think we have missed Mexico.
- Mexico acquires helicopters, Igla systems and Ural trucks.

- What about Tigr vehicle?
- Tigr is in Uruguay, and Urals too. The testing of Tigr was carried out in Brazil. The vehicle is great.
In a word, we are working with all the countries of the region and promoting a wide range of products, which spark high interest. Different countries have different financial capacities and needs. They have different external threats and their security services are assessing them in different ways. The military doctrines are also different. And the arms procurement policy is based upon these doctrines.