Russia will deliver another batch of 12 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighter aircraft to Vietnam under a recent contract worth about $450 million, a defense industry source said.

The contract was reportedly signed last week, and the Su-30s are expected to be delivered to Vietnam in 2014-2015.

“A similar modification, priced at $35-37 million per plane, had been earlier sold to China,” the source said.

Russia has delivered a total of 20 Su-30 fighter jets under two previous contracts signed in 2009 and 2010.

Su-30MK2 is an advanced two-seat version of the Su-27 Flanker multirole fighter with upgraded electronics and capability to launch anti-ship missiles.

Combat aircraft remain the core of the Russian arms exports. Sukhoi Su-27/30 Flanker and Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets, Mil Mi-24/35 helicopter gunships, Mi-17 combat transport helicopters and Kamov Ka-28/31 naval helicopters are among the best-selling items in the aviation segment of arms exports.

Russia and Vietnam have a long history of cooperation. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the Soviet Union supplied its Communist ally with vital aid and arms.

Vietnam officially remains one of the world’s last communist countries, but it has embraced a market economy along with Asian and Western investment over the past two decades.

In recent years Russian influence in Vietnam has begun to grow again but remains far below that of Soviet times.

 

Source: RIA Novosti; AFP