Possible 250 aircaft order for Su-30 MK going to Iran

[tigershark]

Possible large aircraft order for Iran if true if could shift the power balance in the region.  Only the UAE has aircraft of this class Block-60 Vipers and Mirage 2000-5/9 and of course Saudi Arabia.   Kiwait has Hornets and American air bases there but still overall Iran would become top dog with those numbers.  Israel would be within reach among other countries if this goes through.   With a basic combat load figure around 800/900 mile combat range.   

Full Story 
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mh/paris062107/index.php?startpage=10

[tigershark]

Found a second story which includes 20 IL-78 MKI fuel tankers and thought I would add it.  A little new twist is "Iranian air crews are already training on the new Sukhoi aircraft, ready to start flying them early next year with only a short delay after delivery".   Where have they started training?   How many pilots and maintenance personnel?  I'm not getting good sources backing up this story but here it is.
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4449

[Webmaster]

If it's true, then maybe at Lipetsk, the Russian combat training centre.

Forget about this order causing a power balance shift... US announced this week that it will be supplying $30B to Israel, $20B to Saudi Arabia, $15B to Egypt, and also other Arab states, in weapon sales. Israel also gets additional US funding for air defense missile system development, announced last week. Saudi Arabia gets Patriot systems, JDAM, and AMRAAM. So far, there's been little specifics and no report of fighters, but I bet they will be included, maybe at the expense of the Typhoon deal with the UK.

It's aimed at arming the nations against terrorism, Syria (which is buying new MiG-29s) and Iran in particular.

I guess the US wants to be able to pull out of Iraq, and have Saudi Arabia and Egypt's support when Iran or Syria makes a move. And Israel, well of course, you can't supply Arab states with weapons wihout supplying Israel with more.

Anyway that's a different discussion.

PS: Don't forget that multiple sources reported a few years ago, that Venezuela would buy MiG-29s and pilots were already training in Cuba on the type!

[tigershark]

I haven't been able to find anything else on Syria buying Mig-29s, I wonder on which type and how many.   Do you think the newer Mig-35 or maybe some half way point upgrade? 

[alyster]

I think that they didn't  get any

Anyway this reminded me. Was the Syrian Mig-31 deal a bluff or true. Ria Novosti printed the Russian company's anouncement that they won't sell anything to syria 

I just hope that the Saudis won't go nut nut like Iran in '79 after reciveing all the goodies

[Webmaster]

Hmm, interesting. RIAN is not the most reliable, but if it's a company announcement (RAC MIG or Rosoboranexport?) I believe it. Date?

The thing is, the general manager of RAC MIG, announced it at a press conference at Paris Air Show. He said Syria would buy 8 MiG-31, sqn of MiG-29M/M2, and upgrade of existing Fulcrums to MiG-29SMT standard. He may have been called back by the shareholders (50+% state I think?) or the export company.

Production on those MiG-31s is also said to have started again at the Sokol plant with parts from 1994.

Russia itself is actively upgrading its Foxhounds to MiG-31BM standard. So the type is not 'dead'.

It's not a hoax at least, maybe he was called back, or anything else changed. Bit too much political content to be just a shareholder pep-talk.

AFM/Piotr Butowski (one of my favourite authors on Russian aircraft) also added that: "according to reliable sources, in January 2007, a large contract was signed with Syria, similar to the deal with Algeria a year earlier."

And furthermore, to get back on-topic: "according to sources, the contract for Syria also includes the heavy multi-purpose Su-30MK2 fighter." If that's true, then I find Su-30MK2 more likely to go to Iran as well, than a Su-30MKI/MKM version because of all the foreign avionics in those versions, which surprised me a bit anyway.

[alyster]

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070619/67480943.html

It's from June, so I was probably mistaking. 

[Webmaster]

"Russia has no plans to deliver fighter jets to Syria and Iran," Rosoboronexport CEO Sergei Chemezov told journalists at Le Bourget air show near Paris.

And at the same time the CEO of RAC MIG is saying they do. 

This would mean: no Su-30MK for Iran either!