Russia in deal to deliver Syria fighter jets - report

source airforce-technology.com

24 January 2012 defenseWeb (Reuters)

Russia has signed a deal to sell Syria nearly 40 fighter jet trainers for over half a billion dollars, a Russian newspaper reported despite growing international criticism over its military trade with the violence-ridden country.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has used troops and tanks to try to crush a 10-month-old popular revolt and thousands of people have been killed.

The daily Kommersant cited a source close to Russia's state arms export monopoly, Rosoboronexport, as saying that the sides had signed a contract after holding talks in December, and that Damascus was to pay $550 million for 36 Yak-130 aircraft, Reuters reports.

A spokesman for Rosoboronexport refused to comment. A Russian defence industry source indicated the planes had not been built, saying assembly could start after Syria makes a down payment, according to Kommersant.

"The creation of 36 new fighters for a foreign consumer is fully within the power of (manufacturing facilities)," the source was quoted as saying. "As soon as Syria sends Russia the down payment, the factory can get started on assembly."

The advanced training jets could be used for air attacks on ground targets and to train pilots on the country's more advanced fleet of Mi-29 jet fighters, which it ordered from Russia in 2007.

Moscow is one of Assad's few remaining allies, still serving top arms customer Syria while joining China in an October veto of a Western-crafted U.N. Security Council resolution that threatened an arms embargo.

Syria makes up $700 million of arms sales in 2010, some 7 percent of Russia's total of $10 billion in arms deliveries abroad, according to the Russian defence think tank CAST.

CAST director Ruslan Pukhov said he had previously been aware of the deal, but said the contract might be annulled by the Syrian side if Damascus suspected any international military action against his rule was in the works.

"It's an expensive order and while these jet trainers may be good for specific missions ... it's no substitute for a supersonic (fighter) jet," he said.

Russia has made strong gestures to reaffirm support for Assad recently, including sending its Navy flagship to a Russian base on the Mediterranean coast of Syria near Tartus.

Earlier this month a ship full of ammunition from Russia was detained in Cyprus. The ship was released the next day and sailed on to Tartus.

The United States said it had raised concerns about the ship with Russia, but Moscow has said it needs no justification for its defence trade with Syria without an internationally binding arms embargo in place.