{"id":22062,"date":"2018-01-23T19:51:18","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T19:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/23\/russias-flanker-jet-sales-prosper-with-myanmar-buy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:08:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:08:42","slug":"russias-flanker-jet-sales-prosper-with-myanmar-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/asia-pacific\/2018\/01\/23\/russias-flanker-jet-sales-prosper-with-myanmar-buy\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2019s Flanker jet sales prosper with Myanmar buy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MELBOURNE, Australia \u2015 Russia\u2019s Sukhoi Su-27\/30\/35 Flanker family continues to rack up export successes in Asia, with Myanmar being the latest regional country to acquire the combat-proven jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a news release by Russia\u2019s Ministry of Defence, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Lt. Gen. Alexander Fomin announced that the Southeast Asian country will acquire six Su-30s during Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu\u2019s visit to Myanmar over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The news release did not specify the Su-30 variant that Myanmar will acquire, nor did it disclose the value of the contract or payment terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fomin also expressed confidence that the Su-30 would become the main fighter jet of Myanmar\u2019s Air Force, and the ministry\u2019s release also said Myanmar \u201cis actively procuring\u201d other Russian military hardware for its armed forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes the Yakovlev Yak-130 Mitten advanced jet trainer, with Myanmar\u2019s Air Force having taken delivery in December of half of the 12 aircraft ordered. The service currently operates a mixture of older, mainly Chinese combat aircraft<\/a> alongside a handful of Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum interceptors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this acquisition, Myanmar joins China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam in operating variants of the Flanker family. Most of these countries are flying variants of the Su-30MK multirole fighter, with country-specific differences in their avionics and other capabilities. China, Vietnam and Indonesia also have the older Su-27 interceptor in their respective inventories, while the latter is reportedly on the verge of concluding protracted negotiations with Russia for the supply of the super-maneuverable Su-35 fighter, which is already in service with China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has also built a large number of licensed and unlicensed copies of the Su-27 known as the Shenyang J-11, and in recent years it has developed its own Flanker-based carrierborne fighter and Su-30, known respectively as the J-15 and J-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are equipped with indigenous avionics, systems, weapons and engines. They are mostly similar to Russian-built Flankers only in external appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attraction of the Flanker family among Asia\u2019s air forces lies in its capabilities in relation to acquisition costs, which are just a fraction of contemporary Western fighter designs. The lack of political strings attached to arms sales, as well as a willingness to accept commodities as partial payment<\/a>, have also been cited as selling points for Russian weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show Russia is currently the world\u2019s second-largest arms exporter after the United States, with $35.4 billion worth of arms exports in the period between 2012 and 2016, representing 23 percent of global arms exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\t