December 24th, 2005
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Post 1 |
| Milforum's Bouncer | Post; Russian Arms Sales Is Edging Out Americans
Quote:
The government of Thailand has agreed to a secret $500 million deal to buy Russian fighter jets and helicopters for the Royal Thai Air Force, the Bangkok Post reported citing Russian news agencies on Monday.
The reports made no mention of the Thai government’s claim at home that this is to be a barter deal. Premier Thaksin Shinawatra also has never mentioned helicopters before, although he confirmed there might be a deal to obtain the 12 Sukhol-30 fighter jets, Thai media said.
“This is good news for Russia, we haven’t sold a single cartridge to Thailand,” enthused Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, in comments for the Moscow Times Monday. “It also means that Russia has taken over the region — we have fighter jets in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and now Thailand.”
The Moscow media report said the deal is preliminary and was signed last week in Kuala Lumpur when President Vladimir Putin and Thaksin were both at the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur. It said Russia has signed a preliminary agreement to sell $500 million worth of military aircraft to Thailand, and added it was “the first such deal with the traditional U.S. arms client.”
“We signed a memorandum for 12 Sukhoi-30MKMs during President Vladimir Putin’s visit [last week] to Malaysia,” a senior official at Irkut, the privately controlled maker of the Sukhoi fighter, was quoted as saying.
Thailand originally agreed to buy the jets last year but put off the deal after a tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people in the region last December, said the Moscow reports.
The Irkut executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of negotiations, said the memorandum of understanding also included delivery of helicopters to Thailand, according to Moscow reports. “We have gone half the distance and expect to sign the contract in the first half of next year,” said Alexei Fyodorov, Irkut board chairman.
Makiyenko estimated that the deal would bring Russia at least $500 million. Rosoboronexport, the state arms sales agency, was not available for comment to the Russian media.
| http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/12/...thaideal.shtml
__________________ "The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more important than the shield and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental." - John Steinbeck |
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