Arms trade

Russian arms exporter has over $22 bln worth of aircraft orders

The aircraft order book of Russia’s official arms exporter Rosoboronexport is worth more than $22 billion, the exporter’s press office told journalists on Thursday. "The worth of the aircraft orders landed by Rosoboronexport is over $22 billion. Foreign customers, including those in the Middle East and North Africa, have displayed increasingly keen interest [in Russian warplanes]," Rosoboronexport Air Force Materiel Export Department Chief Sergey Kornev was quoted by the press office as saying.

According to Kornev, this is owing to Russia having brought advanced aircraft models onto the global market and to the high effectiveness of the latest Russian combat aircraft. "The increase in demand has been facilitated by the [Russian aircraft’s] cost effectiveness and by Russia’s reputation as a reliable and responsible partner in military technical cooperation," he said.