Russia keeps strengthening its position among international arms market leaders – Putin

Despite attempts to stall Moscow with sanctions and unfair competition, Russian arms sales to foreign buyers are continuing to grow and reached $13 billion this year, President Vladimir Putin said.

The figure is more than $2 billion higher than in 2018, Putin announced during a meeting of Russia’s Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign States.

The overall portfolio of orders for Russian arms remains stable and has exceeded $50 billion, he added.

Russian positions in the global arms market are strengthening… despite the tightening of the sanctions regime and unfair competition.

“Unfair competition” likely referred to attempts by the US to pressure countries like Turkey and India to abandon plans to purchase Russian arms including S-400 air-defense systems.

Putin also hailed “the major contribution” of specialized fairs to promote Russia’s defense exports. These include the Army-2019 forum, the International Maritime Defense Show in St. Petersburg, and MAKS-2019 air show.

The events allowed foreign customers to see the newest Russian hardware in action, including the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter, the heavy-duty Mi-38T transport helicopter, the fourth-generation Viking mid-range anti-aircraft missile system, the Tiger armored car, and many others.

The fairs alone resulted in defense contracts worth 35 billion rubles ($560 million), the president revealed.

In order to maintain “the high demand for Russian military products,” the country must further improve the methods of work in the field; as well as survey the situation on regional markets in real time to be able to meet the growing and ever-changing demands of foreign customers.

The utmost attention should be paid to the former Soviet states and Moscow’s other traditional partners, including African countries, which together account for more than a third of Russian arms sales.

Another key factor in being competitive is “timely and quality repair and maintenance of the equipment,” Putin said, calling for more repair shops and facilities that produce spare parts for Russian hardware to be set up abroad.

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