Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan has effectively confirmed recent reports that Armenia would like to acquire advanced Russian fighter jets as part of a planned modernization of its armed forces.
In June, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian photographed himself in the cockpit of a Sukhoi Su-30SM warplane parked at the Erebuni airbase in Yerevan. Russian media reported afterwards that that Yerevan is now negotiating with Moscow on the purchase of such multirole aircraft. The Armenian Defense Ministry did not deny those reports.
A statement by the ministry cited Tonoyan as saying on Tuesday that the Armenian military is “planning to acquire multirole aircraft as well.”
“Until now, the Armenian armed forces have had a clearly pronounced character of ground forces, relying only on air-defense systems and ground-based missiles in fighting for aerial superiority,” Tonoyan told military officials, according to the statement. “But times have changed.”
The Armenian army, he said, now needs “fighter-bomber aircraft” because “no missile system can be a substitute for this capacity in terms of flexibility and resilience.” The ministry reported no further details.
Tonoyan met a top executive of Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-run arms exporter, when he last visited Moscow on August 18.
Russia - Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu (R) and his Armenian counterpart Davit Tonoyan meet in Moscow, 11 August 2018.
The Armenian Air Force currently consists of 15 or so older and far less sophisticated Su-25 jets. These low-flying Soviet-era aircraft are designed for air-to-ground missions.
Su-30SM can perform a broader range of military tasks with more potent precision-guided weapons. It is a more advanced version of a heavy fighter jet developed by the Sukhoi company in the late 1980s. The Russian military commissioned the first batch of such warplanes in 2012.
The Russian daily “Kommersant” claimed later in June that a Russian-Armenian deal signed in 2012 called for the delivery of at least 12 Su-30SMs to Armenia but that the Armenian side did not receive them due to “financial difficulties.” The paper said Moscow now hopes to reach an agreement with new Armenian government on implementing that multimillion-dollar deal “as soon as possible.”
Some Russian military analysts estimate the market price of a Su-30SM at around $50 million. Armenia’s entire defense budget is equivalent to only about $500 million.
Thanks to its military alliance with Russia, the South Caucasus state has long received Russian-made weapons and ammunition at discounted prices or even for free. In the last few years it has obtained $300 million in low-interest Russian loans for the purpose of financing such arms acquisitions.