December 23, 2019, 15:06 / Politics

Azerbaijan is interested in purchasing fifth-generation fighters Su-57

This could be a retaliatory measure for Armenia’s acquisition of Russian aircraft Ivan Safronov

Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

As two top managers of defense industry enterprises told Vedomosti, Azerbaijan has become interested in purchasing the latest Russian fifth-generation Su-57 fighters, and the green light for the start of the negotiation process was given at the highest political level. Issues of military-technical cooperation (MTC) were raised during a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, held in Sochi on October 3, confirms a person close to the presidential administration.

Aliyev himself spoke that day at the Valdai Forum, where, without going into details, he announced the continuation of work on the development of military-technical cooperation. And on December 3, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov, following negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in response to a question from a Kommersant correspondent, announced “a possible new arms deal with Russia”: “There are certain interesting ideas.” A representative of Rosoboronexport refrained from commenting to Vedomosti.

Over the past decade, Azerbaijan has purchased approximately $5 billion worth of Russian weapons, of which, according to RIA Novosti, Ilham Aliyev said on October 3 in Sochi, approximately $3 billion worth of products were received. Thus, contracts were concluded for the purchase of two anti-aircraft divisions -S-300PMU-2 missile systems, up to 100 T-90S tanks and 118 BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, 18 Msta-S self-propelled artillery systems, 18 launchers of Smerch multiple launch rocket systems and other military equipment. At the same time, in terms of aviation, supplies were limited exclusively to Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters, although the Azerbaijani Air Force also needed to update its fleet of combat aircraft (it was based on Soviet MiG-29 fighters delivered from Ukraine in the mid-2000s). Azerbaijan has long shown interest in the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 fighter (developed with Russian assistance) and has acquired MFI-395 Super Mushshak light trainer aircraft from Pakistan.

The starting point for Azerbaijan’s interest in the Su-57 was Armenia’s purchase of four Su-30SM fighters with an option for eight more aircraft, says a person in the military-technical cooperation system. In addition to Azerbaijan, Turkey is also showing interest in the Su-57, but these deliveries, as the director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugaev reported in November 2019, can only begin after the initial needs of the Russian army are met (in total, the Russian Ministry of Defense has contracted until 2027 76 machines of this type).

Negotiations on the deal can last quite a long time and be accompanied by a number of conditions on the part of Azerbaijan, says Andrei Frolov, editor-in-chief of the Arms Export magazine: first of all, this concerns the mechanism for financing the deal (issuing a loan). The expert believes that the country's air force is ready to purchase a relatively small number of aircraft - no more than a squadron. The potential purchase itself, on the one hand, is demonstrative in nature: since Armenia will soon receive Su-30SM fighters, Azerbaijan considers it necessary to purchase a more advanced aircraft. On the other hand, the Azerbaijani Air Force needs a high-quality and fairly massive upgrade, so the choice can be made not only in favor of the Su-57, but also, for example, in favor of purchasing Chinese-Pakistani fighters, the price of which is much lower, the expert summarizes.