Military expert: Purchase of Su-30SM by Armenia will push Azerbaijan  to retaliate

ArmInfo. The purchase of  Su-30SM fighters from Armenia by Russia is fully capable of pushing  Azerbaijan to purchase the newest fighters in response. This opinion  was expressed by ArmInfo chief editor of the Russian magazine "Arms  Export" Andrei Frolov."Information about such intentions of Baku  appears quite a long time. 

In particular, we are talking about the Pakistani-Chinese fighters  JF-17 or FC-1. Undoubtedly, the purchase of a much larger number of  such aircraft than the 4 fighters acquired by Armenia will allow  Azerbaijan to significantly strengthen its air force. And I think  that it's Russia's sale of the Armenian SU-30SM can finally push Baku  to a reciprocal acquisition of fighters, "the expert believes.On  February 4, the press secretary of the Armenian Ministry of Defense  Artsrun Hovhannisyan officially confirmed the conclusion of a  contract with Russia for the purchase of four fighters by Armenia.  According to him, four fighters - only the first batch, in the future  will be purchased more aircraft of this model. 

The total number of Su-30CMs planned for procurement, as well as the  amount of the transaction, is not reported.Armenia's acquisition of a  multipurpose, capable of hitting and on the ground of the Frolov  aircraft, as a whole, assesses positively. However, given the limited  number of purchased Su-30CMs, one cannot expect a serious shift in  the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Especially  considering the large number of modernized MiG-29s on the balance of  the Azerbaijani Air Force.

Given the costly operation of the Su-30SM for a small military budget  of Armenia, the acquisition of these aircraft, in the opinion of the  expert, will be a rather serious burden. However, Frolov does not  exclude that Moscow could provide Yerevan with favorable purchasing  conditions, which put the high cost of operating heavy fighters into  the background. In this light, he also pointed out the possibility of  Armenia obtaining armaments at Russian domestic prices as a member  state of the CSTO.It should be noted that, at the domestic prices,  the cost of the Tu-30SM varies within a billion rubles or $ 15  million. 

The cost of export options- in the range of $ 50-70 million.  According to insider information, the agreement between Yerevan and  Moscow provides for the acquisition of Russian fighters at Russian  prices within the framework of the alliance of the two countries in  the CSTO.