The visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India in October 2000 and the package of documents signed in Delhi undoubtedly give a new impetus to the development of our relations with this country. And, perhaps, the most significant agreements are agreements on military-technical cooperation, which stirred up world public opinion. Especially great interest is shown in them in the Russian regions, where dozens of enterprises of the military-industrial complex are virtually idle; now many thousands of people will get jobs for several years thanks to Indian military orders. Here are examples of such orders.

A MATTER OF HONOR FOR RUSSIAN FACTORIES

...In St. Petersburg, the Admiralty Shipyards state enterprise handed over the Project 877EKM diesel-electric submarine to the Indian Navy on July 19, 2000, after which the total number of submarines of this type in the Indian fleet reached ten. Eight of them were built at Admiralty Shipyards, two-at the Krasnoe Sormovo plant in Nizhny Novgorod1 .

On May 12, 2000, in St. Petersburg, Baltiysky Zavod JSC launched the lead ship, part of a series of three Project 11356 frigates commissioned by the Indian Navy. Two weeks after the launch of the ship, the third frigate was laid on the vacant site. This export order worth almost a billion dollars is one of the largest during the period of Russian - Indian cooperation in the field of military shipbuilding. The lead frigate will be delivered to customers in April 2002. The authors of the project are specialists of the Northern Design Bureau( SPKB), where many orders of our foreign partners have been completed recently.

SPKB General Designer Vladimir Yukhnin said that each frigate will be equipped with a Club-type vertical launch attack missile system, torpedo tubes, rocket-propelled bombs and other weapons. On the ships there is a platform for a helicopter. With a relatively small displacement of four thousand tons, the frigates are able to solve a wide range of tasks in the sea and ocean zone and reach speeds of up to 30 knots ^.2

During the visit of President Vladimir Putin, an agreement was also signed on the sale of the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft carrier to India. This ship with a displacement of 45 thousand tons was withdrawn from the Russian Navy in the mid-90s. Since then, Moscow and Delhi have been in talks to sell it to India. Under the terms of the agreement with Russia, the Indian side will finance the repair and modernization of the cruiser, which will be carried out at Russian enterprises, and will also buy about 50 MiG-29K carrier-based fighters. All this will cost you

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India is valued at $ 1.8 billion. The ship will undergo modernization at one of the Severodvinsk factories, after which it will be accepted by the Indian crew. This will make it possible to employ about three thousand Russian specialists ^.3

The Indian Navy and Air Force are negotiating the purchase of Russian air-launched anti-ship missiles (ICRS) to replace the existing arsenal of English-made Sea Eagle ICRS, by the way, recently withdrawn from service in the British Army. As a replacement for the Sea Eagle, the option of using the Russian subsonic X-35 Uranus missile (according to the NATO classification AS-20) produced by the State Research and Production Center (SSPC) Zvezda-Strela, designed to be launched from an aircraft, is being considered. India is also exploring the possibility of purchasing the Kh-31A supersonic anti-ship missile system (according to the NATO classification AS-17) to equip Tu-22M bombers produced by the Tupolev Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex (ANTK).

Russia has long supplied anti-ship missiles for Indian surface ships. Project 15 destroyers of the Delhi type are equipped with a ship - based version of the X-35 Uranus anti-ship missile system (SS-N-25). The new corvette of Project 25A Kora and two modified missile boats of Project 1241RE, recently built at the shipyards in Mumbai and Goa, are equipped with the same missiles ^.4

On March 31, 2000, the Ministry of Defence of India informed the Standing Committee on Defence under the Parliament of the Republic of its intention to put into service 320 Russian T-90 tanks. This will cost the Indian budget about $ 700 million. The tanks will be delivered by the State Production Association Uralvagonzavod.

Of the 3,400 tanks in service in India, most are Soviet - designed vehicles: 700-T - 55 and 1,500-T-72. Some of the most advanced T-72 tanks were produced under license in India itself. Until recently, India's superiority in armored forces over the main "likely opponents" - Pakistan-looked impressive both in terms of numbers (1.5-2 times the superiority) and in quality. Most of the Pakistani armored forces were made up of Chinese T-54/55 and T-62 tanks, developed in the USSR in the late 50s.

Further armed clashes between India and Pakistan in Kashmir in the summer of 1999 forced the Indian Ministry of Defense to force the rearmament of the army. However, certain difficulties arose due to the fault of the Russian side. Three T-90 tanks brought to India for testing were extremely unsuccessfully fired by guided missiles, and then during tests at the test site in the Rajasthan desert, one of the tank engines failed, unable to withstand operation in high temperature and dusty conditions.

But in the end, Delhi still did not abandon the purchase of new Russian tanks. The fact that India needs more modern equipment in a very short time has played a role. The Indian Ministry of Defense will receive the first 124 T-90 vehicles immediately after signing the contract. Another 186 tanks will be produced under license in India at the Heavy Industries factory.

Uralvagonzavod, a direct tank manufacturer, and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (CHTZ), an engine manufacturer, will have the opportunity to master the production of a new generation tank, the T - 95, which was developed at Uralvagonzavod, thanks to Indian purchases. This company won the unofficial competition of the Ministry of Defense to rearm the Russian army of its Omsk competitor - the State Enterprise (SE) Transmash, which presented its own project of a new generation Russian tank - the Black Eagle ⁵ .

The Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant and the Indian side also signed a contract for the supply of diesel engines for T-76 tanks. This was announced in June 2000 at a press conference by the first Vice-Governor of the Chelyabinsk region Vladimir Utkin. According to him, the deliveries will be carried out as part of the modernization program of the Indian army. Soviet-made T-76 tanks are in service in India and need to be upgraded. Currently, technical issues are being resolved, after which the contract will be signed ⁶ .

On April 20, 2000, the head of the Indian Military Department, George Fernandez, announced his intention to increase the number of Su-30K multi-role fighters in service with the National Air Force to 50 units. Under the contract concluded between Moscow and Delhi in 1996 and supplemented in December 1998 by a new agreement, the Indian Air Force must receive 50 Su - 30MKI multi-purpose fighters by 2002. The value of the transaction is astronomical, by Indian standards, the amount - four billion dollars. Rosvooruzhenie has already delivered 18 Su-30MK aircraft to Delhi in 1997-1999.

Fate, at first glance, did not particularly favor this "novice". In the summer of 1999, when performing a complex aerobatic figure at the Le Bourget international air show, the plane, which was the base for the Su-30MKI modification intended for India, touched the ground and caught fire. However, the pilot's mistake, paradoxically, served only as an additional advertisement for the fighter. After touching the concrete strip, he was taken away by the pilot from the ground, and the culprit of the accident and his partner successfully ejected. At the same time, experts emphasized that

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The Su-30MKI did not explode as expected. A tandem ejection of pilots in an emergency situation occurred without clashing and entanglement of parachute systems.

One of the distinctive features of the Su-30MKI fighter is the presence of a thrust vector-controlled engine developed by A. Lyulka-Saturn, which provides the aircraft with supermaneuverability in air combat. But what, perhaps, most pleases the Indians is the preliminary agreement reached with Moscow to transfer them a package for licensed production of this fighter. As a result of the deal, the country's combat aviation capabilities will increase by an order of magnitude. The Ministry of Defense of India is even going to buy a dozen more Su-30MKI mastered in production from Russia. The total value of the transaction is over $ 300 million ⁷ .

During the official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India, a new large-scale defense contract was signed between the two countries. According to Indian military sources, it provides for the purchase of at least 22 carrier-based MiG-29K fighters from Russia for the Indian Navy. The transaction amount, according to Indian data, was $ 1.8 billion. The MiG-29K aircraft will be based on the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft carrier, which was discussed above. According to the Chief of Staff of the Indian Navy Sushil Kumar, in the future the republic intends to purchase from Russia an additional 20 carrier-based MiG-29K fighters, which will be based on the new Indian aircraft carrier. Russia will also supply India with 40 Mi-17-1V transport helicopters modified for flights in the Himalayas. The delivery contract was signed on May 26, 2000 in Delhi by the foreign economic association Aviaexport and the Ministry of Defense of India.

The second contract of the Defense Ministry of the republic with the Promexport association provides for the re-equipment of Mi-17-1V helicopters in a military transport version. The value of both deals is $ 170 million. Aviaexport is already ready to ship the first batch of helicopters to India under the signed contract, the implementation of which is scheduled for 13 months. ⁸

The well-known guided artillery shell (UAS) "Krasnopol", developed in the Tula KBP, is in service with the armies of a number of Asian and African countries. "Krasnopol" perfectly proved itself in demonstration tests, military exercises and regional conflicts when firing both 152 mm caliber artillery systems (D-20, 2SZ, 2SZM, 2S19) and 155 mm caliber of foreign production (9M109, G5 and G6 family artillery systems).

For firing Krasnopol projectiles, target designators - rangefinders of Russian production (1D20, 1D22, Polyus development company, Moscow) and foreign, for example, DHY307 (Gilas development company, France) are used.

More and more militarily developed countries, including the Republic of India, are coming to the conclusion that it is necessary to possess high-precision weapons, such as the Krasnopol projectile. Taking into account the successful demonstration tests in the desert of Rajasthan (three shots from the Swedish FH-77B artillery system of the Bofors company received three direct hits), in June 1999, a contract was signed between the Tula KBP and the Ministry of Defense of India for the supply of a large batch of Krasnopol shells. However, taking into account the specifics of the combat use of the Krasnopol UAS in India (mainly used in high-altitude areas), the contract was supposed to come into force after checking the firing tables and comprehensive tests of the projectile at altitudes up to 4500 meters.

In September-October 1999, such tests were successfully completed at the Jammu and Kashmir test sites. When performing combat missions in mountainous conditions, the targets were hit by a "direct hit" and destroyed. At the same time, one Krasnopol guided missile was spent on each target. In addition, there were also about 120 launches of unguided shells at specific targets. At the same time," direct hits", of course, were absent, and the minimum miss was 15-20 meters. The military-economic assessment of the results of firing unguided projectiles and the Krasnopol projectile made it necessary to recognize the need to use high-precision weapons even for those representatives of the Indian army who considered this projectile too expensive.

Russian NGO Vimpel is preparing to sign contracts with the Indian side for the sale of medium-range air - to-air missiles R-77/RVV-AE (AA-12 "Edder" according to the NATO classification). India plans to arm Su-30MKI and upgraded MiG-21/93 (Fishbed) aircraft with AA-12 missiles. At the beginning of 2000, Indian Air Force pilots had already conducted test firing of new missiles from the MiG-29SE (Falkram-S) aircraft ^.9

IF THERE'S A WAR TOMORROW...

These examples give reason to believe that military-technical cooperation between Russia and India is broad and comprehensive and, undoubtedly, promising. In fact, Russia has become the leading supplier of its military equipment to the Republic of India. This is confirmed by calculations carried out by the Laboratory of Applied Research of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

So, of the 3,414 Indian tanks in service, 2,200 were produced under a Russian license or purchased (T-72, T-55) in Russia. India is armed with 280 Russian-made Dvina and Pechora anti-aircraft artillery units (A - 3, A-5, and A-10).

Of the 772 combat aircraft, more than 80 percent (632) are Russian models, including 79 - MiG - 23, 147-MiG-27 (manufactured in India under license), 73-MiG-29, 8-Su-30MK and 314-MiG-21. The most modern of them are Su-30MK, MiG-29, MiG-27, MiG-23. The Indian Air Force also has Jaguar (109) and Mirage-2000 (35) aircraft. All of them are carriers of nuclear weapons in the producing countries.

MiG-21 aircraft, which make up more than 40 percent of the fleet of combat vehicles, require modernization and replacement.

Russian models account for 65 percent of transport aircraft (including 105 - AN-32, 25 - IL-76) and all transport helicopters (80 - Mi-8, 37 - Mi-17, 10 - Mi-26). As part of the fleet of training aircraft and helicopters, the place of Russian models is insignificant (out of 325 aircraft and 24 helicopters-9-MiG-29IV, 2-Mi-24, 2-Mi-35).

As part of the Russian Navy

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it accounts for 80 percent of submarines (9-project 877EM, 3-Project 641), 60 percent of URO destroyers (5 - Project 61ME "Kashin"), more than 50 percent of corvettes (3-project 1234E, 4-Project 1241.2, 6-Project 1241RE), 80 percent of landing ships, 100 percent minesweeping ships, about a fifth of aircraft (11 - TU - 142, 8 - Il-38) and a fourth of helicopters (18-Ka-28, 7-Ka-25, 3-Ka-31) of naval aviation ¹⁰ .

What are the future prospects for Russian-Indian cooperation?

According to experts and government officials of India, tensions in relations with Pakistan will force India to significantly increase the military budget for the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

The appropriations for India's military expenditures during the previous three fiscal years were as follows: 1996-1997 fiscal year - $ 7.4 billion; 1997-1998 - $ 8.9 billion; 1998-1999 - $ 10.8 billion.

According to the responsible representative of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of India, over the next 10 years, the modernization of three branches of the Indian armed forces and the creation of additional nuclear defense infrastructure will cost the government about $ 25 billion. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense intends to acquire in Russia:

- 60 training aircraft for the Indian Air Force (total cost of $ 1.5 billion);

- aircraft carrier ($550 million);

- 320 Russian T-90 tanks ($2.6 billion);

- basic infantry and air defense support systems (one billion dollars).

India's 1999 military conflict with Pakistan over the disputed Kargil region revealed a number of shortcomings in the equipment of the Indian army. Their removal now costs the government three million dollars a day. Among the main gaps, Indian experts noted the lack of means for conducting reconnaissance in mountainous areas, the lack of weapons for combat operations in the mountains, the insufficient number of bulletproof vests, ultralight rifles, hand-held thermal imaging sights, radar systems for tactical guns and light rocket launchers. The Indian Army urgently needs to purchase basic infantry weapons and ground surveillance equipment to arm and maintain the 400,000-strong military contingent deployed in the Kashmir Valley ^.11

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the beginning of military-technical cooperation between the USSR and India. Over the years, the Soviet Union and then Russia have supplied India with $ 30 billion worth of weapons. Cooperation continues, and annual deliveries of military equipment from Russia are estimated at one billion dollars. But you can't count on the fact that all the allocations for the modernization of the Indian army will flow only in the direction of one Russian "defense industry".

POSSIBLE OPTIONS...

India is considering, for example, the possibility of purchasing several types of modern military equipment from France. This was discussed at the talks between the defense Ministers of the two countries that ended on May 20, 2000 in Delhi, where they discussed the prospects for military cooperation.

According to available information, India is also interested in acquiring 10 Mirage-2000 fighter-bombers and 66 Alpha Jet TCBs. In addition, the parties started working on the project of assembling submarines with French technical assistance at the Mumbai Port shipyard (Bombay).

Delhi, however, is not yet satisfied with the value of these deals proposed by France ^.12

India intends to purchase a batch of Barak anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAM) from Israel, which are used as part of the anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) and as an anti-missile system. According to the official representative of the Indian Navy, the parties continue to negotiate a contract for the supply of seven sets of this system worth $ 25 million each.

SAM "Barak" with a range of up to 10 kilometers is designed to destroy the enemy.-

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parallel supersonic missiles. It is assumed that the Israeli system will increase the defensive capabilities of Indian warships, which will also be armed with the Trishul missile defense system created in the country by its own forces. With the Israeli SAM "Barak" for the Indian order at one time competed Russian SAM ¹³ .

Russia may also lose the market for long-range radar detection aircraft (AWACS). This was stated in circles close to the leadership of the Russian military-industrial complex. According to the representative of the military-industrial complex, the implementation of research and development (R & D) in the interests of third countries to modernize the A-50 aircraft to equip it with Israeli-made radio-electronic complexes began in 1997 together with the Israeli company 1A1. In accordance with the contract signed in 1997 by the state-owned Rosvooruzhenie company with 1A1, in October 1999 the A-50I aircraft was sent to install electronic equipment in Israel. In January-March 2000, India successfully held trilateral (Russia, India, Israel) negotiations to agree on technical issues, as well as bilateral (Russia, India) negotiations to agree on pricing issues under the contract for the supply of three A-50I aircraft to India. The estimated cost of the contract for the implementation of the Russian share of work was about $ 150 million. At that time, the Indian side expressed its readiness to sign the contract and start payments under it before the end of the financial year (i.e., before March 31, 2000).

However, the completion of work on signing the contract was interrupted in order to promote the A-50E AWACS aircraft equipped with a fully Russian radio-technical complex to the foreign market. Having lost hope of getting any explanations for the break in negotiations, the Indian side instructed the Israeli side to accelerate the progress of the project based on the Airbus Industry Corporation's A310 aircraft, which Israel officially informed Rosvooruzhenie State Corporation about.

The delay in making a decision on signing the contract, the representative of the military-industrial complex stressed, inevitably leads to Russia's loss of the AWACS aircraft market in India, with all the ensuing consequences. In addition, for the same reason, similar negotiations with China, which asked Russia to supply additional A-50 and ¹⁴ aircraft, have actually been interrupted .

Please note that the PNC (Price Negotiation Committee) responsible for negotiations on the cost of the T-90 tank, headed by Lieutenant General Mehta, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Indian Army, has held about 70 meetings over the past 16 months, but the issue has not been moved. According to official sources, the problem is that Russia, taking into account the firm intention of the Indian army to purchase these tanks, decided to capitalize on this and raised the price for one T-90S from 2.1 to 2.8 million dollars.

Representatives of the committee questioned the validity of the decision of the army leadership to purchase T-90S tanks, which, in their opinion, are only slightly better in their combat capabilities than the improved T-72M1, which is in service in 37 of the 58 Indian armored regiments.

By the way, the Indian army began to study the possibility of purchasing T - 90S tanks after Pakistan acquired the Ukrainian T-80UD.

According to representatives of the defense Committee, the purchase of the T-90 will lead to the fact that in the next 25-30 years the Indian army will be dependent on an external supplier of spare parts and ammunition. The state of combat readiness of the T-72M1,manufactured in the late 80s by the Indian company HVF (Heavy Vehicles Factory) under license, also depends on the export of spare parts from Russia. By the way, the Indian Defense Minister said that the purchase of the T-90S tank is "intermediate" until the local Arjun tank enters service. And according to the former commander of the Army headquarters, the purchase of the T-90S tank will put an end to any hopes of entering the Arjun tank into mass production. It is assumed that recommendations have already been made to close the ^Arjun program, since it was believed that the purchase of T-90S was already a decided deal15 .

...The Russian defense industry continues to develop and master the production of excellent weapons. And the Indian military is certainly doing the right thing by re-equipping its army and navy with the best Russian weapons.

CHRONICLE OF MILITARY-TECHNICAL COOPERATION (MTC) BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES

India is the only country with which Russia has signed a long-term program of military-technical cooperation, estimated at eight to ten billion dollars. India is a traditional buyer of Russian weapons, and its army is 70 percent equipped with Soviet and Russian weapons.

* In November 1964, the first agreement on the supply of certain types of weapons to India was signed. It provided for the purchase of a batch of MiG-21 aircraft. In addition, the USSR pledged to supply light tanks worth about $ 110 million. A contract was also signed for the supply of 20 helicopters.

* In November 1965, an agreement was signed on the supply of submarines to India by the Soviet Union. In the same year, the USSR delivered three squadrons of MiG fighters to India.

* On March 7, 1966, an agreement was signed, according to which the USSR supplied India with 40 Mi-4 helicopters. In the same year, five Soviet ships arrived in Calcutta with military cargo (heavy tanks, MiG-21 fighters, military vehicles, guided shells and ammunition).

* On November 8, 1970, an agreement was signed to produce an improved version of the MiG-21 fighter in India under license.

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* In January 1988, the USSR leased a nuclear-powered submarine to India for three years for training purposes to gain experience in operating ships of this type of the Indian Navy.

* In April 1994, a contract was signed for the sale of Russian MiG-29 (30 units) and MiG-29UB (6 units) aircraft to India in the amount of $ 780 million.

* In early 1995, a contract was signed for the supply of 10 MiG-29 aircraft to India. During 1995, India purchased three Project 877 submarines from Russia at a cost of more than $ 700 million.

* On November 30, 1996, in Irkutsk, the state-owned Rosvooruzhenie Company and the delegation of the Indian Defense Ministry signed an agreement on the purchase of 40 Su-30MK multirole fighters from Russia. The contract is designed for the period up to 2000, and its amount is estimated at almost $ 1.8 billion.

* In November 1997, in Moscow, AVPK Sukhoi and GC Rosvooruzhenie held talks with representatives of the Indian aviation industry on licensed production of Su-30MKI aircraft in India. The value of this contract is estimated at $ 1.9 billion.

* On November 10-13, 1998, the fifth meeting of the Russian-Indian working group on military-technical cooperation (MTC) was held in Moscow, during which the final draft of the long-term intergovernmental program of military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and India until 2010 was considered.

* On December 21, 1998, an Agreement on the implementation of the Military-technical Cooperation Program until 2010 and a Memorandum of Understanding were signed regarding the transfer of the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft carrier to the Indian Navy.

* On March 19-23, 1999, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev paid an official visit to India. An agreement on training Indian military specialists in universities of the Russian Defense Ministry and a cooperation plan between the Russian and Indian Defense Ministries were signed.

* In April 1999, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandez paid a return visit to Russia. In the same month, it was announced that the Indian government had decided to purchase a large batch of Russian T-90S tanks. The total amount of the contract is about $ 750 million. An agreement was reached to transfer to India a license for the production of B - 31 diesel engines, which are equipped with T-90S tanks.

* In mid-1999, the Russian side decided to include 125 MiG-21bis fighters in the MiG-21-93 variant in the package of modernization proposed by the Indian Air Force. The MiG-21-93 fighter jets will be equipped with new avionics and weapons under a $ 340 million contract that aims to extend the warranty cycle of Russian aircraft.

During the visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. Putin's visit to India in October 2000, an agreement was reached on the sale and modernization of the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft carrier (TAKR). The upgraded ship at full load will have a displacement of 45,400 tons, and will be more efficient than the original version, but will not be able to provide simultaneous take-off and landing operations for aircraft.

* In March 2000, India received the first batch of guided artillery shells "Krasnopol-M" with a laser guidance system.

* On May 26, 2000, a contract was signed for the supply of 40 Mi-17-1V transport helicopters to India and a contract for their conversion to a military transport version. The value of both deals is $ 170 million. The Mi-17-1B is the only helicopter in the world capable of flying in the Himalayan highlands.

* In April 2000, the Indian Navy received the Brahmaputra missile frigate, built by Garden Rich Shipbuilders with Russian technical assistance. The basis of the frigate's armament is the modern Russian anti-ship missile system "Uranus". Specialists from Russia assisted the Indians in its installation and commissioning. In addition to cooperation related to arms supplies, India and Russia exchange information on military issues, conduct mutual visits of naval ships and train officers in higher educational institutions of the two countries.

* During a visit to India in September 2000, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said that Russia and India had decided to focus on joint military scientific research. It is planned to develop a program of cooperation between the two countries in three types of armed forces, which will include the joint production of a number of types of military equipment.

¹ Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie [Independent Military Review], Moscow, 2000, No. 27.

² INFO-TASS electronic bank, VEGA database, 20.04.2000.

³ INFO-TASS electronic bank, VEGA base, 18.05.2000; Military-technical cooperation. ITAR TASS, No. 40, October 2-8, 2000

⁴ Jane's Defence Weekly, 31.05.2000, v. 33, N 22.

⁵ Kozyrev M., "Vedomosti", 03.04.2000, p. A1.

⁶ INFO-TASS electronic bank, VEGA database, 06.06.2000.

⁷ Putilov S., "Vremya MN", 25.04.2000, p. 3.

⁸ Military-technical cooperation. ITAR TASS, No. 21. 31, 2000

⁹ Jane's Defense Weekly, 6.09.2000, vol. 34, N 10; Shipunov A., Babichev V. "Military Parade", No. 2, 03-04-2000, pp. 28-30.

¹⁰ Umanskaya S. M. The Armed Forces of India. Reference, IV RAS, 2000

¹¹ Defense News", 21.02.00, v. 15, N 7, p. 38.

¹² INFO-TASS electronic bank, VEGA database, 22.05.2000.

¹³ INFO-TASS electronic bank, VEGA database, 25.05.2000.

¹⁴ Ibid.

¹⁵ Jane's Defence Weekly, 24.05.2000, v. 33, N 21.

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