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January 29, 2012 - 07:08 AM Russia Sells Dozens of Combat Aircraft to Damascus In defiance of international efforts to topple President Bashar Assad, Russia announced on Monday it signed a $550 million deal to sell 36 combat aircraft to Syria. According to a report in Russia’s Kommersant, the deal for the Yak-130 aircraft was signed in December. Production is expected to begin once Syria makes its first payment for the planes. Russia and Syria began negotiations over the possible sale of Yak-130 advanced fighter trainers in late 2010. The plane is operational in Algeria and Libya, and if delivered to Syria would likely replace its older fleet of L-39 trainers. Syria would likely order an armed configuration of the aircraft so it can be used as to train pilots and bomb ground targets. Moscow is one of Assad’s few remaining allies, and is still serving top arms customer Syria, while joining China in an October veto of a Western- crafted UN Security Council resolution that threatened an arms embargo. Syria spent up to $700m. on Russian arms in 2010, some 7 percent of Russia’s total of $10 billion in arms deliveries abroad, according to the Russian defense think tank CAST. Russian Navy ships also recently docked in Tartus as another demonstration of support for the embattled Assad............................. Love, Red from NM |