Su-27 / Su-30MK
In the mid-1990s Vietnam put an end to the protracted decay of military and technical cooperation with Moscow, and joined the club of Russian aircraft operators. In 1995, Vietnam acquired an initial batch of six Su-27 aircraft assigned to 935 Fighter Regiment at Phan Rang, including five Su-27SK and one Su-27UBK, for a total of US$ 150 million. In 1997, Hanoi opted for a second batch of six Flankers (five Su-27SK and one Su-27UBK again). Two Su-27UBKs were lost on delivery when their An-124 crashed at Irkutsk on 6 December 1997. They were replaced by two Su-27PUs in the summer of 1998.
Russia’s official arms trader Rosoboronexport signed a deal to ship four Su-30MKs to Vietnam in December 2003. The baseline Su-30MK version was modified to meet the requirements of the Vietnamese Air Force with all aircraft supplies fulfilled in 2004. The total contract price, taking into account the prices of the baseline version, weapons, spares and adjustments, reached about US$120 million.
Four Su-30MK2Vs were delivered in November 2004, with some 24 delivered by late 2012. In 2009, Vietnam ordered 8 Russian Su-30MK2V Flanker fighters with a value of US$400-500 million (without weapons). Russia completed and handed over to Vietnam the 8 aircraft in the period 2010-2011. In February 2010 Russia and Vietnam agreed to a US$1 billion deal for another 12 Su-30MK2V aircraft, this time with weapons. Russia transferred 8 planes to Vietnam in 2011, with 4 Su-30MK2V scheduled to be delivered in 2012. 935 Fighter Regiment seems to have moved to Bien Hoa by 2009. In 2011, all Su-27s were transferred to 940 Fighter Training Regiment at Phu Cat, leaving only Su-30MK2Vs on 935 Fighter Regiment’s roster. From June 2011, 923 Fighter Bomber Regiment at Tho Xuan replaced its obsolete Su-22s with Su-30MK2Vs, with a dozen delivered. However, in early March 2012, one Su-30MK2V crashed during flight tests.
In addition to planes proper, the customer received weapons and spares for both these and earlier delivered aircraft. Taking into account the additional purchase of Su-30MKs, Sukhoi was considering a regional maintenance center for its aircraft to be established in Vietnam, but nothing came of this idea.
Anton Chernow, of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, said "With the advanced equipment systems, the Vietnam People's Air Force's Su-30MK2V is the most modern in Asia". According to the Russian Defense Ministry, in addition to weapons configuration, electronics on the basic Su-30MK for export to China, Indonesia, Algeria, the Su-30MK2V of Vietnam had a few upgrades, avionics systems and avionic systems new position, new combat system like in the Su-30MKM of Malaysia, but the Su-30MK2V of Vietnam is "superior". In addition, Vietnam's Su-30MK2V also integrated electronic counter measures system (ECM) may be new to combat the high interference condition of the enemy.
Vietnam expressed interest in buying another 30 Su-30 aircraft after the full 12 Su-30MK2V of the contract in 2010. If the purchase of 30 new aircraft came through, the Vietnam People's Air Force would have in all 253 fighters on the payroll.
In August 2013, by one report Vietnam ordered a further 12 Su-30MK2, with deliveries from 2014 to 2015. Flightglobal reports the order to be for 20 aircraft, not 12.
In 2012 a group of Vietnamese military experts went to Belarus and expressed desire to buy 18 Su-30K aircraft modernized to the Su-30KN standard. This would be the first time there are two companies of Russian weapons in Vietnam market. Previously, the delivery of Su-30 aircraft for Air Force Vietnam was conducted in the aircraft factory Aviation Association in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a member of the Corporation National Aeronautics Russia (UAC). The 18 Su-30K aircraft are located in Belarus and owned by the Irkut Aviation Corporation, another part of the UAC. For the 18 Su-30K aircraft in Belarus, the price would be US$270 million (about $ 15 million for an aircraft has been modernized to the KN standard), compared with the current value of the 18 new Su-30 (more than $ 1 billion).
In the near future, further Su-30 deliveries were expected to replace the remaining Su-22s and a portion of the MiG-21bis fleet. One rumor, according to Scramble, was that, after years of storage with the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant in Baranovichi (Belarus), 18 former IAF Su-30Ks rejected due to engine problems suffered in 2003 will be upgraded to Su-30KN standards and acquired by the VPAF.
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