This time around, Russia made a special emphasis on arms upgrading opportunities, Burutin said. According to him, modernization allows to appreciably raise the combat capabilities of old armaments and military hardware at just one-fifth of new equipment's price. The important thing to Moscow is not to lose its long-standing partners in Asia, Burutin pointed out.
In recent years, Russia has exported to Asia about 5,000 T-72 tanks, over 12,500 armored personnel vehicle, and a lot of anti-aircraft systems. But the number of orders for new military hardware has been going down of late, and Russian manufacturers are hoping to make up for the downturn with upgrading commissions, Burutin said.
Top officials of Malaysia's Defense Ministry, Malay Vice Premier Mohammed Razak, and a hundred and fifty local arms expert groups visited the Russian pavilion at the latest DSA show. This attests to the great interest that countries of Asia and the Pacific Rim have in Russian arms and military hardware, our interviewee believes.
