Shoigu: Russia, Peru have big military-technological cooperation plans
MOSCOW. Sept 5 (Interfax-AVN) - Contacts between the Russian and Peruvian defense ministries have been very positive and productive, Russian Defense Minister Gen. of the Army Sergei Shoigu told his Peruvian colleague Pedro Cateriano Bellido on Wednesday.
"We have big plans and, hopefully, they will soon be put into practice with our mutual desire and consent," the Russian minister said.
"A lot has been done in the fields of defense and military-technological cooperation in recent years," Shoigu said.
He said he expected the visit of the Peruvian minister "to promote further development of bilateral cooperation, our relations."
"Our relationship started a rather long time ago, in the 1970s," Shoigu said. "I am pleased to say that it is now acquiring new dynamics."
"We are maintaining permanent contacts in various areas. We meet personally and we speak on the phone. One way or another, all these contacts are aimed to develop defense and military-technological cooperation," Shoigu said.
"This is the question of further personnel training here, in Russia, and in Peru, new agreements and projects, and the strict fulfillment of contracts which have been signed earlier and are being fulfilled," he said.
Peru has traditionally been a major buyer of Russian weapons in Latin America.
About a hundred Soviet and Russian helicopters have been supplied to Peru since the end of the 1970s. The Peruvian army has been operating Russia's Mil Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/35 helicopters for long.
In July 2010 the Peruvian Armed Forces procured eight Russian helicopters (six military transport Mi-171Sh and two Mi-35P attack vehicles), and the delivery was accomplished in October 2011.
The Peruvian media said the national law enforcement authorities would possess 38 Mi-171Sh military transport helicopters in 2015. Peru has recently ordered eight helicopters of the type to supplement the batch of 24 vehicles ordered in December 2013. The December 2013 order value stood at $528 million.
The delivery of the additional batch will begin in the second half of 2014 and the contract will be fully executed in 2015.
A regional center is supposed to open in Peru in 2016 to service Russian helicopters. It will be owned by the Peruvian Defense Ministry.
Earlier Peru was supplied with Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters and Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft. Negotiations are underway to modernize the second batch of fighters into MiG-29SM. A proposal on the repairs and modernization of Su-25 attack aircraft has been presented to Peru.
A possible delivery of T-90S tanks and KAMAZ army trucks to Peru is being negotiated. Russia has intended to bid at Peruvian tenders for short- and intermediate-range air defense systems.
As of 2013, Russian military schools were training 68 servicemen from Peru.
