Russia's premier international air show MAKS began today with the spotlight on the MiG-35 fighter jet and 180 foreign firms, including from India, participating in the event.
Speaking at the opening of the aviation exhibition, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the 13th MAKS air show will help develop cooperation in the aircraft sector and promote Russian products on international markets.
"We expect that a large exposition will be on display in the next few days. Leading Russian and foreign companies will demonstrate their developments while conferences and workshops will be held on the topical issues of the sector's development," Putin said.
"A whole number of negotiations and the signing of large contracts are planned," he added.
The Russian government has lent substantial support to the domestic aerospace complex in recent years and serious modernisation of its capacities has been carried out and now projects are underway for creating new and competitive civil hardware, Putin said, mentioning the Kamov Ka-62 helicopter and the new MC-21 medium-haul airliner.
More than 200 aircraft will be shown at the air show that will go on till July 23.
There are also 10 national pavilions, Victor Nikolayevich Kladov, the head of the Department of International Cooperation and Regional Policy, Rostec State Corporation, said, adding that Indian firms like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Larsen and Toubro and many others are participating in the event.
"It is one of the four biggest air shows worldwide. It's a big show. Some 800 companies participating from Russia and 180 companies from 37 countries," Kladov said ahead of the event.
"We will further talk on our joint venture Ka-226 helicopter production and a number of other mutual defence projects," he said.
Asked if any project with India he wants to highlight, Kladov said they are "well known".
The Russian media has been pitching the MiG-35S multipurpose generation 4++ fighter jet as the star attraction at the air show, which is in its 13th edition.
Russia's MiG-35S fighter jet will certainly be remembered as one of the highlights of the event, Sputnik News said.
"We will roll out our MiG-35 aircraft at the MAKS-2017 air show, we also plan to hold talks on its export deliveries," Chief Executive Officer of the MiG Aircraft Corporation Ilya Tarasenko was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Tass just days before the event.
Tarasenko added that the MiG-35 fighter jet would conduct demonstration flights at the Army-2017 forum.
The MiG-35 is an advanced version of the series-built MiG-29K/KUB and MiG-29M/M2 combat aircraft, the report said.
The fighter has improved flight performance, a state-of- the-art avionics system, and carries a wide range of air-to- air and air-to-surface guided weapons. Flight tests of the MiG-35 began in January 2017.
Rostec Corporation, one of the main organisers of MAKS- 2017, will present the latest Russian developments in the space industry as well as in aircraft and helicopter engineering and weapons.
"During the salon, we plan to reach several key agreements with our strategic partners. In particular, we intend to conclude an agreement with United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) on the supply of new engines for Il-114-300 and to sign a memorandum with Chinese partners for the creation of a Russian engine for wide-body long-range aircraft on the basis of United Engine Corporation (UEC)," said General Director of the State Corporation Rostec Sergey Chemezov.
"During the negotiations with our foreign partners we intend to focus on after-sales service of aviation equipment and on construction of service centers," Chemezov said.
Asked if Western sanctions against Russia would hamper the airshow, Kladov said they won't affect it as, "politics is politics and business is business".
Rostec Corporation is a Russian firm that was established in 2007 to facilitate the development, production and export of high-tech industrial products designed for civilian and military applications.
The Corporation comprises over 700 organisations that are currently part of eleven holding companies operating in the military-industrial complex and three holding companies working in civilian industry.
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