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Russia ready to upgrade Malaysian Air Force’s fighter jets, says defense agency

In 2018, Malaysian Defense Ministry admitted that only four out of 28 Russian-made combat planes were operational

Su-30MKM fighter jets Marina Lystseva/TASS

Su-30MKM fighter jets

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

ZHUKOVSKY /Moscow Region/, August 29. /TASS/. Russia is ready to upgrade Su-30MKM and MiG-29N fighter jets operational in the Malaysian Air Force, the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation told TASS on the sidelines of the MAKS-2019 international aerospace show on Thursday.

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Russia’s Su-30MKM to remain Malaysian Air Force’s major fighter — source

"No work is being done to modernize Su-30MKM and MiG-29N fighters delivered to Malaysia but the Russian side is ready for cooperation in this sphere, if our partners show interest," the defense agency said.

Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu admitted last year that only four out of 28 Russian-made combat planes (18 Su-30s and 10 MiG-29 fighter jets) were operational. As he explained, the Malaysian Air Force earlier could not do proper maintenance work on these planes, which degraded their condition.

Also, the Malaysian armed forces have been left considerably behind other Southeast Asian countries in their development, the defense minister admitted.

The MAKS-2019 international aerospace show runs in the town of Zhukovsky outside Moscow on August 27-September 1. The event’s organizers are Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry and the state hi-tech corporation Rostec. A total of 827 companies from 33 countries are taking part in the aerospace show, including 184 foreign firms.

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