At the same time, the head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, noted that there is already a foreign customer interested in buying a fighter
DUBAI, November 15. /tass/. Representatives of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are interested in the new Russian single-engine fighter Checkmate and intend to study it in more detail. This was announced to journalists by the head of Rostec State Corporation Sergey Chemezov during the Dubai Airshow 2021 international Airshow.
"You saw the plane yourself. It turned out to be a beautiful, good plane. The United Arab Emirates is already interested, they want to see and discuss the car in more detail," Chemezov said.
He expressed confidence that there will be demand from other countries with which meetings are scheduled. "We have a significant advantage over the others. Firstly, this aircraft is of an open configuration: we offer a base, we can hang any weapons that the customer wishes on it. In addition, various electronics, electronic warfare equipment, means for capturing targets and so on are being installed," Chemezov explained.
He noted that these options can be executed and installed at the request of the customer. "And, of course, because of this, the price varies. The base, I hope, will be around $ 30-35 million," said the head of Rostec.
At the same time, the head of Rostec noted that there is already a foreign customer interested in acquiring Checkmate.
"Until the contract is signed, we do not say who the customer is <...> While only the technical side is being discussed. All the conditions will become clear after the first flight, which we plan for 2023," he said, adding that there is already interest from a particular country.
According to Chemezov, foreign weapons will need to be adapted to the Russian fighter. "We offer those options that are already available and with which tests have been carried out on the Su-57. These developments have all been created, tested, proven effective, so it's much easier and cheaper," he said.