Oryx: Su-30SM planes bought by Yerevan from Moscow have become white elephants
Armenia's acquisition of four Su-30SM fighters from Russia remains a mystery, since these aircraft do not allow to realize a qualitative and quantitative advantage over Azerbaijan, Oryx writes .
In the publication, the Armenian Su-30SM fighters are called white elephants. "Four Su-30SM are probably not enough to fight for the airspace over Nagorno-Karabakh against eleven Azerbaijani MiG-29s, whose pilots were trained in exercises conducted with the Turkish Air Force," the newspaper writes.
It is also noted there that Yerevan's acquisition of the originally planned twelve Su-30SM from Moscow instead of four would require large financial injections, which would be burdensome for the country's small budget. Also, in response to this, Azerbaijan could buy 24 JF-17 aircraft from Pakistan, which, being inferior in their capabilities to the Su-30SM, would allow them to realize a quantitative advantage over Armenia.
Oryx admits that the Armenian side could sell the Su-30SM "back to Russia, and use the money saved to invest in other areas of the armed forces."
In December 2021, Izvestia, citing sources in the defense ministry, reported that the Baltic Fleet began training crews of multi-purpose Su-30SM2 fighters, which will strengthen the air group covering Kaliningrad.
