State-owned enterprise (SOE) Spetstechnoexport is boosting defense cooperation with India and opening its second representative office on the largest defense market of the South Asian region. The press service of the company reported on Tuesday that the representative office of Spetstechnoexport opened in October in Nashik, India, will provide operational and effective cooperation with Indian partners, including the implementation of the new arrangements in the defense cooperation sphere signed by Ukraine in 2018 with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
According to the report, the new arrangements with HAL foresee expansion of defense cooperation in the aviation cluster, in particular, the supply of defense systems for Indian helicopters, joint research and the developments, establishment of production of specific aviation systems in India.
Spetstechnoexport engages Ukrainian defense enterprises in cooperation with the HAL, in particular the Lviv State Aircraft Repair Plant, the Odesa Aviation Plant, SOE Institute for scientific research Storm, SOE Kharkiv Machine-Building Plant FED, the Kharkiv Aggregate Design Bureau, SOE Novator, Radionix LLC and others.
The possibility of closer communication with foreign partners allows increasing the volume of cooperation, the company said. This year, Spetstechnoexport has almost tripled the volume of supplies of defense products to the needs of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited aircraft division compared to the level of 2016.
Spetstechnoexport has an opportunity to take part in tenders for joint modernization of radars P-18 and ST-68, as well as air defense systems, such as ZSU-23-4 Shilka, P-125 Pechora and others under new arrangements with BEL.
The press service said that during the DefExpo 2018 international defense exhibition in India, Spetstechnoexport signed new contracts in the aviation sector with the total cost of about $20 million.
State-owned enterprise (SOE) SpetsTechnoExport performed foreign-economic defense contracts worth $120 million in 2017, and 80% of the deals were related to the export of modern weapons and equipment, the company’s press service has reported.
According to the report, 10% of export contracts relate to R&D in Ukraine in order to create innovative defense technologies for foreign partners purposes.
The press service said that in the past years the half of export turnover of the SpetsTechnoExport is the export of defense products to India. The company fulfilled export contracts with India for the total amount of $65 million, and a year earlier it completed the implementation of the bulk of the multi-year contract for upgrading An-32 aircraft for Indian Air Force worth $400 million.
During 2017, SpetsTechnoExport significantly intensified cooperation with Indonesia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, the company said.
The press service said that in 2017 SpetsTechnoExport was registered at the NATO Suppliers Base (NSPA) that opened up new opportunities for expanding cooperation with Western partners. The company became the first Ukrainian company to win an international public tender under the GPA rules, according to which SpetsTechnoExport will supply components to T-72 tanks to one of the EU countries.
The company said that Import contracts for the needs of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies continue to be deployed in priority regime. Supply of small arms and ammunition, sights and night vision devices, radio communication systems, systems of individual protection were the main areas of import activity of SpetsTechnoExport in 2017.
The press service told Interfax-Ukraine that at present, the SpetsTechnoExport’s portfolio of orders is estimated at some $500 million. Today the enterprise is involved in defense cooperation with customers from over 30 countries.
SpetsTechnoExport is among Ukraine’s leading exporters of weapons and special purpose equipment. Since December 2010, it has been part of the Ukroboronprom state concern.
