MOSCOW, September 15 (AVN) - Participants of the Africa Aerospace Defence 2000 show took great interest in the joint Russian-South-African project to modernise the Mirage F1 and Mirage III planes produced by France, Vladimir Artyukov, deputy director general of the Promexport state company, said on Friday.
The two countries have been co-operating in the field of aviation industry since the early 90ies, Artyukov said,, commenting on the results of the show. The most significant outcome of the co-operation is modernisation of the Mirages by means of fitting them with the Russian RD-33 (SMR-95) double-circuit turbofan engine produced by the St. Petersburg Klimov plant and with the R-73 short-range air-to-air missile worked out by the Vympel Toporov design bureau in Moscow. According to experts, the combat effectiveness of the modernised planes will be 1.5 to 2 times higher.
Currently there are over 1,500 Mirages used by the African countries. Approximately one third of them can be modernised. The Promexport company is going to develop co-operation with the South Africa especially in the field of modernisation and servicing of the armament supplied to the African countries earlier, Artyukov said.