IRKUTSK. Oct 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The Irkutsk Aircraft Production Association (IAPO) may set up a joint venture with the French-based Thales, a manufacturer of military electronics, IAPO General Director Vladimir Kovalkov has told the press.
Thales may become a strategic partner of Irkutsk aircraft-manufacturers in the production of both the SU-30MKI Flanker fighter jet, which the Irkutsk company has offered to the Malaysian Air Force in a tender, and the BE-200 and IL-214 civilian planes.
Negotiations on installing French equipment on board Russian planes are under way, Kovalkov said. Malaysia, where Thales has a number of productions, among them the production of liquid crystal displays, may also become a partner in the joint venture, he added.