Kazakhstan repairs Russian fighter jets with Western equipment to circumvent sanctions
The Kazakh company ARC Group is servicing Russian Su-30SMs with French Thales and Safran equipment to circumvent sanctions.
Here's What We Know
The InformNapalm project, based on documentation and testimonies, found that Russia uses the Kazakh company ARC Group to service its own fighter jets. Today, Russia has up to 130 units of modernised Su-30SM fighters equipped with French-made avionics.
These include: SMD55S and SMD66S multifunctional displays (Thales); TLS2020 radio navigation and landing system (Thales); TACAN-NC12 radio navigation system (Thales); HUD 3022 windscreen indicators (Thales); SIGMA 95NAA navigation systems (Safran).
For Russia, these components are critical, as the Russian industry is unable to produce even approximate analogues of these technologies. And to keep these aircraft operating, the Russians need to constantly maintain them with Western equipment.
After the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia should have lost access to Western technology and services, but, according to the documents, it did not. Russia was able to restore service in the midst of sanctions thanks to the Kazakh company ARC Group.
Analyst Research Consulting Group is a distributor of the French Safran Electronics & Defence. Back in October 2021, it signed its first agreement with Russia's Rosaviaviaspetskomplekt, which repairs, maintains, and supplies aircraft components.
After 2022, the Kazakh company continued to provide services to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, which maintains the Su-30SM. It presents its activities to French suppliers as an intermediary with Kazakhstan's aircraft repair plant No. 405.
According to the documents, in 2024, ARC Group signed a contract with Thales AVS France SAS to service SMD55S/SMD66S multifunctional displays and HUD3022 collimator indicators for Kazakh Su-30SM fighters.
This agreement clearly defines export controls with a direct ban on the transfer of any goods to the Russian Federation. However, simultaneously with the signing of this contract, ARC Group sent the Russians a commercial offer totalling EUR 13,826,199.26 for consideration and registration.
Of course, by a strange coincidence, the agreement contains almost the same services as the contract between Thales and the Kazakh aircraft plant.
Source: InformNapalm
