RIA Novosti,
MOSCOW: Russia will present a MiG fighter-trainer at the 2006 Farnborough International Airshow because the country's newest trainer is yet to complete trials, the state-controlled arms exporter said Tuesday.
Ivan Goncharenko, a deputy general director of Rosoboronexport, said the two-seater MiG-29UBT multirole fighter would take to the skies in the south of England because the Yak-130 combat trainer was under development.
Goncharenko played down fears that the Russian equipment could be arrested at the show, adding, “We have many legal regulations protecting the Russian defense industry's products overseas.”
At the 2001 Paris International Airshow in Le Bourget a Russian Su-30 Flanker and MiG/AT trainer were forced to make an early exit after French authorities tried to enforce a court ruling in favor of a Swiss trading company, Noga, which claimed the Russian government owed it almost $500 million.
“The claims made by some countries that Russia takes few examples of its hardware to Farnborough because of fears they might be arrested are ungrounded,” Goncharenko said.
He added that mock-ups of Su-family military aircraft would be displayed at the show, which runs from July 17 through 23.
