Jonathan R Olguin - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
29 August 2017
Bolivia’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Fernando
Huanacuni Mamani, has confirmed that the Bolivian Armed Forces is seeking
military modernisation with Russian co-operation.
“We have to renovate, and it’s important, because every
element and mechanical instrument or weapon has a useful service life.
Aircraft, tanks, and weapons … have to be updated,” he said on 27 August.
A Bolivian Ministry of Defence (MoD) delegation, headed
by defence vice-minister José Luis Begazo Ampuero, Army Commander General Luis Orlando
Ariñez, and a technical team from COFADENA (Corporación de las Fuerzas Armadas
para el Desarrollo Nacional) accompanied the foreign ministry on a recent visit
to Russia.
During the visit, the Bolivian vice-minister signed an
agreement with Russia’s Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation,
represented by Anatoli Punchuk, to renew and expand an existing defence
co-operation agreement.
The agreement includes technical co-operation in
training, equipment maintenance, and technology transfers, and seeks to
increase equipment acquisition co-operation.
The Bolivian Army has an ongoing requirement for new
armoured transports and combat vehicles for which it has previously considered
Russian equipment. It also has a programme to preplace its standard service
weapon. Recently the Bolivian Air Force commander recommended buying Yakovlev
Yak-130 'Mitten' advanced jet trainer/light-attack aircraft to replace its
retired Lockheed/Canadair T-33s.
Original post: janes.com
Yakovlev Yak-130: Details
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