Kyiv-based missile maker Artem holding company says it was awarded a $200 million contract from the unnamed customer for R-27 medium-range air-to-air missile production.
Artem director Vladimir Zimin said in a statement that “the company received an advance payment and began to fulfill the largest contract for the last 10-15 years for the supply of R-27 missiles worth more than $ 200 million.”
An unnamed Asian customer, speculated to be India or Indonesia, has contracted Artem to supply a batch of medium-range missiles designed to intercept and destroy hostile piloted aircraft, drone targets and cruise missiles in a long-range and close-in dogfight.
The R-27 (NATO reporting name AA-10 Alamo) is a family of air-to-air missiles originally designed by the Russian design bureau Vympel and built by Russian firm Vympel and Ukrainian Artem.
It is intended for integration on fourth-generation fighters such as the MiG-29, MiG-31, Su-27, Su-30, Su-33, Su-34 and Su-35.
The design of R-27 was initiated in April 1962, while the actual production began in 1986. The missile is currently in service with more than 25 countries across the globe.