Su-30SM Would Become Rust If Not For russian Aircraft Repair Scheme Through Kazakhstan – Inform Napalm

The Su-30SM fighters used by the russian military rely heavily on Western-made avionics, primarily from France. Despite russia’s plan to substitute all imported components, maintaining the Western devices has remained a critical issue, as without them, the aircraft would be grounded.

Following russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of stricter sanctions, the ability to service these Western components was theoretically cut off. However, an investigation by InformNapalm reveals how russia bypassed sanctions with the help of a Kazakh contractor.

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The components in question mainly come from French companies Thales and Safran (Sagem). Here's the russia’s plan for replacing these components with domestic alternatives:

• Thales SMD55S/SMD66S multifunctional displays → replaced by MFI-66
• Thales TLS2020 multi-mode receivers (for precision navigation and landing) → replaced by VIM-95
• Thales TACAN-NC12 tactical navigation system → no replacement data available
• Thales HUD-3022 head-up displays → replaced by IKSh-1KI-1
• Safran SIGMA 95NAA inertial navigation system → replaced by BINS-SP-2

The russian defense industry has made efforts to replace some of these components, at least partially: in May 2024, one of the russian aircraft was seen equipped with IKSh-1KI-1 displays instead of the French HUD-3022.

However, the maintenance of Western components remains a do-or-die issue, and the Kremlin has found a way to circumvent sanctions with the help of Analyst Research Consulting Group LLC (hereinafter ARC Group), a company registered in Kazakhstan.

ARC Group was established in 2014 as a consulting company by Aldanazar Sagynbek, who was only 16 at the time which is in itself suspicious. The enterprise's business catalog includes acquisition and sale of ammunition, weapons, military equipment, and spare parts, as well as repair and maintenance services.

Most importantly, since 2018, ARC Group has been the official distributor for the French company Safran, which is explicitly stated on the former's website:

InformNapalm uncovered a document showing that in October 2021, ARC Group signed a contract with russia’s Rosaviaspetskomplekt to repair French-made Thales components used on Su-30SM fighters. The work could be done either in Kazakhstan or russia, and the components listed for repair matched the ones mentioned earlier, including the SMD55S, TLS2020, and HUD-3022.

While the initial contract was unsigned, a revised version appeared in November 2021, omitting references to Thales and Su-30SM fighters and postponing the planned imports to 2022.

Inform Napalm speculates that this could mean one of the following: either russia was preparing for sanctions in advance, or, more likely, that the agreement was "signed retroactively," or simply backdated.

Additional evidence supports this hypothesis. In August 2022, Rosaviaspetskomplekt CEO Petr Gritsenko sent a letter to ARC Group outlining repair plans for 2022 (13 products, €1.45 million in payment) and 2023 (88 products, €6.42 million in payment).

It seems strange that russia and Kazakhstan first concluded an agreement in the fall of 2021, and then clarified the amount of work was as late as summer 2022, leading to the conclusion the date was forged.

The letter also revealed that russia was willing to fund purchase of a "set of automated test equipment" from Thales by their colleagues in Kazakhstan.

This equipment once again appears in a contract signed in October 2022, in which both parties agreed on the details of the repair work, including the development, supply, and installation of the mentioned diagnostic equipment, as well as the training of Kazakh specialists in France.

Documents show that the training was scheduled for January 16–20, 2023, "within the framework of our (ARC Group - ed. Defense Express) company’s contract with the French company Thales." The Kazakh technicians were expected to depart for russia to begin repairs by February 2023.

Shortly after the notification of those plans, ARC Group CEO Aldanazar Sagynbek confirmed that the specialists had completed courses on maintaining the SMD55S/66S displays and HUD-3022 indicators and had received confirmation certificates.

Also, InformNapalm published a list of Kazakh specialists who performed repairs on French equipment for the russians. The full article (in multiple languages) is available here.

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