On July 27, the military news website Defense Blog reported that Ukrainian 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. 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.
Indonesia and India could be looking to equip its Su-30s and Su-27s with non-Russian sources of weapons due to U.S. sanctions against Russia that has degraded its ability to receive payment in hard currency. The U.S. made clear that Indonesian and India risked being penalized for purchasing military equipment under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. The Ukrainian R-27 missiles are a direct substitute for the Russian-made R-27 as they being made under license since the Soviet days. Russia also exports the missiles under the same designation.
ARTEM Company is the leading enterprise of the aircraft industry of Ukraine and the former USSR countries in the production of air-to-air guided missiles which are in the armory of fighters like MiG-29, MiG-35, Su-27, Su-30, Su-32, Su-33, Su-34, Su-35 and their modifications as well as aeronautical units, devices and equipment for airplanes and helicopters manufactured by CIS countries. The R-27 missile is also license-produced in China, though the production license was bought from Ukraine instead of Russia.
The R-27 missile (NATO reporting name AA-10 Alamo) is a medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile developed by Russian firm Vympel and Ukrainian firm Artem. The R-27 is manufactured in infrared-homing (R-27T), semi-active-radar-homing (R-27R), and active-radar-homing (R-27EA) versions, in both Russia and Ukraine. It features a three-modular construction that incorporates the equipment and guidance section with a homing head, warhead, solid-propellant rocket motor and three hardpoints. The R-27 missile is carried by the MiG-29 and Su-27/SU-30 fighters, and some of the later-model fighters have also been adapted to carry it.