China to renegotiate Russian aircraft deal

For some time, military cooperation between China and Russia has been stalled over a failed deal involving China’s import of Russian Il-76 transport aircraft. China claims that Russia violated the terms of an agreement involving the sale of 38 aircraft. But Russia says this claim is unfair.

Negotiations on the aircraft deal began seven years ago. By the time the contract was signed in 2005, China had agreed to purchase 30 Il-76 transport aircraft and eight Il-78 air-to-air refueling tankers – at an extremely low price. According to a source in the Russian military industry, China initially offered only US$18 million for each plane.

The Russian side proposed $22 million, and eventually the two sides settled on a price tag of $20 million per aircraft.

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