February
2, 2007: While Russia turned down the Chinese request to export licenses built
RD-93 jet engines to Pakistan (in Chinese designed and built JF17 fighters),
Russia has allowed India to build the similar RD33 engine under license. The
RD33 is used in the MiG-29, which India has 67 of. Last year, India agreed to
pay Russian firms nearly $900 million to upgrade those 67 MiG-29s with improved
electronics. Russia is more comfortable providing manufacturing technology to
India, than to China. Although both countries are major weapons customers,
Russia is a neighbor with China, and both countries have a history of border
and territorial disputes. Moreover, China has a habit of stealing technology,
or at least doing it a lot more frequently, and blatantly, than India.
