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MiG crashes blamed on 'pirated' repairs

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW MAY 7. Russia's top defence export official has blamed MiG-21 fighter plane crashes in India on the poor quality repairs and upgrades carried out by non-Russian companies.

The crashes and breakdowns of the MiG-21 aircraft belonging to the Romanian and Indian Air Forces, which were repaired and upgraded without Russian participation, could be cited as negative examples (of commissioning third-country companies to do the job), said Mikhail Dmitriyev, Chairman of the Committee for Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign Countries, Russia's apex defence export control agency.

Pirated repairs and modernisation cannot only damage the prestige of reputed weapon trademarks, but endanger the life and safety of pilots and other people, he said in an interview to the Krasnaya Zvezda daily, mouthpiece of the Russian Defence Ministry, today.

Russia was not opposed to foreign companies taking part in the modernisation of its hardware provided the original Russian manufacturers were also involved, he said adding that Russian manufactures alone could guarantee effective upgrading and safe exploitation of their military technology.

Mr. Dmitriyev said Russia was drafting new legislation to better protect the intellectual property rights of Russian defence producers.

``It was obvious that the Russian aviation industry had a much higher production culture than those countries which were now offering spares to Russian and Soviet-made aircraft,'' the official said.

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