Kazakhstan is repairing Russian fighter jets to bypass sanctions

Kazakhstan’s ARC Group is servicing Russian Su-30SMs in a way that bypasses sanctions, using French Thales and Safran equipment.

InformNapalm project reported this based on the results of its investigation.

Thanks to the documents and testimonies obtained, the intelligence project managed to uncover evidence that the Russian government uses the Kazakh company ARC Group to maintain its fighter jets.

As of 2024, Russia has up to 130 units of modernized Su-30SM fighter jets equipped with French-made avionics. They include:

• SMD55S and SMD66S multifunctional displays (Thales);
• TLS2020 radio navigation and landing system (Thales);
• TACAN-NC12 radio navigation system (Thales);
• HUD 3022 indicators on the windshield background (Thales);
• SIGMA 95NAA navigation system (Safran).

These components are critically important for the Russian aircraft industry, as they have no Russian analogs. Russians need to constantly maintain this equipment to continue operating the aircraft.

Long before the full-scale invasion, Russia launched the process of import substitution, which resulted in the replacement of French HUD 3022 systems on some aircraft with the Russian equivalent, the IKSh-1KI. However, dependence on foreign components remains critical.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia allegedly lost access to French military technology and maintenance services. However, according to the documents obtained, the Russian side found the necessary channel to circumvent sanctions in the form of the Kazakh company ARC Group.

Analyst Research Consulting Group is a distributor of the French Safran Electronics & Defense. Back in October 2021, it signed the first contract with Rosaviaspetscomplect, a narrow-profile Russian company that repairs, maintains, and supplies aircraft components.

After 2022, the Kazakh company continued to provide services to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, which maintains the Su-30SM, presenting its activities for French suppliers as an intermediary with the Kazakhstani aircraft repair plant No. 405.

According to the documents obtained, in 2024, ARC Group signed a contract with Thales AVS France SAS for the maintenance of SMD55S/SMD66S multifunctional displays and HUD3022 collimator indicators on Kazakhstani Su-30SM fighters. In particular, the company requested the following:

ILM&OLM Test Benches with 3-year support;
development and supply of the Golden LRU;
preparation and supply of technical documentation for intermediate maintenance (ILM);
preparation and conduct of ILM training in France;
installation and commissioning in Kazakhstan.

The contract contains clear export control provisions with an express prohibition to transfer any goods to the Russian Federation.

Nevertheless, almost simultaneously with this agreement, on June 26, 2024, ARC Group sent a commercial offer to the Russians for consideration and registration, totaling EUR 13,826,199.26.

By a strange coincidence, this agreement contains almost the same services as the contract between Thales and the Kazakh aircraft plant.

Activities on the territory of the Russian Federation

Judging by the seized working correspondence and other data, ARC Group provided maintenance services for French equipment in Russia at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant.

In October 2022, Rosaviaviaspetscomplect fully funded the necessary training and certification of the Kazakh company’s specialists in France at the Thales training center. In particular, the training on maintenance of SMD 55S/66S and HUD at the organizational level of maintenance (OLM) was mentioned.

The Head of the ARC Group informed the Russian agency about the training dates in a letter dated December 9, 2022. He explicitly states that “between January 16 and January 20, 2023, within the framework of our company’s contract with the French company Thales, it is planned to train our specialists in the maintenance of various avionics systems.”

The same letter specifies the first timeframe for the arrival of Kazakh specialists at Russian enterprises as February 2023. That is, immediately after completing the training.

Given the scope of equipment repair and maintenance planned by the Russians, this was not a one-time visit. Subsequently, a group of specialists, mostly of this composition, started to travel to the Russian Federation to carry out repairs. For example, two months later, in April 2023, a representative of the Russian company Hrytsenko informed the ARC Group director about a new stage of equipment diagnostics in May 2023.