21 September 2016 — Officials from the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) briefed the Philippine Embassy in Moscow on the different aspects of possible Philippines-Russia military cooperation, including the acquisition of Russian military equipment and technology. The FSMTC is a federal agency directly under the Office of the President of the Russian Federation responsible for control and oversight in the field of military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and foreign countries.

Briefing the Embassy were Mr. Sergey I. Buganov, Chief of the First Department on Military and Technical Cooperation with Foreign States, and Mr. Valery A. Orel, Chief of the Section on Military-Technical Technical Cooperation with Countries of the Asia-Pacific Region. Philippine Ambassador to Russia, Carlos D. Sorreta, and Third Secretary and Vice Consul Luningning Camoying, the Political Officer of the Embassy, met with the Russian officials.

“We welcomed the briefing, which was quite revealing, particularly as to the extent that Russia is able to interact with a large number of countries in this field and the different mechanisms that are employed, including in terms of the acquisition and transfer of Russian military equipment,” Ambassador Sorreta said. “This is all part of our job to explore opportunities that could contribute to our government’s efforts to modernize our defense capabilities,” the Ambassador added.

During the briefing, aside from discussing military equipment and technology that were available from Russia, also taken up were the issues of training, after-sales service and maintenance, transfer of technology, investment in domestic military production and servicing, and different modes of financing.

Russia sells military equipment and military-related equipment to a host of nations, from highly developed countries like the United States to developing nations like India, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam. The Pentagon announced earlier this year that the U.S. will buy up to 18 more Russian-built RD-180 engines to power rockets carrying U.S. military satellites into space over the next six years.

The briefing followed the recent visit to Moscow of a Department of National Defense Delegation led by Undersecretary for Finance and Materiel, Raymundo De Vera Elefante, which met with top Russian defense officials, including officials of the FSMTC. END.