Andrei Chang reports in UPIAsia.com, from Hong Kong:
China is increasingly challenging Russia in the African arms trade, offering lower prices on weapons that, ironically, are often made in China with Russian technologies. Chinese products are less expensive than Russian and Western systems, similar to the Russian systems that many African countries are familiar with, easy to maintain and easy to use in training.
Many countries are therefore switching allegiance to China for their weapons purchases. A typical example is Sudan. At a 2007 military parade, the Khartoum regime showcased its China-made T96 main battle tanks and T92 wheeled armoured vehicles.The T92 is fitted with Russian 2A72 30-mm machine guns. Russia’s KBP Design Bureau transferred the machine-gun technology to China in 1996, along with fire-control technology for the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle.
Sudan has also acquired K-8 trainer aircraft, Q-5 attackers and FN-6 portable ground-to-air missiles from China. Traditionally, Sudan has been a client of Russia, from whom it has purchased BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-50 wheeled IFVs and T54/55 main battle tanks.
