Africa a target market for Russia’s new fighter

African states are among those targeted as possible export markets for Russia’s latest fighter design, currently known only as the Checkmate. This was officially unveiled at the MAKS 2021 aerospace and defence show at Zhukovsky, in the Moscow region, on July 21. Africa was identified as a target market by Sergey Chemezov, who is CEO of the Russian State-owned defence and high-tech industries group Rostec. The group owns the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which in turn owns Sukhoi, which is the company which has developed the Checkmate. The other area targeted for possible exports of the new type is the Middle East. Chemezov also said that the new fighter would cost between $25-million and $30-million, depending on the configuration chosen by the customer.