The two countries have concluded a contract "on delivery of Su-30 warplanes and also a batch of helicopters -- 30 planes and 30 helicopters -- for more than one billion dollars," Ivanov said during a visit to the Salyut jet engine maker in Moscow.

The deal was announced ahead of a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Russia which is due to start on Tuesday and is part of a broader world tour.

Russia has seen a resurgence in its arms exports, selling weapons to 61 countries last year for more than six billion dollars.

Two Su-30s, a long-range intercept fighter jet, flew recently to Venezuela and back to take part in a military parade, "the most solid advertisement for the plane and its engines", Ivanov was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying.

On Thursday, the business daily Vedomosti had already hailed the Venezuelan deal as a "historic" break into the South American market for Russian arms manufacturers, noting that it was a snub to the United States.

Washington has forbidden US manufacturers to sell arms to Venezuela, complaining that Caracas is not a reliable partner in the war on terror and that its weapons could fall into the hands of guerrillas.

Chavez said on June 11 that his visit could also see a deal on building a Kalashnikov assault rifle factory in Venezuela.

Caracas announced last month it had received 30,000 such weapons from Russia, the first shipment of an order of 100,000 that was agreed in a 54-million-dollar deal with Moscow last year.

The Venezuelen leader is slated to visit a number of Russian arms producers during his visit, notably the Barrikady gun factory in Volgograd, the Vedomosti business paper said.

A senior official for the Russian arms export agency Rosoboronexport said earlier this month that that the group planned to build two Kalashnikov factories in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Venezuela says it cannot get parts to upgrade its US-built F-16 fighter jets. Chavez has said that Venezuela could sell the F-16s if it cannot obtain replacement parts.

"We've had problems getting spare parts for our F-16s because they are US made. They want our F-16s, little by little, to be grounded," Chavez said in April.

The Sukhoi SU-30 is a two-seat fighter that first entered service with the Russian air forces in 1992.

Its export version can carry the latest Russian air-to-air missiles and has a range in excess of 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles), which means it can easily patrol offshore installations without requiring aerial refuelling, though that remains an option.

On June 10, Indian air force chief S.P. Tyagi was quoted as saying that Delhi would also buy 30 SU-30 jets.

The plane can be modified into a naval version, if the Indian Government decides to use them to equip an aircraft carrier.

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