She is a beauty.
Posted on 03/02/2010 9:34:32 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
India and Russia are negotiating a new contract on the delivery of 42 Su-30MKI to the Indian Air Force, an Indian newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing military sources.
According to the Daily News and Analysis newspaper, the new deal, which is reportedly worth more than $3 billion, has been in the works for several months.
The new air-superiority fighters will come on top of the 230 already contracted from Russia in three deals worth a total of $8.5 billion.
"The [new] order is being placed due to the insufficient number of fighter squadrons in the Indian Air Force and would allow us to eliminate potential threats," a source in the Indian Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti.
India originally ordered 50 Su-30MKI aircraft from Russia in 1996-98 and an additional 40 planes in 2007. Hindustani Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) was also contracted to build 140 aircraft in India between 2003 and 2017 under a licensed production agreement.
The Indian Air Force currently has about 100 Su-30MKIs, mainly deployed at airbases close to the borders with China and Pakistan.
Analysts believe that India will remain the main purchaser of Russian-made combat aircraft for the next 15 years under existing and future contracts, as the country desperately needs to upgrade its fighter fleet, which includes Su-30MKI and MiG-29 fighters, but mainly consists of obsolete Soviet MiG-21 models.
(Excerpt) Read more at en.rian.ru ...
Interesting, given that they also have their MRCA decision to make, and are invested in the PAK-FA program. Seems like they’re going to end up with a polyglot of hi aircraft, and only a comparatively small amount of lo aircraft—assuming the Tejas ever reaches full production.
The Su-30MKI must be working well for them then.
She is a beauty.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.