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In little over a week, Russia lost its second fighter jet, Su-30, to an uncanny crash when it was carrying out a massive aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities and battling in the Kherson region. On October 23, an apartment building in Irkutsk, Siberia, was struck by a Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM Flanker multi-role fighter, killing both crew members and starting a massive fire on the ground. Su-30 is a two-seat, twin-engine, highly agile fighter aircraft produced by Sukhoi Aviation Corporation of Russia. The Su-30s are manufactured at the neighboring Irkutsk Aviation Plant, where the jet is reported to have just taken...

MOSCOW --- India is boosting negotiations with Russia on the upgrade of its Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) multirole fighter jets, according to a source in the Russian defense industry. "Due to the postponement of the FGFA (Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft) joint program, the Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has apparently revealed its intention to upgrade Su-30MKI combat aircraft in order to turn the planes into the fifth-generation fighter jets. A Russian military-industrial delegation visited New Delhi in early July to forge the upgrade strategy and to discuss it with the Indian colleagues. We suppose that the draft of the...

Man, Boeing (NYSE:BA) just cannot catch a break. For a while there, 2015 was starting to look like the year Boeing defense got its wings back. In February, opining that "stealth may be overrated," U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert began laying the groundwork for the U.S. Navy breaking up with Lockheed Martin's F-35C fighter jet, and buying a bunch of Boeing F/A-18s for its carriers instead. Earlier this month, the Air Force floated a trial balloon of its own. In a controversial revelation, the Air Force suggested it was considering buying as many as six dozen cheaper...

Boeing Co. wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to keep something in mind as he looks to turn India into a defense manufacturing powerhouse: Size matters. With Modi planning to spend $150 billion to modernize military equipment over the next decade, the world's largest aerospace company sees an opportunity to grow its presence in India. Boeing lost out in 2012 to smaller French rival Dassault Aviation in what was then the biggest fighter-jet deal on record. "If India wants to jump start an aerospace economy, do you want to do that with Dassault -- that's about a $5 billion company --...

NEW DELHI, FEB. 10, 2016: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has initiated the procurement of a fresh lot of 40 additional Su-30MKI air dominance fighters at an estimated $75 million apiece, reliable diplomatic sources disclosed to Arming India. The procurement is being taken up as a follow-on order to the 222 Su-30MKI fighters already contracted to be made under transfer of technology at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)'s Nasik division. Along with the initial 50 aircraft acquired in a flyaway condition from Russia in the late 1990s, the latest increment of 40 aircraft will take the total number of Su-30MKIs ordered...

NEW DELHI-An Indian Air Force fighter jet crashed Tuesday, a day after the country’s military paraded its might in front of the nation and U.S. President Barack Obama during Republic Day celebrations. An air force official said the pilot of the single-engine, single-seater MiG-27 aircraft of Russian origin ejected safely before the plane crashed in Barmer, in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, which borders Pakistan. “The plane was on a routine mission,” the official said, without elaborating. The crash highlights the aging equipment of the Indian armed forces. The South Asian country has been seeking to modernize its mainly Soviet-era...

For the first time since January 31, 2012, when the French Rafale fighter was chosen as the future medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF), it has been officially admitted that there are serious problems in negotiating the purchase with the French vendor, Dassault. the Indian Business Standard reports. Speaking to the media on Tuesday evening, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said there were “complications” in the negotiations, already on for almost three years, with the French side reluctant to meet commitments that IAF had specified in the tender. Parrikar mentioned that local production of Su-30 MKI...

It looks as though Indian combat aircraft are going to continue flying for many years to come with Israeli designator pods. A Rafael official confirmed to Air&Cosmos during the Defexpo Show that the company’s Litening G4 had been selected last year following an IAF call for tenders for 164 pods to equip its entire fleet of fighter-bombers. Deliveries under this huge order (the largest ever recorded outside the US, according to Rafael) are expected to get under way by the end of this year. When completed, they will bring the total number of Litening pods in IAF service to approximately...

The Indian Sukhoi 30MKI fighter aircraft will be upgraded with certain fifth generation aircraft characteristics to convert it into a “Super Sukhoi”, Alexy Fedorov, President and Chairman of the Board of Irkut Corporation of Russia announced during the MAKS 2011 show here. India has five squadrons of Sukhoi 30MKIs numbering around 100 aircraft which are to be upgraded into the “Super Sukhoi” format. The upgrade will apply not only to the aircraft in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF) but also to those yet to be delivered to India and to be licence-manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Fedorov...

"I am a contented man. My childhood dream has been fulfilled," gushed President A P J Abdul Kalam after his 30-minute joy ride in the rear cockpit of a fighter aircraft (SU-30 MKI Flanker) on Thursday. This feat has made the President the oldest Indian to fly a fighter aircraft. As he was helped out of the aircraft by "co-pilot" Wing Commander Ajay Rathore, after it touched base at the Lohegaon Air Force station, the President's eyes gleamed with excitement. So affected was Kalam by the experience that he kept smiling with childlike glee. Clad in the flying gear of...

Modernising its fighter jet fleet, the Indian Air Force is going to upgrade its SU-30 MKI combat aircraft with the help of Russia. "As part of IAF's modernisation programme, we are going to upgrade 50 Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft with help of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from Russia," Defence Ministry sources said. "Su-30 MKIs have been inducted into the IAF in four phases. The ones to be upgraded are from the first phase and the project is likely to be completed in the next three to four years," they added. Of the 50 aircraft, around five would be sent to the...

Operating, maintaining and flying Sukhoi fighter aircraft is a Malaysia-India-Russia 'love story', says a senior Malaysian air force official.Though a three-year trilateral arrangement nears its end, Russian and Indian officials are committed to reinforcing Malaysia's air defence and combat capability as far as the Sukhoi Su 30 MKM Flanker squadron is concerned. The assurance came from Russia's warranty team leader Vladimir Konnov, from aircraft manufacturer Irkut Corporation, and Indian Air Force's (IAF) chief flight instructor Group Captain K.V.R. Raju. Konnov stressed the need for the arrangement to continue in some form. Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) 11th Squadron commanding officer...

The Indian Air Force is planning to arm its Su-30MKI fighter aircraft with 40 BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile, said Dr AS Pillai, CEO & MD BrahMos Aerospace as reported by RIA Novosti. "The inclusion of BRAHMOS cruise missile will make the aircraft unique in firepower," said Dr Pillai at the Defence Services Asia-2010 exhibition here, in an interview with the Russian news agency. He also added that the first trials of the air-launched version were set for 2011 and the first test-flight with the missile on-board are scheduled for 2012. The supersonic cruise missile has a range of 290-km and...

The SU-30MKI multi-role fighter is a two-seat highly-manoeuvrable aircraft designed for air-superiority and for strikes on ground and naval targets. These aircraft have significantly enhanced the combat capabilities of the Indian Air Force. Su-30MKI is a tailor-made aircraft for Indian specifications. It has an "international" avionics portfolio, including sub-systems and units made by 14 foreign firms from 6 countries. The aircraft features state of the art avionics developed by Russia, India and Israel which includes display, navigation, targeting and electronic warfare systems. Other key avionics used in the aircraft were sourced from France and South Africa. The Su-30MKI avionics suite...

Fighter pilots wore diapers and flew non-stop for more than nine hours to carry out the Indian Air Force's farthest and longest bombing exercise recently - symbolising the IAF's extended reach. They flew Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters to destroy mock targets in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A senior IAF officer told HT, "The fighters dropped air-to-ground ordnance for the first time on an uninhabited island in the Andamans. We want to exploit the location of these islands to train fighter pilots for extreme missions." Six fighter planes were launched from air force bases in Bareilly and Pune for the experimental...

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...

Malaysia to receive brand-new Russian fighters 13:09 | 18/ 07/ 2007 MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - Malaysia will receive the first 12 of its order of 18 Sukhoi Su-30-MKM Flanker fighters, the most advanced versions of the Su-27 warplane, before the year is out. The Su-30-MKM embodies the best achievements of the Russian aircraft industry and has the most advanced European avionics. The Malaysian version is based on the Su-30-MKI, earmarked for India, but features different equipment and an electric remote control system. Unlike the Indian version, the Su-30-MKM features a laser warning system and missile detectors. Two...

DID usually restricts its coverage to procurements, but issues of doctrine and lessons and innovations from the field also qualify. Drawing conclusions from exercises is always tricky, and can never replace combat experience. Even so, in the absence of state-on-state conflicts, the expansion of multi-national training (where "gaming" is less likely) occasionally offers an interesting window into platform capabilities and national trends. With a number of air forces around the world contemplating their future fighter options, and India emphasizing the value of force multiplier/ force projection platforms in its air force, the matchups at Exercise Indra Dhanush 2007 at Waddington,...

RMAF's Sukhois to arrive in May — one year late 15 Feb 2007 Adrian David KUALA LUMPUR: After a one-year delay, the first six Sukhoi Su-30MKM jets will be delivered to the Royal Malaysian Air Force in May. The RMAF ordered 18 of the Russian jet fighters in 2003 in a US$900 million (RM3.24 billion) deal. After India and Vietnam, Malaysia will become one of the largest operators of the high-tech jet. Indonesia has ordered 12, while Thailand is mulling the purchase. Defence industry sources said the RMAF was ready to take delivery of the jets as the crew of...

New Delhi, April. 6 (PTI): Indian Air Forces frontline Sukhoi, Mirage 2000 and upgraded Mig Bisons would cross swords with the United States Air Force F-16 fighting falcons in the second series of joint fighter exercises in November this year. The pilots of the two air forces would match their skills in close range as well as beyond visual range combats over Kalikunda airbase in West Bengal. In their first test of wits, the Indian pilots had got the better of their American counterparts in Gwalior last year. But the contest that time had been between the US F-15's and...