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President turns pilot, flies the SU-30 MKI Flanker Haima Deshpande Friday, June 09, 2006 00:27 IST PUNE: “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...

The Mexican navy has selected Sukhoi’s Su-27 over the Saab/BAE Systems Gripen to equip its first air defence unit. Head of the service Adm Armando Sánchez Moreno says the new fleet of 10 fighters will enable the navy to carry out “strategic surveillance� over key areas of Mexico’s coastline. Preliminary selection work was initiated in early 2005, and the navy is now entering into contract negotiations with Russia’s Rosboronexport agency for the purchase of eight single-seat Su-27s and two Su-27UB two-seat trainers. Local sources indicate that the entire package – which also includes spare parts, tools and personnel training...

Belarus to buy 18 Sukhoi jets from India Moscow, Feb 03: In an estimated USD 300 million deal, Belarus is to buy 18 second-hand Sukhoi SU-30k fighters from India for the modernisation of the aging Air Force of this former Soviet Republic. According to influential financial daily "Vedomosti", 18 SU-30k fighters with limited capabilities were supplied to the Indian Air Force in 1997-98 at the initial stage of USD 4.9 billion Sukhoi deal for the development of a multi-role warbird SU-30MKI specially tailored for its specific requirements. Cash-strapped Belarus would modernise the SU-30k jets to the su-30kn at its facilities...

BANGALORE: India and Russia have pumped in $50 million to develop an aircraft version of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, according to a top official of the joint venture. "Development for the aircraft version is a new (initiative), which was not originally contemplated. Towards that we have added $50 million in the company as investment from both India and Russia," CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace A Sivathanu Pillai said in Bangalore on Friday. Pillai said the Indian Air Force (IAF) would integrate the missile with Sukhoi-30 fighters. "We have now completed the feasibility study for integrating the BrahMos with Sukhoi-30...

MARIETTA, Ga., December 15, 2005 -- Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] F-22A Raptor, the world’s only 5th generation fighter aircraft, surpassed a monumental milestone today when the United States Air Force declared that the Raptor has reached initial operational capability. General Ronald E. Keys, Commander of Air Combat Command, made the historic announcement at Langley Air Force Base, Va., from a Raptor hangar near his headquarters. “The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring 5th generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise, and precision to the warfighter today and for decades to come,” said General Keys in an Air Force news release. “If...

BEIJING – Shi Jin wears a jean jacket, has razor-cropped hair, and seems gravely earnest. An officer in the People's Liberation Army, he was wooed from a Beijing vocational college three years ago by recruiters who talked up his technical aptitude - and his patriotism. In the past decade, China has undergone two military high-tech reforms designed to give the country a modern fighting force. To sustain that progress, it must attract many more gung-ho young engineers like Shi, who spends most of his time working on an "informational" revolution that planners hope will one day allow them to "see"...

Sukhoi to star in US war games - Top fighter to be deployed for first time after wary IAF shakes off hang-ups SUJAN DUTTA New Delhi, Nov. 6: The Indian Air Force will deploy its top-end fighter aircraft, the Sukhoi 30 Mki, for the first time in the Cope India 2005 exercise with the US Air Force. The exercise, to be based out of Kalaikunda in Bengal, which the Left is protesting against, takes off tomorrow. The IAF has normally been wary of fielding the Sukhoi 30 Mki for drills with foreign air forces. The Sukhoi 30 Mki is the...

Combat aircraft decision may pivot on nuclear co-operation HUMA SIDDIQUI Posted online: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 at 0147 hours IST NEW DELHI, OCT 10: After inking the $3.5 billion Scorpene submarines deal last week, the Centre is now all set to shop for 126 multi-role combat aircraft for which Boeing of US, Dassault of France, Russian MiG RAC and probably an Italian company have already been shortlisted. The move assumes significance as highly placed sources say India is trying to get closer to US and France through the aircraft deal since both these countries have offered civil and nuclear technology...

Russian Plant Launches Production of New Sukhoi Tactical Bomber The Novosibirsk Chkalov Aviation Production Association (NAPO) is launching production of the Su-34 bomber, the plant’s general director, Aleksandr Bobryshev, has told Itar-Tass. NAPO has begun implementing a state order for the Russian air force, building the first Su-34 mass-production tactical bomber, Bobryshev explained. “The Su-34’s radio-electronic equipment can be compared to fifth-generation aircraft,” Bobryshev said. The Su-34’s onboard equipment and weapons allow it to destroy precise protected targets in any weather, day or night. “This multipurpose aircraft can make missile strikes against targets on the ground and is also effective...

Russia's Sukhoi to develop 5th generation fighter jet 03/23/2005 18:47 The new fighter jet will be a fundamentally new machine, not just a modernized version of an old pursuit plane The competition of world's biggest superpowers to develop the fifth generation of pursuit planes still continues. Russian specialists intend to build such a jet, or an aviation complex, as engineers say, in five or seven years. Technical details of such developments are being kept top secret, although Russian aircraft designers decided to expose several solutions of theirs. Russia's world-famous major aircraft corporations, MiG and Sukhoi were fighting for the right...

The Nasik unit of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Monday handed over the first batch of two multi-role fighter SU-30 MKI aircraft to the Indian Air Force. The IAF pilots demonstrated HAL-built indigenous aircraft. Air Chief Marshal Tyagi lauded HAL's role in manufacturing these aircraft with modern technology. HAL Chairman Ashok K Baweja handed over the official documents to Tyagi. "We hope that HAL will strive to develop and nurture this critical area, as it will go a long way in keeping the SU-30 MKI technologically relevant over the years," Tyagi said. SU-30 MKI is a twin-engine, twin-seater aircraft, which...

India is concerned about reports of a renewed Pakistani effort to buy F-16 fighter jets from the United States, saying the advanced aircraft could spark an arms race in South Asia even though Washington maintains that no such sales are being contemplated. "We are against introducing such advanced weaponry into South Asia," an Indian government official said Tuesday on the condition of anonymity. "They are not useful in the war on terror, and experience has shown that they could be used against India. ... They could spark a buildup or a weapons race in the region." In September, the Pakistani...

SUKHOI´S “FLANKER” IS SELLING WELL By Piotr Butowski/KS Mikhail Pogosyan, General Director of Sukhoi Holding, is optimistic about the prospects of further sales before the end of the decade of the Su-27 family, by far the best combat aircraft produced in Russia. Originally launched as a long-range fighter with outstanding agility, since then, like its western counterpart, the F-15 Eagle, the Flanker has blossomed into an extra-class multi-role fighter aircraft. F-15C pilots of the US Air Force's 19th Fighter Squadron, stationed in Elmendorf, had the opportunity to take a closer look at the capabilities of the Su-30K during a visit...

WASHINGTON: The IAF is off to Alaska for Cooperative Cope Thunder, its second joint air exercise with the United States Air Force. The IAF group, ten aircraft in all, will enter Canada on July 2 and reach Alaska on July 7 for exercises that are slated to begin on July 15. "The IAF has never been on such a journey and we just want to be careful getting our planes and equipment across safely," a senior IAF official said. "This is a big honour and a big debut for us," the official said. The IAF is in an upbeat mood...

WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The United States must modernize its fighter jets to maintain air supremacy, a top Air Force general said on Wednesday citing the success of advanced Russian-made jets against American planes in a recent exercise as signaling an erosion of its overwhelming advantage. Gen. Hal Hornburg, head of U.S. Air Combat Command, said a U.S. air-to-air exercise with the Indian Air Force in February, in which India used Russian jets to defeat aging American F-15Cs, revealed "that we may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we once thought we were."...

"In the just finished exercise, IAF pilots shot down all the four F15Es on the first day itself. Both in the offensive and in the defensive sorties, IAF pilots did very well against USAF." According to another post on this board, the USAF dominated BVR combat, whereas the Indians had a 4 to 1 kill ratio in dogfighting. "But, the Americans did not field their F22s or F16s. While F16 could not have done better, F22 could. They may test it in the future. Russians fighting USA? It may never happen. The only other way to check how good the...

IAF pilots test skills against USAFJosy Joseph in Gwalior | February 25, 2004 19:17 ISTLast Updated: February 25, 2004 20:58 IST As American F-15 fighters sliced through the blue sky of Gwalior in the company of India's Russian-made Sukhoi-30s, they smashed yet another wall of suspicion between the superpower and the South Asian giant.The air forces of the two countries are holding their first ever joint air combat exercise, which began on February 16, in 40 years in the background of taboos and secrets on both sides. The exercise kicked off a new chapter in the booming defence relations between the two...

RUSSIA'S RADICAL NEW FIGHTER Russia’s fabled Sukhoi Design Bureau builds the S-37, a 21st century fighter to go head-to- head with our F-22. By MALCOLM V. LOWE Photos by Katsuhiko Tokunaga/DACT and courtesy of R-Avix; Illustration by John Batchelor A bold, new combat aircraft designed by the legendary Sukhoi Design Bureau and now undergoing tests in Russia has taken aim at America's next-generation fighter, the F-22. The Russian challenge comes in the form of the single-seat Sukhoi S-37, the world’s first combat aircraft to successfully exploit forward-swept wing (FSW) technology. First word of the S-37 leaked to the West...

NEW DELHI, September 27 (IslamOnline) – India Friday, September 27, 2002, became world's first country to deploy the advanced multi role version of the Russian Sukhoi-30 MKI military aircraft into the country’s Air Force. The introduction of 10 upgraded Sukhois was made at an impressive ceremony in the South-western city of Pune, presided by Defense Minister George Fernandes and in the presence of the IAF Chief S Krishnaswamy. Also present were aviation experts from Russia, France and Israel. India is the first country to get these combat aircraft, considered to be the most potent fighters in the region. The aircraft...

MOSCOW: Russia has started the deliveries of the final modification of multirole Su-30 MKI fighters to India. First two Sukhoi Su-30 MKI were shipped to India on board a Russian cargo plane on Saturday by the Irkutsk-based IAPO aircraft corporation, according to a news report. Russia will dispatch 10 fighters this year, while another 22 are to be delivered next year. Under the deal for 50 aircraft signed in November 1998, Russia has already delivered 18 Su-30k fighters which would be upgraded to MKI in 2004 with the simultaneous production of 140 fighters by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited under license. The...

Russian fighters for the USAF/USN? The ultimate irony … by Robert W. Kress with Rear Adm. Paul Gillcrist, U.S. Navy (Ret.) Editors’ note: In this wonderful piece of aeronautical and political irony, it seems that our newfound but uneasy friends, the Russians, may be our best source of new fighter aircraft. Bob Kress, ex-Grumman VP of advanced programs and chief engineer on the F-14, and Adm. Paul Gillcrist, retired USN fighter pilot, make a convincing argument that rather than spend ridiculous sums for new fighters that will probably show up too late to do us any good, we should buy...

BRASILIA, Brazil, June 4 (Reuters) - Russia's Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet has a "close to 90 percent" chance of being the winner in a Brazilian tender to buy up to 24 new supersonic fighters for $700 million, Sukhoi's Brazilian partner said on Tuesday. The purchase, which may be decided next week, is set to be one of the biggest arms deals in recent Latin American history and is hotly contested by such heavyweights as Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT - News) with its F-16 fighter, BAE Systems Plc (London:BA.L - News) and Brazil's Embraer (Sao Paolo:EMBR4.SA - News; NYSE:ERJ - News)...