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In the first ever exercises between India and the UK in 43 years, British pilots are doing just that, flying the Indian Air Force's Sukhoi 30s. They are being candid enough in admitting that their own jets are being outgunned by the IAF's best. A Royal Air Force (RAF) AWACS plane over Gwalior is a part of Exercise Indra Dhanush. For the RAF, which fielded some of their senior most pilots it was an opportunity to train with the IAF's Sukhoi 30. India has never been a world-beater in the field of aviation but with the Sukhoi 30, the Indian...

Jets to be sold to Mexico, Brazil, pilots trained in Venezuela 11:46 | 28/ 09/ 2006 BUENOS-AIRES, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state-owned arms exporter said Thursday it will soon sign deals to export Sukhoi warplanes to Mexico and Brazil, and will open helicopter maintenance and pilot training centers in Venezuela. Rosoboronexport's regional department head, Sergei Ladygin, said: "We hope that Sukhoi planes will soon appear in Latin American countries." Speaking on the sidelines of a military exhibition in Argentina, SINPRODE-2006, Ladygin said Rosoboronexport will also offer a modernized version of the Mig-29 Fulcrum fighter to Mexico and Brazil....

Russian Air Force to receive unique bomber soon 21:23 | 01/ 09/ 2006 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military analyst Viktor Litovkin) - Army General Vladimir Mikhailov, commander of the Russian Air Force, recently said that the latter would receive the first batch of Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers by late 2006. Officials at the Novosibirsk-based Chkalov Aircraft Production Association, which builds these warplanes, and the Sukhoi Design Bureau, which developed them, confirmed Mikhailov's statement. The Russian Air Force has been waiting for the Su-34 for a long time. The Su-34, crewed by test pilots Igor Votintsev and Yevgeny Revunov, performed its maiden...

The Kremlin warned Monday of possible retaliation against the United States for sanctions imposed on two major companies in the Russian defense industry. "We cannot rule out certain negative consequences for bilateral relations" between Russia and the United States, presidential administration spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday. "This was an unfriendly act toward Russia, and it was not done in a spirit of cooperation." Rosoboronexport chief Sergei Chemezov suggested Monday that a proposed deal for U.S. companies to deliver up to $1 billion in Russian military hardware to Afghanistan and Iraq could be jeopardized by the sanctions, Interfax reported. Meanwhile in...

Russian officials have reacted sharply to the sanctions imposed by the United States against two major weapons firms, calling the action "unlawful." The sanctions were announced in Washington on Friday. Russia's Foreign Ministry reacted quickly to the U.S. sanctions, calling the move "unacceptable." U.S. officials decided to impose sanctions against Russia's major airplane manufacturer Sukhoi, as well as the state arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport. A Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet flies during Venezuela's independence day military parade, July 5, 2006 U.S. officials decided to impose sanctions against Russia's major airplane manufacturer Sukhoi, as well as the state arms export monopoly...

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has imposed sanctions against seven foreign companies, including two from India and two from Russia, after accusing them of business dealings with Iran involving sensitive technology, the government said Friday. SNIP The seven businesses, which also included two from North Korea and one from Cuba, were found to be in violation of the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000. The law is aimed at preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction to Tehran. SNIP The Russian companies were Rosoboronexport, a state-controlled arms exporter, and Sukhoi, a manufacturer of fighter jets. The two Indian companies were...

Plane Crash Mars Naval Celebration A Su-24M bomber crashed yesterday at the main base of the Baltic Fleet in the city of Balstiisk during Naval Fleet Day celebrations attended by Defense Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov. In spite of the emergency, three other bombers did not return immediately to the base, as they were supposed to. One of them was only able to land on the second attempt. The festivities, which Ivanov observed from aboard the flagship destroyer Perservering, included a naval parade and parachute competitions, with an airshow as the finale. Four Su-24M bombers from the...

Russia signs $1bln aircraft contract with Venezuela-Ivanov 18:01 | 21/ 07/ 2006 MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has signed a contract on supplies of military planes and helicopters to Venezuela worth over $1 billion, the defense minister said Friday. Sergei Ivanov said 30 Su-30 Flanker air-superiority fighters and 30 helicopters would be supplied to Venezuela. The Russian Su-30 Flankers will replace a Venezuelan contingent of U.S. F-16 multi-role fighters after Washington imposed an embargo on arms sales to the country May 15, which it says poses a threat to regional stability. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has moved...

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...