Russia is ready to deliver Sukhoi Su-30 MKI and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 fighter jets to India in the shortest possible timeframe. In a government to government deal which comes amidst the India-China border tension, the Indian Air Force (IAF) plans to order and induct 33 fighters – 12 Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs and 21 MiG-29s from Russia.
WION has learnt that Russia is ready to assess the issue of early delivery even as the country is already helping the IAF in the MiG-29 modernisation programme. IAF got its first MiG-29 in 1985 and the modernisation will help increase combat capabilities of the MiG-29 fighters to a level comparable to the 4th Generation jets.
Post-modernisation MiG-29s will allow integration of Russian and foreign origin weapons including tracking of aerial targets in a wide range of flight speeds and altitudes, tracking of heat-contrasting air objects & perform “hidden” (without the use of radar) attacks on them. Modern materials and technologies for corrosion protection will increase the service life of MiG-29 fighters by up to 40 years.
The IAF commissioned its first squadron of Su-30MKIs armed with the supersonic BrahMos-A cruise missile in January 2020 at Thanjavur Air Force Station. The Su-30MKI based at Thanjavur are part of the 222 Squadron ‘Tigersharks’.
At DefExpo India 2020 BrahMos Aerospace’s representative told Russian RIA Novosti news agency that in two years IAF’s Su-30MKIs would receive new missiles for use against airborne early warning aircraft. Thus the highly successful India-Russia joint venture which produced BrahMos, could enter the air-to-air missile domain.
