Upgraded Sukhois to arrive by next year

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, SEPT. 23. India will begin taking delivery of upgraded version of SU-30MKI fighter jets by next year, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A. Y. Tipnis, said here. He arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for a week-long goodwill visit at the invitation of the Russian Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, General Anatoly Kornukov.

The first SU-30MKI prototype, built in Irkutsk, has already been brought to an air base near Moscow and the Indian air chief said he hoped to see it in flight during his current visit.

The Indian Air Force has already inducted 18 partially upgraded SU-30MKI fighters. Air Chief Marshal Tipnis admitted that the programme had hit delays and said 2004 was the new deadline for receiving and fully upgrading all the 50 SU-30MKI fighters contracted by India. A contract for licence production of

another 140 SU-30MKI aircraft at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was expected to be signed during the coming visit by the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, to India.

Talking to Indian correspondents in Moscow, the air chief strongly defended the IAF approach to gradual upgrading of SU- 30MKI. ``If you wait for an aircraft to achieve its ultimate upgradation level before buying it, then you may fall behind time. Technology develops so fast that by the time an aircraft is off the drawing board, new things have come up,'' he said.

``While SU-30 is being upgraded, we have deployed its basic version and can use it should need arise. We are also able to build our experience operationally and technically and to establish our infrastructure for servicing the aircraft.''

The upgraded deep-strike SU-30MKI was the world's only fighter jet powered by two variable thrust vector engines which significantly enhanced the plane's combat manoeuverability. It was equipped with sophisticated avionics sources from France and India and was armed with eight tonnes of beyond visual range air- to-air missiles and long-range precision-guided munitions to attract air, ground and surface targets.

The MIG-21B modernisation programme was now going smoothly, with two upgraded prototypes nearly through with their proving flights in Russia. By the middle of next year the necessary infrastructure at Nasik would be ready and the modernisation would roll underway.

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Section  : International
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