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Rosoboronexport To Upgrade Indian Air Force Sukhoi 30 Fighter Jets2007-04-11 Russia has signed a USD 700 million contract to replace 18 of India's Sukhoi-30 fighter jets with new versions of the same plane, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a military source."Several days ago Rosoboronexport signed a contract to deliver the Indian Air Force 18 multifunctional Su-30MKI fighters," the source said, Interfax reported. The Su-30MKI is a long-haul Sukhoi fighter specially modified for the Indian air force. Indian officials had said they would sign a deal to buy 40 Sukhoi fighters by the end of March. It was unclear if this contract was part of that planned deal. India's air force, one of the biggest in the world, plans to buy 126 new fighters to upgrade its combat fleet which includes ageing Russian MiG-21s, Mig-23s and MiG-27s. Sukhoi Su-30 MKI is a variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, jointly-developed by Russia's Sukhoi Corporation and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the Indian Air Force. It is a heavy class, long-range, multi-role, air superiority fighter and strike fighter. The variant also consists of French, Israeli and Indian subsystems. The MKI variant is a much more advanced fighter jet than the basic K and MK variants and is considered a 4.5 generation aircraft. Due to similar features and components, the MKI variant is often considered to be an export version of the Sukhoi Su-35 After 2 years of evaluation and negotiations, in 1996, India decided to purchase Su-30 aircraft. * India signed a US $1.462 billion deal with Sukhoi on 30 November 1996 for the delivery of 40 Su-30 aircraft. These aircraft were to be delivered in three batches. The first batch were 10 Su-30K or Su-30MK, the basic version of Su-30. The second batch were to be 8 Su-30MK with French and Israeli avionics. The third batch were to be 10 Su-30MKs featuring canard foreplanes. The fourth and final batch Su-30MKIs of 12 aircraft were to have the AL-31FP turbofans. * After the delivery of the first batch, the second batch was delayed for unknown reasons. Thus it was decided to take delivery of full-standard Su-30MKIs. * IAF decided to buy 10 additional Su-30Ks which were originally destined for Indonesia. * The first batch of 8 Su-30Ks and these 10 additional Su-30Ks were to upgraded in India by HAL. * In 2000, an agreement was signed allowing the license production of 140 Su-30MKIs in India. The deal was sealed in Russia at the IAPO factory. The deal combines license production with full technology transfer and hence called a 'Deep License'. * India will eventually acquire a total of 230 Su-30MKI. * Recent news indicates that Belarus is to buy the second hand 18 Su-30Ks from India Though a variant of Su-30, the Su-30 MKI is significantly more advanced than the Su-30MK or the Chinese Su-30 MKK variants. India signed a deal on Feb 2007 for purchase of another 40 Su-30 in light of the declining fleet levels. These will probably feature a new active phased array radar. The MKI's are being further modified to carry at least 2 or 3 cruise missiles. Sponsored Links
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