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Britain's Royal Air Force is sending its best pilots and a squadron of its latest Eurofighter Typhoon jets into war games in India, shortly before the emerging economy decides whether to buy the Eurofighter or one of four rival planes. The 17-day aerial war games, due to start next week in West Bengal, pit the Eurofighter jets against Sukhoi Su-30 multi-role combat jets of the Indian air force. The last war games ended in a bitter "defeat" for Britain after it had sent its aging Tornado jets into air combat with the sleek and mobile Sukhoi models. This time, it's...

The Sukhoi Company has completed factory flight tests of the first of four Su-30M2 multi-role strike fighter aircraft for the Russian Air Force. The long-range combat aircraft underwent the tests at the flight test station of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft production association named after Yuri Gagarin (KnAAPO), Sukhoi said. Presently, the aircraft is being readied for certification test, it said. The Russian Defence Ministry had awarded a contract to Sukhoi to supply four Su-30M2 fighters during the international aerospace show MAKS-2009. The Su-30M2 is a long-range strike aircraft based on the Su-30 fighter design optimised for precision strikes on ground and...

Indonesia Plans 180 Flankers Plus F-16s Sep 30, 2010 By Bradley Perrett BEIJING — Indonesia intends to acquire 180 Sukhoi Flankers and also to buy Lockheed Martin F-16s, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro says, setting out plans for a massive expansion of the Southeast Asian country’s air combat force. If Indonesia is serious about buying 180 Flankers, then Canberra will almost certainly fund the Royal Australian Air Force’s plan for 100 Lockheed Martin F-35s, says Andrew Davies, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Until now, there was a significant chance that Australia would buy fewer F-35s. The Sukhoi fleet...

Algiers has bought 28 Su-30MKA aircraft from Russia, and has options for additional 28. Lead-in training will be provided by 16 Yak 130 to be delivered from Russia. These Sukhoi fighters will operate in three squadrons positioned in Ain Baida airbase, in North-Eastern Algeria. Algeria is also reportedly was the lead export customer for the 34 Su-35 fighters to be delivered upon completion of the new fighter’s development. The Algerian Air Force prepared a new air base for the fighters. Officially opened in 2004 Ein Beida was prepared to receive the first two fighters in 2007 and is now operating...

India is replacing its MiG-27s with Su-30s at TACDE (Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment). TACDE develops new air combat tactics and trains pilots to deal with potential enemies. TACDE was established in 1971, to train the top one percent of fighter pilots, who would then spread what they learned from each other, to all the other pilots. Two years earlier, the U.S. Navy had established the original "Top Gun" training program. This used American aircraft for "aggressor (or dissimilar) training." This was in response to the poor performance of its pilots against North Vietnamese pilots flying Russian fighters. What...

Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots will soon get to relish delicious snacks like halwa and sip fruit juice inside the cockpits of their combat aircraft during long distance sorties. IAF has asked the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) to develop light food products in squeezable tubes that the pilots can consume even as they are strapped in their Sukhoi 30 MKIs, Mirage 2000s and the Jaguars. Dr A S Bawa, director of the Mysorebased DFRL told Express that they have taken up new projects for the IAF and have been developing food products like halwa, pulav and fruit juices that...

"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 Kalam by the experience that he kept smiling with childlike glee. Clad in the flying gear of...

As part an upgrade and to evolve new tactics in aerial warfare, Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) Gwalior-based Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) will for the first time receive frontline fighters Sukhoi-30MKI by the end of this year. Gwalior is essentially a base for French Mirage-2000 fighters. TACDE is an aerial warfare training institution which devises combat tactics for its top 1% fighter pilots. The Sukhois will replace MiG-27s, which will go back to their original bases in Kalaikunda, Hashimara and Bagdogra in the east. A source said the new Sukhois being manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will...

Modernising its fighter jet fleet, the Indian Air Force is going to upgrade its SU-30 MKI combat aircraft with the help of Russia. "As part of IAF's modernisation programme, we are going to upgrade 50 Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft with help of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from Russia," Defence Ministry sources said. "Su-30 MKIs have been inducted into the IAF in four phases. The ones to be upgraded are from the first phase and the project is likely to be completed in the next three to four years," they added. Of the 50 aircraft, around five would be sent to the...

The Cabinet Committee on Security earlier this month quietly cleared one of the biggest defence orders of recent times. The almost Rs 15,000 crore order for an additional 42 Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters would add up the total number of these modern Russian fighters for Indian Air Force to 272. When the entire Sukhoi-30 MKIs, including the 42, are delivered to IAF by around 2018, it would become the single largest type of fighters in service, marking a huge technological transition from the dominance of MIG-21 fighters today senior official said the CCS cleared the new order in the first week...

The Sukhoi “Flanker” is recognised today as one of the world’s best multi-role fighters. and is the first serially produced combat aircraft featuring super-maneuverability and the first export fighter in the world fitted with the onboard AESA radar. In 2009 IRKUT Corporation successfully fulfilled the contracts for the delivery of the Su-30MK-type fighters to both Algeria and Malaysia and has since delivered Su-30MKI to India and also supplies Su-30MKI technical kits for license production by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd Corporation. All these countries ordered more than 300 aircraft with over 150 already delivered. The Algerian additional order was negotiated earlier...

For the first time ever, the Indian Air Force’s SU-30 MKI will be participating in a joint exercise in France early next week. The two air forces will be joined by the Singaporean Air Force with its American-origin Block 52 F-16s. As another first, IAF’s Garuda Special Forces will be taking part in the Indo-French Garuda series air-to-air exercises in France. During the exercise, the French Air Force will field its Mirage 2000 and Rafael fighter aircraft, which are currently competing for the $10-bn deal to supply 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft to the IAF. An IAF contingent of 230...

Russia will supply Su-30 Flanker fighters and Yak-130 Mitten trainer/light attack jets to Algeria in 2011, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, Vyacheslav Dzirkalin, said. "The delivery of Su-30s and Yak-130s [to Algeria] is due to begin next year, this is no military secret," Dzirkalin said. Earlier in April, the head of Russian Technologies state Corporation, Sergei Chemezov, in an interview with the Novaya Gazeta weekly said Russia would ship to Algeria "a party of modern Russian fighters" at a price of about $1 billion. Dzirkalin did not specify the number of aircraft to...

Algeria's defense ministry plans to cut arms purchases from the United States because of lengthy delivery delays and concentrate on Russian weapons systems, the El Khabar newspaper reports. Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has signed two contracts worth $1.2 billion to deliver 16 Sukhoi Su-30 multi-role fighters to Algeria and six to Uganda, Russia Veomosti daily reported Monday. The Irkut Corp., part of Russia's United Aircraft Corp., says it has delivered 28 Su-30MKA jets to Algeria, customized to meet Algerian specifications, since 2006. There was no immediate confirmation by Algeria authorities of Monday's report in El Khabar. Two years ago,...

Six Indian Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft and a IL-78 mid-air refueller will be leaving for France for a joint air combat exercise with the French Air Force next month. The exercise, Garuda-IV, will be held at the Istres airbase in France from June 14 to 25. "The exercise will help to further enhance interoperability between the Indian and French air forces since pilots as well as the ground crew will get to see each other's operational, technical and administrative practices from close quarters,'' said an officer. The exercise comes at a time when India and France are all...

India has placed orders with the Russian defense industry to modernize Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters produced in India under the Russian license, India Today magazine reported in its June issue, without disclosing the sum of the contract. The project codenamed Super 30 stipulates the installation of new radars, onboard computers, electronic warfare systems and BrahMos supersonic missiles on 40 Su-30MKI fighters, the magazine said. The Indian Air Force currently operates about 100 Su-30MKI fighters and plans to produce another 170 aircraft in the next 10 years under the Russian license. India has a long history of defense ties with Moscow. The...

China to train Indonesian pilots for Su-family fighters Indonesia and China have agreed to continue cooperation in training pilots for Russian-made Su-family fighters in service with the Indonesian air force, the Antara news agency said on Friday. The agreement was reached during the current visit of the deputy chief of China's Central Military Commission Gen. Guo Boxiong to Jakarta. According to the Indonesian military, ten Indonesian pilots have already undergone Sukhoi jet fighter simulation training in China and training courses for new pilots will start in the near future. Under a $300 million contract, signed in 2007, Russia is expected...

Operating, maintaining and flying Sukhoi fighter aircraft is a Malaysia-India-Russia 'love story', says a senior Malaysian air force official.Though a three-year trilateral arrangement nears its end, Russian and Indian officials are committed to reinforcing Malaysia's air defence and combat capability as far as the Sukhoi Su 30 MKM Flanker squadron is concerned. The assurance came from Russia's warranty team leader Vladimir Konnov, from aircraft manufacturer Irkut Corporation, and Indian Air Force's (IAF) chief flight instructor Group Captain K.V.R. Raju. Konnov stressed the need for the arrangement to continue in some form. Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) 11th Squadron commanding officer...

India intends to integrate a variant of its Nirbhay long-range cruise missile on the Suhkoi Su-30MKI Flanker strike aircraft, following the weapon’s initial development in the ground-launch configuration. The addition of the Nirbhay to the Flanker’s weapons inventory would give the platform a long-range—and potentially strategic—strike capability. While details on the Nirbhay program remain scant, Indian officials have suggested the weapon will have a range of 800-1,000 km. (500-620 mi.). An air-launched derivative of the Nirbhay would be a candidate platform for the air force element of India’s strategic nuclear triad ambitions. Packaging of a warhead in the constrained space...

Flanking Maneuver May 7, 2010 By Douglas Barrie, Neelam Mathews London, New Delhi India intends to integrate a variant of its Nirbhay long-range cruise missile on the Suhkoi Su-30MKI Flanker strike aircraft, following the weapon’s initial development in the ground-launch configuration. The addition of the Nirbhay to the Flanker’s weapons inventory would give the platform a long-range—and potentially strategic—strike capability. While details on the Nirbhay program remain scant, Indian officials have suggested the weapon will have a range of 800-1,000 km. (500-620 mi.). An air-launched derivative of the Nirbhay would be a candidate platform for the air force element of...