MoD APPROVES 33 NEW FIGHTER JETS

MoD APPROVES 33 NEW FIGHTER JETS IN DEALS WORTH RS. 38,900 CR. 

Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved deals worth Rs. 38,900 crore

Include procurement of 21 MiG-29 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF), upgrade of 59 MiG -29s and acquirement of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft

Other deals include Pinaka ammunition, armoured vehicle BMP armament upgrades and Software Defined Radio for the army, Long Range Land Attack Missile Systems of over 1,000 km range and Astra beyond Visual Range air-to –air missiles for the Navy and the IAF, all of which will be procured domestically and worth an estimated Rs.31,130 crore

Mikoyan MiG-29 is a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union

Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s

Many MiG-29s have been furnished as multirole fighters capable of performing a number of different operations 

MiG-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Forces in 1982

India was the first international customer of the MiG-29

Indian MiG-29s were used extensively during the 1999 Kargil War in Kashmir  

In 2007, Russia also gave India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) a licence to manufacture 120 RD-33 series 3 turbofan engines for the upgrade

Variants: MiG-29A (Product 9.12), MiG-29UB, MiG-29S (Product 9.13), MiG-29SE,MiG-29SM (Product 9.13M),MiG-29SM (SyAF),MiG-29G/MiG-29GT,MiG-29AS/MiG-29UBS (MiG-29SD),MiG-29 Sniper,MiG-29SMT (Product 9.17),MiG-29BM,MiG-29UBT (Product 9.51T),MiG-29UPG,MiG-29SMP / MiG-29UBP,MiG-29MU1,MiG-29M / MiG-33 (Product 9.15),MiG-29UBM (Product 9.61),MiG-29M2 / MiG-29MRCA,MiG-29OVT,MiG-29K (Product 9.31),MiG-29KUB (Product 9.47),MiG-35

Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter

 

Su-30MKI was designed by Russia's Sukhoi Corporation beginning in 1995 and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

Development of the variant started after India signed a deal with Russia in 2000 to manufacture 140 Su-30 fighter jets 

Aircraft is tailor-made for Indian specifications and integrates Indian systems and avionics as well as French and Israeli sub-systems

First Russian-made Su-30MKI variant was accepted into the Indian Air Force in 2002, while the first indigenously assembled Su-30MKI entered service with the IAF in 2004

First Nasik-built Su-30MKIs were to be delivered by 2004, with staggered production until 2017–18

IAF has nearly 260 Su-30MKIs in inventory as of January 2020