NEW DELHI: After years of negotiations and slipped delivery schedules, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will finally have a complete fleet of advanced Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter planes at the end of this year. Among other equipment, the plane will have the RVV-AE air-to-air missile that is not available in the global arms market due to political restrictions by France and the U.S. who manufacture missiles of comparable accuracy.

Complex project

The Government said the slippage in the programme was mainly because the SU-30 MKI project was complex. Systems from Russia, India and the West had to be integrated to convert the air defence fighter SU-30K into a lethal all-function aircraft. But the manufacturers say that delays are routine in all fighter contracts, particularly for foreign customers.

While India has been receiving MKI planes from July 2002, none of them had all the features. Of the 32 aircraft received from Russia, 22 were Phase I and Phase II variants.

There were only 10 phase III fighters but even they did not have some critical components such as the electronic warfare system, reconnaissance pod and high accuracy direction finder radar warning receiver.

The Russians have agreed to incorporate the three systems into all the aircraft at their cost.

With air refuelling capability and enhanced might by the year-end, the IAF will have the most advanced heavy multifunctional fighters in the region. Apart from the 32 planes, the Russians have also agreed to upgrade the eight Sukhoi-30 Ks, the first of the Sukhoi-30 series to be inducted in the IAF.

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