Rival MiG-29 bid from RSK receives warmer response as New Delhi looks to acquire 125 fighters for the air force
India has rejected a joint proposal by Sukhoi and NPK Irkut to develop a single-seat, reduced-weight version of the Su-30MKI multirole fighter, says Sukhoi general director Mikhail Pogosyan. The concept had been offered in response to a request for proposals for the Indian air force's planned acquisition of 125 new fighters.
The bid was submitted after India rejected an earlier offer from Sukhoi and KnAAPO to supply the Su-35 to replace the air force's ageing MiG-21FL strike aircraft. A rival MiG-29 bid from Russia's RSK MiG has received a warmer response and remains in consideration as an alternative to Dassault's Mirage 2000H, says Pogosyan. Other aircraft types expected to contest the deal include the Saab/BAESystems Gripen.
Meanwhile, Irkut has completed delivery of Su-30MKI kits to India, and the first batch of three locally assembled aircraft will be delivered by Hindustan Aeronautics from December 2004, says Irkut president Aleksei Fiodorov. Irkut will deliver a further 10 Su-30MKIs to India from its IAPO plant in Irkutsk by year-end, boosting India's Su-30K/MKI fleet to 50.
Russia and India are renegotiating an earlier deal that covered the delivery of 18 Su-30K interceptors from 1997-9. These were to have been upgraded to the full Su-30MKI standard, but an agreement could be reached to limit this modernisation to only replacement of their N-001 Mech radars with the N-011M Bars system and the addition of a glass cockpit and improved avionics.
Sukhoi will export 40 combat aircraft this year, securing business worth $2 billion, says Pogosyan. Sales will pick up in 2006-7, when the Russian air force resumes taking delivery of fighter aircraft, including the Su-34 and Su-35, he says.VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / MOSCOW
Source: Flight International
