NEW DELHI – The Indian Air Force (IAF) has urged the Modi government to buy21 Russian-made MiG-29 ground attack and air-defence aircraft as it isbadly short of fighter planes.
According to a *Hindustan Times* report, the IAF seeks a strength ofminimum 42 squadrons (each comprising 16 to 18 fighters) but has only 30while more squadrons will be decommissioned soon.
India is expected to get first Rafale fighter jets — the French-made mediummulti-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) — in September this year.
The report said the Indian Air Force already has three squadrons of MiG-29aircraft, positioned along the western borders. Meanwhile, the Indian Navyalso uses the naval version of the MiG-29 fighters.
A senior Indian official with knowledge of the development was quoted inthe report saying, “The airframes are ready and Russia has promised todeliver all 21 fighters within 18 months.”
The senior IAF official who asked not to be named added, “The air-framesare ready and available in Russia.”
The 21 MiG-29 aircraft will cost INR 2.85 to 3 billion per fighter, saidthe Indian media report.
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“The price is extremely competitive,” another senior Indian defence ministryofficial has been quoted in the report as saying and added, “The enduranceof the aircraft is now nearly five hours with additional fuel tanks.”
In March this year, Pakistan ‘as a goodwill gesture’ handed over to Indianauthorities the captured IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as thenuclear-armed neighbours scaled back a confrontation that has promptedworld powers to urge restraint.
Abhinandan’s MiG-21 jet was one of the two planes shot down by a PakistanAir Force (PAF) after they entered Pakistan’s airspace on February 27, aday after Indian warplanes barged into Pakistan and dropped ‘payload’ in adeserted place in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) Balakot area.
*This story originally appeared on the Hindustan Timeslink.*
