NEW DELHI – After Rafale fighter jets from France, Indian Air Force makesyet another lethal 4th generation fighter jets deal with Russia.
Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to acquire the new 21 MiG-29 fightersfrom Russia and equip them with indigenous weapon systems such as the Astraair to air missile.
“The proposal for the acquisition of 21 MiG-29s would be placed before theDefence Acquisition Council soon. The IAF wants the MiG-29s to be of theupgraded MiG-29s that are already in service,” defence sources told ANI.
“The IAF also wants that the aircraft should be equipped with the Indianweapon systems including the Astra missiles,” they said.
The sources said there are other indigenous equipment and weapons whichwould be integrated with the aircraft once the deal comes through.
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The MiG-29s with the Russians have a new airframe and had been lying unusedin Russia.
The push for promoting indigenous weapons has come at a time when IAF ChiefRKS Bhadauria has made it clear that the force will fully backindigenisation efforts such as the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and thefifth Generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft programme.
The IAF had carried out a study to check if the airframes of the MiG-29s onoffer were good enough for it to operate for a long time.
