TSAMTO, December 6. Russia and India are negotiating to increase the licensed production of Su-30MKI fighters by 50 units.
This, as RIA Novosti reports, was stated on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel by Dmitry Shugaev, director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of the Russian Federation.
"Indeed, for quite a long time here, at the HAL enterprise, Su-30MKI aircraft have been produced under our license, and today we are negotiating to increase this number, that is, licensed production, by about 50 units," he said.
TSAMTO Reference
As the Ministry of Defense of India reported on July 2, 2020, at a meeting of the Defense Procurement Council chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, the allocation of funds for the purchase of various platforms and equipment for the Armed Forces with a total cost of about 389 billion was approved. rupees ($5.2 billion).
Taking into account the urgent need of the Indian Air Force for additional fighter squadrons, the Defense Procurement Council approved a proposal to purchase 21 new MiG-29 aircraft, along with the modernization of 59 MiG-29s in service, as well as the purchase of 12 Su-30MKI aircraft. The total cost of these projects will be 181.48 billion. Rupees ($2.43 billion). Thus, the purchase and modernization of the MiG-29 in Russia is estimated at 74.18 billion. The Su-30MKI will be assembled under the license of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under an agreement worth 107.3 billion. rupees.
12 additional Su-30MKI are being purchased to replace aircraft lost in recent years as a result of accidents. HAL, which has completed the licensed assembly of the last 222nd Su-30MKI by March 2021, is seeking additional orders to keep the assembly line in working order.
