Indian Su-30 contract now to proceed according to schedule (223 words)

Published: 6/12/2001

A flurry of military announcements has accompanied the visit to Russia of Jaswant Singh, Indian Minister of Defence and the meeting of the first session of the commission on military and technical cooperation (VTS). The latest news is that Mikhail Pogosyan, General Director of Sukhoi, has assured the Indians that there will be no more delays in the completion of the 190 aircraft contract, which is currently 18 months behind schedule, under a contract signed three years ago. Eighteen of the aircraft have been already been delivered and are scheduled to be upgraded to MKI standards, along with the delivery of 32 additional aircraft, by 2003. The remaining aircraft will be built under licence in India, under a 15 year $3.3 billion contract at HAL in Nasik and a rate of 10-12 aircraft a year. Pogosyan attributed the delays to the result of delivery problems with the aircraft's avionics from Israeli and French providers. Other military contracts signed as part of a $10 billion package included a $500m contract for S-300VM and S-300 PMU2S missile systems. Further discussions took place on the delivery of further Tu-22s to India, in the face of US objections to what it considers to be the export of a strategic bomber.

Article ID: 2581