In The Midst Of The Russia-ukraine War, India Shelved A $35,000 Cr Plan To Upgrade Its Su-30 Fighter Force

The Indian Air Force’s plan to update its Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft fleet has been put on hold due to a number of concerns. The war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the Indian government’s Make-in-India strategy, are among the factors.

The IAF wanted to equip the Su-30 with more powerful radars and cutting-edge electronic warfare capabilities to bring it up to modern standards.

According to people familiar with the situation in the Indian government, the deal for the 12 most advanced Su-30MKI aircraft worth over 20,000 crore will be delayed slightly because stakeholders will now have to add more Made-in-India content to the planes as per the government’s current policy of promoting Indian defence products over imports.

In partnership with the Russians and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the IAF planned to update 85 of its jets to modern standards. Because of the current scenario, the plan has been placed on hold for the time being.

The Su-30 MKIs are the backbone of the Indian Air Force, with 272 of them ordered in various batches as a result of the IAF’s repeated orders for 30 to 40 of these planes whenever a shortfall of fighter jets in service was noted.

The aircraft are delivered to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in semi- and fully-assembled kits from Russian manufacturers, and then assembled in the Nasik facility.

The prolonged confrontation between Russia and Ukraine has caused delays in the supply of fighter aircraft replacement parts.

According to sources, the spares situation is now manageable and is expected to remain so in the foreseeable future because India stocked up on them after the Uri surgical strikes and the continuing China dispute.

The force has gone on an extreme rationing binge of its imported equipment because it is believed that the supply of these spares and other equipment would become a problem in the near future.

According to the most recent report on the Ukraine-Russia war, over 60 people were presumed dead after an air attack targeted a village school in east Ukraine, the Lugansk regional governor stated on Sunday.