Recap: When IAF Said ‘No’ to Sukhoi purchase

[IND151]

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"It’s a very good machine but we are not interested ” was Straight and firm reply given out by Chief of the Air Staff Surinder Mehra in 1990’s when he was questioned about plans to purchase Soviet Union’s Sukhoi Su-27 Strategic air superiority fighter .Mehra further added that ” Su-27 does not fit in with the IAF’s re-equipment plans.”

Soviet Union’s Sukhoi Su-27 twin-engine super maneuverable fighter with its long-range interception capabilities and BVR missiles created a flutter in International Arms market. first introduced in early 80’s indirect rival to American F-15s.

Also Su-27 impressed many but it was not finding any takers till early 1990’s, it was smaller sibling from rival camp MiG-29 Fulcrum introduced in the same period which was hot pick among many countries including Indian air force which had already had picked up Mig-29s by then . IAF team after attending Singapore Airshow in 1990’s evaluated the aircraft on instance of Russians and found aircraft impressive but were vary about high operating costs and non-familiarity of operating Heaver class aircrafts in its operational history.

It is well documented that by mid-1990’s after collapse of Soviet Union, Sukhoi’s Irkutsk Plant without orders was on verge of close down but by then Russians resorted to pressure tactics and a visiting Russian defence delegation to Pakistan same year offered Sukhoi-Su-27 air superiority fighter to Pakistan Air Force, offer was later Protested by India, Which asked Moscow to maintain Regional Security Balance and to withdraw the offer.

When Mulayam Singh Yadav a reluctant defence minister was appointed in the HD Deve Gowda government he signed a contract to buy up to 50 Russian Sukhoi Su-30 MK fighter jets in a deal worth $1.8 billion, which many military analysts believed was forced upon Indian air force since with the Induction of Mirage-2000 and Mig-29 into IAF , Air-force was not suffering for want of a highly rated aircraft at that time nor was any such demand made by IAF . While Opposition alleged kickbacks and lack of transparency shown in the deal but without any hard evidence deal was executed by a weak Government in Power which might have crumbled to external pressures.

Su-30K jets which were delivered to India under a contract signed in 1996 were souped up Su-27UB two-seat operational conversion trainer modified with avionics appropriate for fighters. Along with its ground-attack capabilities, since Russia was unable to deliver Su-30MKI Configuration fighters on time and rest was history.

Recap: When IAF Said ‘No’ to Sukhoi purchase | idrw.org

 

[kaonalpha]

Strange people .

 

[[Bregs]]

Mulayam made such a purchase at a time that after this no aircraft has been added in IAF as a fighter

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

It is noteworthy that India was in the middle of a macro-economic crisis during those years. By 1985, India had started having balance of payments problems. By the end of 1990, it was in a serious economic crisis. The government was close to default, RBI had refused new credit and foreign exchange reserves had been reduced to such a point that India could barely finance three weeks’ worth of imports which led the Indian government to airlift national gold reserves as a pledge to the IMF in exchange for a loan to cover balance of payment debts.

The plan to modernise the Indian military was put on hold during the 1990s, which proved disastrous subsequently during Kargil operations. It was only after the Kargil conflict and in the later part of the 2000s that the renewed focus on modernisation helped the military to regain its operational punch after considerable effort.

 

[kaonalpha]

Mulayam made such a purchase at a time that after this no aircraft has been added in IAF as a fighter

What about the rafaels you keep bragging about ?