India to order 29 more combat jets for navy
By IANSFriday, February 19, 2010
PANAJI - India will order 29 more MiG-29K combat jets for the navy to add to the 16 planes that have already been contracted for, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Friday.
“As per the navy’s requirements we will be buying 29 additional fighter aircraft from Russia,” Antony told reporters after formally inducting the navy’s first four MiG-29Ks.
He, however, did not lay down a timeframe for signing the fresh contract and the delivery of the additional jets.
The four jets inducted Friday will soon be joined by another two that are currently being tested, while 10 more will be recieved in the next few months.
These planes will operate from the Dabolim Naval Air Station till the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, rechristened INS Vikramaditya, which is currently being refurbished in Russia is commissioned into the Indian Navy around 2012.
The additional jets are likely to be deployed both on the Vikramaditya and the indegenous aircraft carrier that is being built at the Cochin Shipyard.
–Indo-Asian News Services
