Warplanes: November 25, 2004

Archives

India has begun manufacturing the Russian designed Su-30 fighter. Roughly equivalent to the U.S. F-15, the Su-27 family is available in several different versions and upgrades, the Su-30 being one of the most recent. India will soon be producing ten Su-30s a year. China has been building twenty Su-30s a year since 1999. China is also producing about two thirds of the aircraft components themselves. This will soon go to over 90 percent when China begins building, under license, the AL-31F engines that power the Su-30. China also received 76 Russian built Su-30s, and the Chinese navy is still receiving 24 Su-30s it ordered. Smaller numbers of Su-30s have recently been purchased by Vietnam and Malaysia. Several other countries are also interested. Russia also has a lot of faith in the Su-27, and is upgrading many of the 350 Su-27s it has in service. The Russians consider the Su-27 type its most advanced fighter type, and has invested a lot of money into developing new electronics for them. The 23 ton aircraft has been in service for twenty years.

 


Article Archive

Warplanes: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close