Citat:This article originally appeared in the January edition of SA Flyer and FlightCom magazine. The only change has been to revise the number of aircraft acquired from 18 to 12 in line with the most recent information.
The recent news that Angola has purchased 12 Sukhoi Su–30K fighter aircraft from Russia has taken many by surprise and led to questions being asked about how the air power balance in Southern Africa might change as a result.
Citat:Although Fomin has stated that it would be possible to modernise the aircraft before delivery, there is as yet no indication that Angola has chosen to do so. The first eight of these Su–30Ks, serialled SB001-SB008 and sometimes referred to as the Su–30MK–1 (not to be confused with the later and more advanced Su–30 MKI) in Indian Air Force service were inducted into No. 24 ‘Hunting Hawks’ Squadron in 1997. They are reported to have been delivered with an improved electronic warfare suite and Precision-Guided Munition (PGM) capability compared to the standard Su–30K.
In 1999 they were supplemented by another ten Su–30Ks, serialled SB009-SB0018, which had been intended for Indonesia before the Asian Financial Crisis and which lacked any enhancements. Thus they lack advanced avionics, canards or thrust-vectoring, have the basic N001 mechanically-steered cassegrain antenna radar and are generally inferior to the SA Air Force’s Gripens in terms of their onboard systems and datalinks.
Samo jedna informacija ... ako jeste u pitanju svega 12 aviona ( od 18 u 558 ARZ Baranovici ) vrlo je moguce da ce to biti 10 MK i 2 K ( da podsetim da je IAF nabavio 8 K i 10 MK )
Evo i potvrde iz drugog izvora
Citat:The early models delivered were basic aircraft without features like canards and thrust vector controls, and it is these 18 early model aircraft (ten Su-30MK and eight Su-30K fighters delivered between May 1997 and December 1999) that were returned to Russia and replaced with more advanced Su-30MKIs.
In 2013, the missile underwent rigorous testing on an Su-30 in captive mode for avionics integration and seeker evaluation.
Citat:Marking an important milestone, for the first time an Indian missile, Astra, was successfully test-fired from a fighter aircraft — the Sukhoi-30 MKI — from a naval range in the Western Sector on Sunday.
The test-firing met all the mission objectives and the air-launch was captured by side and forward looking high-speed cameras and the separation was exactly as per simulation, according to a press release from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Astra is India's first Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air missile and has been designed and developed indigenously by the DRDO. The 60-km plus range missile possesses high Single Shot Kill Probability (SSKP) making it highly reliable.
Astra is an all-weather missile with active radar terminal guidance, excellent ECCM (electronic counter-counter measures) features, smokeless propulsion and process improved effectiveness in multi-target scenario, making it a highly advanced state-of-the-art missile, the release added.He said the Mk-II variant of Astra with a range of 100 km is planned to be tested by this year end.
Sto se tice testova sa `BrahMos` oni ce poceti krajem ove godine
Citat:The Indian Air Force has chosen its frontline Sukhoi-30 fighter jets as the platform to mount the supersonic BrahMos missiles, whose first test launch will be carried out by the end of 2014, a top official said on Thursday.
