India seeks more Sukhois to keep up with allies

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is seeking 50 additional Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKI multi-role fighters to counter the burgeoning air combat fleets of close allies but neighbouring nuclear rivals Pakistan and China.

Air Chief Marshal P V Naik recently declared that the IAF was "interested" in acquiring the extra Su-30MKIs, which would form the mainstay of India's fighter fleet for the foreseeable future to further enhance its combat potential.

This was in addition to the 238 twin-seat Su-30 MKIs already procured from Russia for USD8.5 billion in three separate deals since the mid-1990s, of which around 105 have so far been inducted.

Of the 238 Su-30MKIs, 140 are being built locally under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bangalore, southern India, in a programme scheduled for completion by 2015.

"We need to develop certain capabilities which are required, or will be required in the future, in tune with India's aspirations," ACM Naik said in New Delhi earlier this month, ahead of the IAF's 77th birthday on 8 October.

The IAF has long maintained that it seeks to project power and develop strategic reach stretching from the Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf to the Malacca Strait in the South China Sea, which India has deemed to be its primary area of geopolitical interest.

A few days earlier ACM Naik had bemoaned that the IAF's fighter strength was "inadequate" – a mere one third the size of China's. The force is therefore opting for more acquisitions.