India’s Defense Minister To Fly IAF Sukhoi-30 MKI Fighter Plane

India’s Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman will fly in Indian Air Force’s frontline Su-30MKI combat aircraft over Jodhpur on Wednesday, while reviewing the operational preparedness of the force.

“The defence minister will undertake the sortie to gauge and review the operational preparedness and combat capabilities of the armed forces,” an Air Force spokesperson told Mail Today.

The defence minister was earlier scheduled to fly the Su-30MKI in December 2017.  

The Defense minister will sit in the rear-seat behind the main pilot in the twin-seat Russian-origin plane.

Recently, the defence minister had spent time on the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier where she was shown the combat capabilities of the MiG-29K naval fighters along with other carrier operations of the maritime force.

The Su-30MKIs form the backbone of the Indian Air Force as 13 squadrons (over 270 planes) of the aircraft would be inducted in the force by the year 2020, replacing the outgoing MiG-21s and MiG 27s of the force.