Kazakhstan Receives Su-30SM Fighter Aircraft from Russia

Kazakhstan received six of 10 ordered Su-30SM fighter jets from Russia, which marks the first delivery of fighter jets from Moscow to an international customer since the beginning of the war with Ukraine.

The Irkutsk Aviation Plant (Yakovlev) recently handed over a batch of Su-30SM fighters, which were manufactured to the order of the government of Kazakhstan, Scramble online reported quoting its sources.

The aircraft, numbered from "51" to "56," have been assigned to the 602 Air Base in Shymkent, replacing older Soviet MiG-29s that were decommissioned a year ago.

This batch likely represents the initial delivery of the ten Su-30SM fighters ordered in late 2023.

Colonel Yerzhan Nildibaev, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of Kazakhstan for Armaments, announced in December 2023 that Kazakhstan is expected to receive six new Su-30SM fighters by early 2024