Russian Air Force Gets First Two Su-30SM Aircraft

The Russian Air Force has taken delivery of the first two Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter aircraft, according to plane maker Irkut. Flight testing of the multirole fighter jet began around two months ago, following the first flight of the Su-30SM Sep 21, Irkut said in a statement. "It is significant that the aircraft is in series production, and will enter air force service not in ones and twos but in squadrons," said Maj Gen Alexander Karchevsky, commander of the air force's Gagarin and Zhukovsky training academy. A derivative of the single-seat Sukhoi Su-27, the twin-seat Su-30SM has an improved radar, communications and identification-friend-or-foe system, new ejection seat and new weapons. It also has thrust-vectoring engine nozzles and canard foreplanes, providing super-maneuverability at low airspeeds. The contract between the defence ministry and Irkut for 30 of the new jets by 2015 was signed in March.