India wants to buy 21 MiG-29 fighters from Russia

News24xx.com - Indian authorities have sent a bid to purchase 21 MiG-29 fighters, «RIA-Novosti» reports, citing a source in the military-technical cooperation system. At the moment, the parties negotiate the conditions.

It is assumed that this decision may be due to the high cost of the French Rafale fighter jets, which Delhi had intended to acquire earlier. It is noted that the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation has not yet commented on this information.

In the autumn of 2018, India abandoned the use of MiG-29K aircraft, starting the selection of a replacement during the tender. Traditionally, since 2012, Delhi has been using French 4th generation Rafale fighter jets as an alternative to Russian vehicles.

However, in February of this year, Delhi was asked to “ensure higher reliability of the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB airplanes supplied under the previous contracts”. In addition, the Indian side has recently announced its desire to sign a procurement contract for heavy multipurpose two-seat fighters Su-30MKI.

India and Russia are longtime partners in the field of defense and the military-industrial complex. The Indian Air Forces are 80% equipped with Russian equipment, and the Indian Navy - by 70%.