Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman to fly in Su-30 in Jodhpur

The minister will fly a sortie in the formidable fighter, which has nuclear strike capability and capability to penetrate deep in enemy territory, at the Air Force Station in Jodhpur.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be flown in the Indian Air Force’s frontline aircraft, the indigenously-built version of Su-30 MKI fighter jet on Wednesday, official sources said.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses the Western Fleet on board INS Vikramaditya during the operational manoeuvres of the Western Fleet ships, conducted by the Indian Navy. (AFP file)

The minister will fly a sortie in the formidable fighter, which has nuclear strike capability and capability to penetrate deep in enemy territory, at the Air Force Station in Jodhpur.

After her recent stay on board INS Vikramaditya at sea and whirlwind tours to forward areas and different installations of the three forces, this sortie will be a part of the defence minister’s continued effort to gauge and review the operational preparedness and combat capabilities of the armed forces, the sources said.

The Sukhoi-30 MKI is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia’s Sukhoi and built under licence by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, it is a heavy, all-weather, long-range fighter.

In November 2017, India had successfully flight-tested the air variant of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the fighter jet