Vietnam searches for jet fighter gone missing on training

Vietnam has sent four aircraft and dozens of vessels to search for a fighter jet with two pilots that went missing on a training flight.

Vietnam has sent four aircraft and dozens of vessels to search for a fighter jet with two pilots that went missing on a training flight.

This photograph taken on October 21, 2015 shows a Vietnam Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MK2 multirole fighter aircraft, similar to the jet fighter that disappeared off the Vietnamese coast on June 14, 2016. (AFP)

The last contact with the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 MK2 jet fighter was on Tuesday morning.

The state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted fisherman Le Van Cuong as saying he saw a jet fighter crash near Mat island off the coast of central Nghe An province.

Vietnam has reported several crashes of military helicopters in recent years.

Faced with China’s increased assertiveness over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, Vietnam has stepped up the modernisation of its military with the purchase of six Russian-made submarines and a number of Russian fighter planes. It is also looking to acquire patrol boats from Japan and India.