BANGALORE, India, February 7 (AVN) - The third international aviation and space show Aero India 2001 opened at the Yelahanka base of the Indian Air Force near Bangalore on Wednesday.
Preparations for the show were interrupted by a powerful earthquake that claimed thousands of lives, but organisers decided to hold the exhibition anyway.
Almost all leading aircraft builders of the world are represented at the exhibition. Experts believe that the Russian section is one of the largest and most interesting ones. It features products of over 70 aircraft design bureaux, R&D Institutes and plans. The section was arranged by the Rosoboronexport state-owned arms exporter and the Aviaexport foreign trade company.
The Indian media called the SU-30MKI Flanker multifunctional fighter the star of the show. It is the first plane made by the Irkutsk aircraft production enterprise under the Russian-Indian contract signed in November 1996.
The interest in this plane is boosted by the fact that it will soon be adopted by the Indian Air Force. Several weeks before the show a contract on the plane's licensed production by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd was signed in Irkutsk. According to some estimates, about 150 aircraft will be built. The value of the contract exceeds USD3bn.
SU-30MKI is equipped with AL-31FP engines with the thrust vector control system. The integrated system of control over the plane and the engine ensures optimal deviation of aerodynamic control surfaces and hinged nozzles.
The plane's armament boasts the in-built 30mm GSh-301 cannon with the allowance of 150 shells. Bombs and missiles with the total weight of up to 8,000t are suspended on 12 points, eight below wings and four below the fuselage.
The Russian section also features a MIG-29K Fulcrum shipborne fighter. Russia's MIG aircraft corporation proposes the plane for the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft carrier that will be transferred to India in 2002.
A seminar on development of aircraft and space industry will be held under the auspices of the show. Aero India 2001 closes on February 11.