MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Air Force will get 11 upgraded SU-27SM Flanker fighters in 2005, Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky, Air Force press service chief, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Thursday.
He recalled that the Air Force has already received seven fighters of this type, and seven more fighters will be delivered to an Air Force unit in the Far East on December 23 this year.
"The personnel of aviation units that will get the planes have got proper retraining and are fully ready for receiving new aircraft," Drobyshevsky said.
Lieutenant General Alexander Zelin, Air Force Deputy Commander-in-Chief, earlier told Interfax-AVN that the upgraded SU-27SM plane has a much higher combat potential.
"The aircraft now have much higher combat capabilities. The aircraft has become a multi-role one and is now fitted with new arms, which enables it to discharge new tasks," Zelin said.
He noted that the SU-27SM upgraded was basically a totally new aircraft. "Not only have its avionics and armament been upgraded, but its airframe as well. The aircraft may be fitted with modernized engines, including thrust vector control engines, without considerable redesign," Zelin said.
"The SU-27SM will considerably improve combat capabilities of Air Force units," Zelin emphasized.
He also said that the upgrade program for the SU-27SM included the experience of operation of the SU-30 Flanker aircraft exported to India and China.
The Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) is tasked with realizing the SU-27 fighter modernization program, aimed at transforming them into SU-27SMs and designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau.