Irkut to supply 40 Su-30 fighters to Russian Air Force

IRKUTSK, July 18 (RIA Novosti)

Russia's Irkut aircraft holding is in talks with the Defense Ministry on the delivery of up to 40 Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighters to the Russian Air Force, the company said on Monday.

"We will sign a contract with the Defense Ministry next year," Irkut President Alexei Fyodorov said.

The contract stipulates the initial delivery of 28 fighter jets and the supply of an additional 12 aircraft as an option.

The Su-30 Flanker-C is a twin-engine, two-seat multirole fighter for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface missions. Russia currently operates four of these fighter jets.

Fyodorov said the company had slashed its modernization program from 40 billion rubles ($1.4 bln) to 30 billion rubles.

"We have reduced the amount of investment by folding several projects that are not related to the development of MS-21 [passenger] aircraft," he said.

The MS-21 is a family of twin-engine jet aircraft with a capacity of 150-212 passengers being designed and produced by Irkut and the Yakovlev design bureau, part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation. The model was showcased for the first time at Farnborough International Airshow in 2010.