Russia sends four MiG-29K fighters to India

Moscow - Russian aircraft maker MiG has delivered four MiG-29K/KUB ship-borne fighters to the Indian Navy under a contract concluded in 2010, the company said.

With the delivery, MiG "has fulfilled all its obligations for 2012 stipulated in the 2010 contract with the Indian defence ministry", the company said in a statement.

In March 2010, Russia and India signed a $1.5-billion contract for the supply of 29 additional MiG-29K Fulcrum-D carrier-based fighter jets to New Delhi.

Last year, Russia fulfilled its 2004 contract with the Indian defence ministry, supplying the country with 12 single-seat MiG-29Ks and four two-seat MiG-29KUBs.

The contracts for the jets also stipulate pilot training and aircraft maintenance, including the delivery of flight simulators and interactive ground and sea-based training systems.

The Indian Navy will base the MiG-29K squadron, dubbed the "Black Panthers" at an airfield in Goa until the INS Vikramaditya, the Soviet-built carrier originally named the Admiral Gorshkov, joins the Navy in 2013.

The MiG-29K is a navalised variant of the MiG-29 land-based fighter, and has folding wings, an arrester tail-hook, strengthened airframe and multirole capability. It can be armed with a wide variety of air-to-air and air-to-surface weaponry.