15 Aug 2018 13:06

New contract for Su-30SM's delivery to Aerospace Forces to be signed in 2018 - UAC head

MOSCOW. Aug 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is set to sign a new contract for Sukhoi Su-30SM aircraft with the Russian Defense Ministry this year, UAC President Yury Slyusar told the newspaper Vedomosti.

"We are set to sign a new contract this year; it will keep the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant busy for the next few years with the yearly production of 12 to 14 vehicles," Slyusar said.

The Su-30 family has a good potential on the foreign market, Slyusar said. "These planes have been sold to many countries, and we hope to sell more of them," he said.

The Su-30SM two-seat fighter jet was developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and produced by the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant, an affiliate of the Irkut Corporation. The super-maneuverable aircraft features a phased radar antenna array, a thrust-vectoring module, and a forward horizontal canard.

The fighter can carry advanced and prospective precision-guided air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons.

The first Su-30SM contracts between the Russian Defense Ministry and the Irkut Corporation were concluded in 2012. The deliveries began in December 2012.