Pune: At the crack of dawn on September 27, India would become the first country in the world to field the state-of-art multi-role fighter aircraft Su-30 MKI with the formal induction of the aircraft in the Indian Air Force in the presence of Defence Minister George Fernandes and top IAF officials at the Lohgaon Air Force Station here.

The ceremonial induction will be preceded by aerobatic display by the aircraft in which dignitaries from armed force and also Russian engineers will be present.

The aircraft that would cater to India's needs well into 21st Century, features exceptional manoeuvrability and lethal firepower in conjunction with the latest in avionics system. It is an all weather twin-seat fighter aircraft ideally suited for high precision, long range and long duration missions.

The twin seat arrangement was chosen to offset the adverse effect of information overload that saturates the single pilot of a modern fighter.

In 1997, the IAF induced SU-30K as a precursor to Su-30 MKI. Su-30K is optimized for air defence role, on the other hand Su-30MKI is designed as a multi-role fighter and is packed with contemporary technologies.

The aircraft is configured with new systems such as the full authority fly-by-wire control systems, thrust vector control, laser-inertial navigation system, phased array radar and the active beyond visual range (BVR) missiles.

The Su-30 MKI has built-in test facilities, which reduce the time involved in the daily servicing schedule. It has in flight test and health monitoring systems.

PTI