Originally posted by Miracles&Prophecies:
10 years is the lifespan of the engines. Russian engines have shorter lifespan than their western counterparts
yep, you're right
MIG-29 Extension of life - Indian Air Force
‘MiG-29 carrier-based fighter jets delivered to India’
Navy News — By RIA Novosti on December 9, 2009 at 6:28 am
Russia's MiG aircraft maker said on Tuesday it has delivered the first four MiG-29 Fulcrum-D carrier-based fighter jets to India.
Russia and India signed a contract on January 20, 2004, stipulating the supply of 12 single-seat MiG-29Ks and four two-seat MiG-29KUBs to India as part of a $1.5 billion deal to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, currently being retrofitted in Russia for the Indian navy.
Indian media earlier reported that two MiG-29K and two MiG-29KUB fighters arrived from Russia in a knocked down condition on December 4.
Deliveries of the remaining aircraft will be carried out in line with a schedule agreed by MiG and the Indian Navy.
The contract for the jets also stipulates the procurement of hardware for pilot training and aircraft maintenance, including flight simulators and interactive ground and sea-based training systems.
India and Russia are also reportedly close to reaching an agreement to break the deadlock on additional financing for the retrofit of the Admiral Gorshkov, which caused "a distinct chill in expansive Indo-Russian defense ties."
"India is likely to shell out around $2.5 billion and get the carrier by early 2013,'' Times of India quoted a source in the Indian military as saying.
The Indian Navy has named its MiG-29K squadron the "Black Panthers." The fighters will be based at an airfield in the state of Goa on India's west coast until the Admiral Gorshkov joins the Navy under the name of INS Vikramaditya
It will be difficult to maintain more than two fully manned & equipped fast jet combat squadrons due to lack of pilots , technical support staff & funds.
Its therefore no surprise that they have to standdown the MIG29s, but this is most likely not mainly due to the aircraft but due to lack of people & resources. The former Eastern bloc countries and India were or / are able to keep these planes operating at reasonable levels of availability.
all about politics when it comes to buying arms...........
high cost of maintaining the Russian jets.............wonder who's doing the maintenance...........who's making the big bucks out of doing so.................another case of ''kelong''