Russian SU fighters find a home in Malaysia

MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - One of the highlights of the LIMA-2007 international maritime and aerospace show, held December 4-8 on Langkawi Island in Malaysia, was the Russian built Su-30MKM multirole fighter.

This aircraft is designed to win air supremacy and engage land and sea targets with guided and unguided missiles. The jets were flown by Malaysian pilots.

The contract to supply 18 Su-30MKM fighters to the Malaysian Air Force was signed in August 2003 during a visit to the country by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Su-30MKM (MKM stands for multirole, commercial, Malaysian) is a variant of the Su-30MKI (multirole, commercial, Indian), developed for the Indian Air Force.

Malaysia has already taken delivery of six such aircraft. The remaining 12 are to be supplied in two shipments before the end of 2008.

To judge from the results of a meeting of the Russian-Malaysian inter-governmental commission held in Moscow in November, both sides are satisfied with the way contractual commitments are being fulfilled.

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