The newspaper said the squadron of Sukhois will be operational at the strategically vital Jodhpur airbase by the first week of November, adding that the border will be just a two-minute flight from Jodhpur.
This will be the first Sukhoi-30 squadron to be deployed anywhere in the Western sector, while the second squadron along the Western sector will be raised in Halwara, East Punjab. Till now, the Sukhois have been deployed in six squadrons. They are stationed in the Eastern sector in Tejpur and Chabua, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and at its home base at Lohegaon in Pune.
The IAF is planning to induct a total of 272 Sukhois from Russia by 2017.
The twin-engine Russian-origin Sukhois are now produced under licence at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore, India. India is also planning to equip the aircraft with Brahmossuper-sonic cruise missile.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2011.
COMMENTS (92)
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Indian and Pakistanis fight like cats and dogs. However, they make best friends when live and work together in foreign countries. Can't they do the same here?
indian forces cant turn even a stone against PAKISTAN while sitting 11months on border after parliament attack .So what these sick oe(sukoi) will do.WE HAVE FIRM BELIEVE ON MEN BEHIND THE GUM THEORY.in the end PEACE is IMPORTANT for the people of this region !!!! REGARDS
Why must we Pakistanis insist on trying to match India dollar-for-dollar on Military Spending? Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma all seem fine being India's neighbors. They are much smaller than India but don't seem to think India is going to "take them over". India even provides Bhutan's defence for free.
India's population is much bigger than Pakistan's, it's per capita GDP is bigger than Pakistan's, it's per capita GDP is growing much faster than Pakistan's. When you do the maths, you realize that for Pakistan to match India in military spending would require Pakistan to spend far more money as a percentage of total GDP than India would have to.
As India continues to outpace Pakistan's growth in the next 10 years, India will continue growing it's military spending without even raising the percentage of GDP spent on the military by 1 percentage point. That means that Pakistan needs to make peace now before it goes bankrupt.
Simple maths. Put aside the chest beating patriotism my brothers.
Hi Guys,
@All Indians: Yes we won all the wars with Pakistan, but we also annexed Goa, Hyderabad, Kashmir and Junagarh. Now you might argue with me but as we say "History is written by the winner".
@All Pakistanis: Yes you guys also won all the wars. And we Indians annexed everything which was rightfully yours. We even split in half.
For all the folks who show off their patriotism on the internet, Do you think China is gonna risk its economy, its respect amongst other countries , by attacking India , if India attacks Pakistan. And all Indians who think the world is going to support us if we attack Pakistan, please wake up. If we end up in a war there will be only losers and it would be we, Indians and Pakistanis, the earlier you realise the better it is.
We have to learn from History, not hang on to it.
Totally pointless move. I guess they had to justify spending the money on them somehow! lol..
India has more Muslims than Pakistan. If Allah's blessings decide any confrontation, india will definitely win haha. Now both sides chill. We have enough internal issues than to bother cross-border!!!!!
I am an Indian but trying to give a neutral prespective for India's capabilities.Many Pak friends are shrugging off Su-30MKI and talking of 48 and 65 wars.Well,whatever India's present might be,India will become a formidable force by 2017.Lets have a look:
(1)Induction of HAL FFGA T-50 fifth generation aircraft by 2017.(both versions)
(2)Induction of another Fifth gen.HAL-AMCA fighter by 2017(google it).
(3)HAL Tejas combat aircraft both air and naval versions (250 nos.)
(4)Recently dealed Eurofighter/Raffele fighters (126 nos,250 by 2017)
(5)Advaced MIG-29 Fulcrum Naval version(29 nos,100 by 2017)
(6) And in last "Russian toy" Su-30MKI fitted with supersonic BRAHMOS(272 nos)
The Mirage-2000,Mig 27 and Mig-29 are in addition.India is testing Hypersonic version of Brahmos(7 Mach) and fast developing Missile Shield technolgy.By 2017,India will have 3 Aircraft Carriers and atleast 6 neuclear submarines.Mass modernisation of Army is already in progress with sofisticated Weapon system and many more developments are in pipeline. For those who want to defeat India,there is a golden chance remaining for next 6 years.By 2017,it will be almost impossible.
@Someone:
And JF-17's are useless from the beginning itself
Pakistan won all the wars including 1971, therefore India's defense expenditure is fully justified as they do not want to loose the future wars with our peaceful neighbor in the west.
ok everybody be cool........coz if we meet in ground we will see all,what a pakistani or what a indians....who win in ground....only GOD know not u n me ....,but dont rember 2012 the year of justice....evil should die....keep u r eyes on u path of education n get new tec. from all over the world...keep it up my dear pakistani...ok dear?
and Establishment is picking fights with the US.
@Amjad: You are forgetting history of war. But I dont need to remind you of that...You dont want to believe your own experts, you dont want to trust your own historians...what do I prove you.... But 2 points: 1. PAF kept hiding in its hole, when IAF was hitting Pakistani soldiers on Kargil heights. If you just follow this very newspaper, you would find many articles that said, Kargil was a blunder from Pakistani side...and I am not talking about Indian reporting on that. Why didn't PAF retaliate, what stopped it?? What was the need for Nawaz Sharif to run to USA?
Also, you are right that man in the fighter counts....thats why in 71 war too, Pakistan had superior airforece and superior fighters but was blown to dust and surrendered within two weeks meekly....
You may also recall many Pakistani experts,who have on multiple occasions said that all wars with India were started by Pakistan.....
And if Pakistan is not bothered, why is it being reported on the front pages of the newspapers in Pakistan?? Some things are too evident, aren't they?? :)
wakeup indians....no matter how poor bad or corrupt u might think things are in Pakistan...but when it comes to solidarity of the beloved homeland NO Compromises can be made our forces are all time ready.....above all we have Allah's force with us we have faith and iman as muslims which anyother forces surely do lack....if anything happens We will give india a Big lesson.
Wonder if Pakistan was not a threat to US,Isreal and India why it is so important for them that they mention Pakistan in everything....Pakistan and Pakistanis have some great potential that's why off and on These countries remember that they have a VERY Big threat for them which they can not avoid..
@Ramesh ka baap: you think same about swat, baluchistan and azad kashmir. dont you??
@ pakistani mentality: israel was surrounded by 6 enemy states who want to eat it, they had 22000 soldiers in first israel arab war and minimum no of tanks and planes. still they came out strong and defeated arabs( martial race theory by zia fails here first that 1 muslim=10 infidel).
comparing east pak situation with israel pakistan should have come out with brilliant colors.
@ramesh ka baap: you sir can keep jumping up and down, the reality is India is is independent, strong, secular sovereign and democratic. the reality of Pakistan we all know. So you can say whatever you like from your very honest history books. We all know where you and Pakistanis like you stand in the world!. First do the hard work, build your nation and not poke your nose in else's business. Then once you even grow to half our size then think of lecturing India. Good evening
@Bytes: Sir, Indian Kashmir is much more peaceful than most secured cities and parts of Pakistan. If in doubt, please visit at your convenience and see it for yourself. The number of visitors during the current summer season broke all previous records which proves my statement. However, I am least suggesting that Kashmiris are pro-India, that may take some more time for which we are willing to wait and not force our opinion on them. Thanks and regards. R S Johar India.
well,in 1948 two indian fighter planes (fury) couldnt have a shot of pakistani dakota over kashmir valley,lets see what they can do with sukhois. and also this base will be a stone's throw from pak,a delight for pakistani pilots indeed :)
Indians trying to please their MASTERS by pressurizing Pakistan!!!!
@R S Johar: "India is a peaceful country"... I think you should ask a Kashmiri that question.
@narayana murthy: Erroneous to call it unnecessary. India's policy seems to be evolving towards an anticipatory deterrence based approach, away from the traditional approach of reacting ex post facto. Good thing. Besides, updating/upgrading and modernizing the security apparatus is smart practice. And why should the sukhois not be stationed there anyways?
Why this even news? These are Indians jets in Indian territory.Anyways armed forces are meant to man borders not manage political discourse.
I can't understand why so much commotion on an Indian jet sqn placed in Jodhpur since its not the Indian army who has been deployed on Rajasthan border. So my dear Pakistani friends, please relax and enjoy yourself as you very well know that India is such a peaceful country who has never waged war on any of its neighbours for more than six decades. Though, some of my friends across the border may not agree with my statement but your eminent and world famous journalist Najam Sethi has the same opinion.
I dont know why pakistan is paranoid of this news. Indian trade minister has signed new trade agreements just last week and removed hurdle for EU concession. No hawkish pakistani is reading it closely which will bring real foreseeable benefit to pakistan. Wait a minute ! Does this news brings a threat feeling ? .Do you know that Chinese has advanced fighter aircrafts are stationed east of India's border ? .Do you know that Russians has kept advanced anti ballistic missile shield close to chinese border ? .Do you know that Taiwan has kept Missiles pointing to China? .These are all regular border safeguarding techniques every country does and there is nothing abnormal India has done. Another perspective here. When Pakistan stations more than 100,000 troops in indian border and allow selective terrorists to pass through Indian Kashmir to wreck havoc in kashmir what is the ordinary Indians should think ? .There are weekly some pakistani soldiers getting killed in pak-afghar border posts by terrorists and pakistan never beef up army there but post eye ball to eye ball soldier ratio in kashmir . If you think this is fair game to send terrorists into kashmir then what India does to unnerve the top pakistani military strategiest is also fair game. Another perspective .Why a Indian from tamil nad is in pakistani news site is writing to you is there is no threat to ordinary pakistanis from Indian army but there is bomb blast threat to an ordinary indians because of pakistani armies support to terrorists..
Assalam-o-Allaikum Warahmatullah.It seems that India has been in the war position against Pakistan after seeing US-Pakistan tensed relations now-a-days and in this condition Pakistan Armed Forces must be red alert from the two enemies India and USA and be sure that all the nation is with Pakistan Armed Forces under any circumstances and it has been proven,tried and tested in the past especially in 1965 war against India.Pakistan Armed Forces long live and Allah Almighty may bestow upon Pakistan Armed Forces His greatest and endless blessings and favors and may help to defend Pakistan,its nation and its sovereignty and self-reliance Aameen.
Hello Fellow Pakis,
Why are you so scred of India. After all, India is our big brother. Can any big brother hurt his small brother for no apparent reason except for a good intension of correcting the bad behavier of the small brother? As a small brother let us not uncesarily suspect our big brother. There is a good chance that we can live in peace if we do not hurt our big brother.
Makes sense?
@Freeman: is there any positive think about pakistan that we can comment on ?
@amit: Have some real pics of 65 war!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NttdZ5emA98&feature=player_detailpage
And all indians here, see what your own media says about your force.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=O4G8e1KPkCA
@Maxwell: The IAF may well get any modern fighter plane from the Typhoon to the Rafaele but I agree it is the man in the plane that makes a difference. That's why qualitatively a Pakistani pilot will always be better. Let's face it, who would want in the the trench fighting along side you or in the air: A martial Pakistani or some Indian? The choice is clear for me. That's why Pakistanis needn't worry; our JF 17 Thunder is good enough for the best foreign plane piloted by an Indian.
Jodhpur airbase is around 300km from Pak Border where as PAF's sargodha with its F16 is around 250km km from border. Hope you guys get the point. Moreover what did India do after 26\11 nothing. So guys just chillx.
Where do these pakistanis get the idea that Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad want to break from India? I'm from TN and my roots are from Hyderabad, and none of us are going to break away from India.
You can wallow in your dreams though.
@Imitation,
LOLz, you can't even shoot down unmanned drones flying over your country!! Which world do you live in?
People of Pakistan: Forget Kashmir and Afghanstan. Now go to sleep.
@Pakistani Mentality: The war was restricted to East Pakistan only. If Pakistan was as able as it claims, it's attack on India from the north-west should have been successful and it should have won the war. But that did not happen and it lost on both fronts.
It's still near border, not inside the border.So what's the problem? Indian aircraft, Indian territory, they can put anywhere the like.
@Pakistani Mentality: Very good point , yes please think. If 90000 Indians are in Afghanistan, and Pakistan is trying to attack them and we have another half billion on east of Pakistan ready to attack in case Pakistan tries any "moral" support. And we are talking 1971 where there were only conventional weapons and war results were purely on ground power. Calm down you patriotism and think rationally. There would be no Pakistan left. Remember twice UN had to step in and request India to go back to LOC which we did. Should have been a wake up call for you.
@Freeman: Same goes true for you. Sitting on computer and spill your guts without actual knowledge.
IAF is replacing its obsolete Mig 21 with more advance long legged Sukhoi SU-30 MKI.This is just a routine exercise , people here should not read too much into this. IAF is under going a massive up-gradation with eye on china and certainly it can never ignore it old foe Pakistan and with situation increasingly getting out of hand in Pakistan, this certainly right move to deter Pakistan from indulging in any adventurism in the present situation where India would be softest target for Pakistani Army.
@Pakistani Mentality: It is not Indians, but it is the Pakis who claim military prowess, though it is 1/8th the size and 1/10 the defense resources of India. This is nothing other than emotional hubris. There is no rational basis for it. Reality will soon catch up!!! We certainly know who you are, where you came from and what you are capable of doing. There is no reason to believe that you have suddenly turned into super-humans. The way you have conducted yourself in the last 65 years shows no evidence of that!!
Your analogy of Afghanistan was a terrible one considering that in that scenario Pakistan will be fighting on two fronts east and west. That said, I do not foresee why Indian soldiers would be fighting an insurgency in Afghanistan.
Even if they were based another 100 kms into the Indian territory, it won't have made a difference as these are "fighter jets", remember, they can travel really fast??
Moreover, being close to the border puts them at a risk all the bludy time. What if someone throws a patakha across the border???
@Ramesh: Goa, Hyderabad, Kashmir etc. were also areas which were forcefully captured by India. These areas in fact had their own brief resistance movements to prevent their merging into India. Since you are so concerned about making areas "independent", I dare say we can start right from your own home. Hand over or make all these territories independent from Indian occupation first.
I am also eagerly waiting for the day when Khalistan, Naxals (north east India), Tamils etc. succeed in their efforts of liberation and break free from the clutches of Indian oppression. Let's hope that day comes sooner and the freedom fighters of the respective territories win in their efforts for the liberation of their people.
Islamabad can have much friendly relations with an independently ruled Amritsar, Hyderabad, Srinagar etc.
@Pakistani Mentality: one does'nt have to imagine - read your history and educate yourself on how a large part of your country was chopped off while people like you were sleeping !! you only have to google BLF, Baloch Liberation Front or Balochistan separatism to know that my previous comment is not imagined but a real problem for the failed state of pakistan.
Other than balochistan - here is a list of other Separatist Movements of Pakistan
.
@Ramesh: Thanks for the laugh :)
@ramesh: Nice imagination. Using the same logic, I predict that in a couple of centuries, Kashmir, Khalistan, Hyderabad (forcefully annexed by India), Junagadh (historically Pakistani territory), maoist-infected north east India, West Bengal (areas claimed by Bangladesh), Lakshadweep and Minicoy (originally part of Maldives), Goa (originally Portuguese), Aksai Chin (Chinese-administered Kashmir), Tamil Nadu etc. will all be independent countries or acceded to their respectful owners (free from current Indian occupation).
If Pakistan breaks, we will take you along with us too :)
@ramesh: You got good imagination son. Now time to sleep.
@Beginning to understand: First control nexus who are controlling 2/3 of indian territory. Indian occupied Kashmir Indian brutal foces rapped about 80,000 women in 20 years and over 100,000 killed young people.
Recently found 100s of unknown graves and Indian govt. is trying to hide them as they do not let the world media enter in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Shame.
@amit: 71 war was the back stabbing on the other side of the country. We will never forget but remember get out of the 71 war, its 2011. Stop dreaming with old imaginations.
@Maxwell: If you would have known the history of FATA and Waziristan then you would have never commented about this.
Its not your fault you live 12000 miles away and you never went out of the yoru own country.
What i can say your own spy agency and army even got busted there. oh Super power hey?
By sitting in front of Computer it is simple to comment but ground reality is always different. Ask your elsers if you don't know.
@Karin: Its surprising how Indians claim their military prowess by citing the incidents of 1971. If you remember Pakistan had no air, sea or land links with Bangladesh and the troops there were always fighting a losing battle whether India was involved or not. Suppose 90,000 of India's troops are stuck in Afghanistan fighting a hostile insurgency supported by Pakistan with no supply link with India. How long do you think they would go on fighting? Think rationally do not let your patriotism hinder your thought process.
Cheers.. :)
@Beta: Look all over the internet how Indian flocks on the news forums whereever there is a news about Pakistan. Indians leave 100% negative comments as this is Indians favourite topic.
With all of Pakistan's internal problems it is only a matter of time that it will break up even further - Surprisingly, Pakistanis have not learnt from history when they lost 'east Pakistan'. The Punjabi part of pakistan care little about non punjabis whether they are sindhi, bengali, or baluchi. Watch out - next to go will be Baluchistan - a significant portion of Pakistan. No unlike the bengalis, the baluchis have been marginalized and exploited for years since their country was stolen by the pakistanis - it is inevitable that it will ultimately separate from Pakistan.
Just wait and watch as this failed state crumbles even more - When Baluchistan becomes an independent state, New Delhi will have much better relations with Quetta than with Islamabad which will be the capital of a country much reduced in size and natural resources.
its not nervousness, its laughing at u
people who dont know about sukhoi planes they should research. these planes are rivals of f/a-18 and pakistan have no reply to it. china also considers sukhoi as their workhorse and are inducting in huge nos, more than India.
and yes sukhois havent crashed single time in 12 yr of service.
@someone: yes India lost many planes because India accepts the martyrs and dont disown them in the name of martial race theory. till now widows of paf pilots are roaming here and there to make paf realize that there pilot husbands died for nation in action.
even in kargil pakistan disowned there soldiers and now they are accepting them. in future pakistan will also admit there true loses. huh pakistan even claimed to sunk Indian aircraft carrier which was in repair. after India showed pakistan the AC they got embarrassed and withdrew their claim.
i feel this is an unnecessary movement. @Someone: if that makes you brave, get a new life, things hav changed a lot dear, you cannot match with IAF in any sense, but don't worry, India is not going to attack anyone, but second strike will be deadly.
why pakistanis are soo nervous??
@Someone: This is 2011 and you are still talking about what happened nearly 50 years ago in 1965!!!! The "wars" of 1948, 1965 and 1999 were nothing more than border fights. As far as we know, there was only one and decisive war that was fought between India and Pakistan in 1971. Everyone knows the clear and precise outcome of that.
@Mohammad Zakwan Nadeem: newer forget 71 war
i was reading one time the history of russian rockets when fired they returned back on them and exploded like Diwali firecrackers.
@Beta: This is a newspaper catering to Pakistan and Pakistani readers. If there's anyone being a troll here, it's you.
@Tony Singh: Check ur history before you comment. In 1965 war, more Indian planes were downed and destroyed as compared to Pakistan's. This is a well established fact - check any reliable source. 1965 was also the year when one of our Bengali pilots, M.M. Alam shot down five of your aircraft within one minute; a record that has yet to be beaten (anyhow, the Indians claim the number to be four and not five for some odd reason)
Indian air force -- Indian air base - Indian territory ----- Why is this front page news?
Aman ki Asha ..................
@Mohammad Zakwan Nadeem: "No fear, we have the experience of “Russian Power”,"
Don't be so cocky - JF-17 uses a Klimov RD-93 turbofan engine.
Indian intelligence agencies and the Ministry of defence have got further proof to expose Pakistan. Original defence documents that prove reactivation of terror groups - 42 to be precise- and what's shocking is that 21 of them are in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
I have no objection over it,because they are "Russian" made, we know "Russia" & its planes from 80's. No fear, we have the experience of "Russian Power",we"ll manage it and more scrape will be available for Pakistanis as Afghans are still consuming "Russian Scrapes". :D
Can we please have latest wedding halls installed at forward bases to counter this latest threat?
@Maria: True! If Gnats could take care of superior Pak fighters in 65 and 71n these are Sukhois. Indeed its men behind machines that count.
and there i was, celebrating the withdrawal of indian objections to EU trade concessions to Pakistan..sigh
@Roflcopter: and what track record would that be?well, even if half of it crashes they'll still be more than enough for pakistan.
@ John B, Mirza, etc & Promoters of 'Aman ki Asha'
This development must be to deter China or bla, bla, bla! You will still say that, "India is otherwise not an enemy and is truly deserves the status of 'Most favored nation'."
A wake-up call for even the Admin of this newspaper, who do not delete un-realistic comments.
@Imitation: It can also happen the other way round.
...and then they may cook their food on Atomic Fire :)
The key thing to remember is that the planes will be piloted by Indians- whether close to our border or further away matters little! The Pakistan Air Force has shown it can handle them.
So what?let them (America,India,British,Israel) do whatever they want.Pakistan is not Iraq they should mind it.
Given IAF track record, I wouldn't be surprised if half of the squadron crashed.
Let's spend this money on poverty instead of buying useless planes and warfare. Mumbai is the world capital and hub of poverty/slums. Just think how many people would benefit if all this money had been spent on them and not Russian toys.
In the end, all the Russian planes will be useless.
Another peace building initiative by those lovely neighbours of ours.
War Craziness !!!
Now Pakistan trolls will come and occupy the comments section, as it is their favourite topic.
I didn't see any major Indian news agency carrying this news item.
unnecessary move.
I hope our ministry really knows what it is doing. Unless there's a credible threat from Pakistan's side, this is not needed.
Good news for Pak it means that after they have finished bombing the base in the event of war they can make it home in time for lunch