Former Indian Su-30Ks/MK-1s end up half a world away in Angola

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The Angolan Air Force will receive 12 ex-Indian Su-30 fighter jets from Rosoboronexport and not 18 as was previously reported, with deliveries scheduled to take place from next year.

On Wednesday Irkut Corporation president Oleg Demchenko told Interfax that the contract for the sale of the 12 upgraded Su-30Ks for the Angolan Air Force had been signed.

In October last year it was reported that Angola had purchased 18 former Indian Air Force Su-30Ks from Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport as part of a $1 billion arms deal involving the fighters, spares and other hardware[Ammunition factors, Tanks, Artillery etc.. etc..].

The Su-30s Angola will reportedly receive were offered to a number of other countries, including Belarus, Ethiopia, Vietnam and Sudan. Early last year, Russia was in discussions with Ethiopia to procure the aircraft, as Ethiopia already operates the Su-27, but this seems to have fallen through.

The Indian Air Force has ordered more than 200 Su-30MKIs in a number of batches. The early models delivered were basic aircraft without features like canards and thrust vector controls, and it is these 18 early model aircraft (ten Su-30MK and eight Su-30K fighters delivered between May 1997 and December 1999) that were returned to Russia and replaced with more advanced Su-30MKIs.

India had intended to upgrade these early aircraft but instead used them as part-exchange for new aircraft. According to Air Forces Daily, they were retired in 2006 and sent to the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant at Baranovichi in Belarus between August and November 2011. They remain at Baranovichi as the property of Irkut Corporation.

Demchenko told Interfax that the remaining six of the 18 ex-Indian Flankers will be sold to another country, but he did not reveal which country that was. He said the six aircraft are being modernised at Baranovichi, with a firm contract for them to be signed soon.

The Angolan Air Force currently flies around half a dozen Su-27s, out of 18 originally delivered[mis-reporting: Angola only had 8 Su-27s in the first place, not 18, of which one crashed, they currently have 7 in their fleet.]. It also has other Sukhoi aircraft in its inventory, notably the Su-22 and Su-24.

Angola getting 12, not 18 Su-30 fighters | DefenceWeb

IIRC, the price for the Su-30s were 15 million dollars back in 2011, which included the cost of refurbishment. Not a bad deal.

This news has caused some takleef in South Africa. These 2 countries fought a confusing bloody war a few decades back. South Africa which was once a major military powerhouse in Southern Africa is now a shadow of its former self, operating only a small force of just around 2 Dozen Gripens, their only offensive fighter. And 2 Dozen Hawk trainers which doubles as ground attack jet. Angolans have 2 Dozen MiG-21s, 2 Dozen MiG-23s, a Su-22 + Su-24 + Su-25 combined ground attack force all together numbering about 2 Dozen. Their main forces are half a dozen Su-27s and now a Dozen Su-30Ks. Although Angola has a larger force it is safer to assume that only part of their fleet will be operational due to a less capable military industrial complex than the south Africans maintaining these maintenance intensive jets, in the event of a war. Plus the same inertia which affected the South Africans.
Anyway, its nice to know former IAF jets are taken seriously in far flung places in the world shaking those regions' strategic balance.

Now only 6 Su-30s remain for grabs. For 15 million a pop its a steal.