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​India Has Already Lost the Eleventh Su-30MKI – These russian Aircraft Regularly Crash Down

Newly crashed Sukhoi Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force / Photo credit: @Defense_Talks
Newly crashed Sukhoi Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force / Photo credit: @Defense_Talks

The russian Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is the main multirole fighter for India, but the aircraft has a really high accident rate

There was another plane crash involving a russian-made fighter jet in India, on Tuesday, June 4. This time it happened with the Su-30MKI fighter, which fell in a field near the city of Nashik, Maharashtra state, in the west of the country.

As it can be seen in the photo and video from the scene, it happened near the village - quite a lot of civilians can be seen at the scene.

Read more: Why ​Delivery of Two S-400 System Sets from russia to India was Postponed to 2026

So far, it has been reported that the crew members were able to eject and have been found. At the same time, there is already a photo on the network, both with one of the pilots as well as with his ejection seat. That is, leaving the aircraft was carried out literally before hitting the ground.

India Has Already Lost the Eleventh Su-30MKI,These russian Aircraft Regularly Crash Down, Defense Express

The cause of the crash had not yet been announced at the time of publication. After the fall, the Su-30MKI aircraft itself was completely destroyed and fell into separate parts.

India Has Already Lost the Eleventh Su-30MKI,These russian Aircraft Regularly Crash Down, Defense Express
India has already lost the eleventh Su-30MKI - these russian aircraft regularly crash down

It should be noted that this is the eleventh lost fighter of this model for the Indian Air Force since 2009, when India began receiving the Su-30MKI ordered from the russian federation after signing a contract for 82 aircraft in 2007. Subsequently, this contract was expanded due to the production of a fighter under license with extensive use of russian components.

As of 2014, only 87 out of 193 aircraft, i.e. 55%, were operational due to low reliability. According to the data of Military Balance, in 2023 the Indian Air Force had 262 Su-30MKI - that is, 4% of the entire aircraft fleet of this type was lost in disasters and accidents. This is a rather bad indicator for modern aviation.

Su-30MKI multirole fighter, Defense Express
Su-30MKI multirole fighter / Open Source photo

It should also be noted that the Su-30MKI is not the only russian aircraft that regularly gets involved in aviation disasters. In addition to it, India operates russian MiG-29s, which can fall from the sky in this country at the rate of three per year.

As Defense Express reported, India Was Seeking to Distance From Import of russian Weaponry. We also wrote, that India Backstabed russia by Developing Own S-400.

Read more: ​russia Forces Migrants From India to Fight Against Ukraine