Team News Riveting
Guwahati, April 8
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday flew a sortie on the Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft from the Tezpur Air Force Station.
She became the second female head of state to fly in a warplane after former President Pratibha Patil. The latter took off from the Pune air force base in a frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet in 2009.
President Droupadi Murmu was clad in an anti-gravity suit before stepping into a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam, a strategic air base. The President, the Supreme Commander of the three services, is currently on a visit to Assam.
The Sukhoi-30 MKI is a twin-seater multirole fighter jet developed by Russia’s Sukhoi and built under licence by India’s aerospace giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
The advanced version of Russia’s Sukhoi-27, the Indian Sukhoi-30 MKI is based at Tezpur Air Force Station for decades. It is reported to be the only fighter jet that is adopted by different countries to deploy in extreme geographical locations.
The Indian Air Force operates more than 270 fourth-generation Su-30MKI fighters. Since its manufacturing started in India, the fighter jet has been powered by several technical developments that make it dynamic during combat operations.
Sukhoi-30MKI’s length is 72 feet, wingspan is 48.3 feet and height is 20.10 feet. Weighing 18,400 Kg, the fighter jet comes equipped with Lyulka L-31FP afterburning turbofan engines that power the machine with 123 kilonewtons. Due to its technical arrangements, the fighter jet flies at a speed of 2120 km per hour and holds a range of 3000 km.
