Air Force has decided to station its upgraded MiG-29 aircraft close to the Pakistan border. (Image: MiG-29)
The first lot of the 62 upgraded Russian-built aircraft will be deployed at Adampur air base in the border state of Punjab, a Defence Ministry official said.
The first six MiG-29s will be delivered by mid-2010 following upgrades in Russia, with the remaining aircraft to follow by 2013, the official said.
Under an $850 million contract signed with Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG in early 2008, the 62 MiGs are being upgraded from aerial interceptor and air dominance aircraft to fighter-bombers capable of striking mobile and stationary targets on the ground and at sea, in all weather conditions, with high-precision weapons.
Upgrades to the MiG-29s will include multifunctional Zhuk-ME radar, and new weapon control and avionics systems. The aircraft also will be capable of beyond-visual-range combat, armed with new-generation air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, and smart aerial bombs.
Additionally, the Air Force's remaining MiG-29 fleet will be retrofitted at the service's repair depot at Nashik, under transfer of technology from Russia, extending their service life to 40 years and turning the air-superiority fighters into more lethal multi-role jets.
The IAF will provide more teeth to its fleet along the Indo-Pak border by ramping up its all-round capabilities in Punjab with induction of new fighter squadrons, including Sukhois, and air defence radars.
The IAF's sword-arm Western Air Command (WAC) is preparing to host two squadrons with 4.5-generation Sukhois at the Halwara fighter base near Ludhiana within two years from now.
It will also base all three squadrons flying the fourth generation MiG-29 air superiority fighters in Punjab to improve its air strike capabilities.
In addition to these fighter jets, the IAF will deploy indigenously developed and manufactured Rohini Radars from the DRDO and BEL in Punjab, apart from three Active Phased Array Radars there to make the air defence surveillance robust.
"We will get the first 
of the Su-30 squadrons to be based under the WAC by 2011 at the Halwara air base," a senior IAF officer said. The IAF has already started the work to develop the infrastructure for deploying the squadrons with the most potent fighter aircraft in its fleet at the air base, which hosted the MiG-23BN squadrons till March this year.
"We have started developing infrastructure for the Su-30 MKIs' deployment there. Work on the runway and other facilities has started and it’s going to be fully prepared for the aircraft in the next two years," the officer said. (Image: Su-30MKI)
The two Su-30 MKI squadrons would be deployed at Halwara simultaneously and these would be the first Sukhoi fighter squadrons under the WAC, the largest of IAF's five operational commands.
At the same time, the IAF will move one of its MiG-29 squadrons from Jamnagar in Gujarat to Adampur airbase in Punjab, which already hosts two MiG-29 squadrons, another IAF officer said.
The 28 'First Supersonics' Squadron will move from Jamnagar to join 47 'Black Archers' Squadron and 223 'Tridents' Squadron to provide more teeth to the air defence of Punjab.
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