Russia to deliver 12 Sukhois to India in 2006

MOSCOW: Russia's Irkut jet maker is planning to deliver 12 Su-30MKI fighter jets to India this year and will start supplying Algeria and Malaysia from 2007 as production at the plant ramps up, the company's director said in an interview on Thursday.

"The contract has already been agreed, its signature is expected in the next few months, and this year we plan to deliver 12 fighter jets" to India, Oleg Demchenko, director of the plant in Russia's Siberian region of Irkutsk told the Vedomosti business daily.

"In the first quarter of this year, five unassembled jets have already been delivered to India," Demchenko said. 

Irkut would also begin delivering jets to Algeria from 2007, he added. Algeria agreed in March to buy up to 7.5-billion-dollars' worth of Russian weaponry, including 28 Su-30 jets, Russian news agencies reported.

Also from 2007 we will deliver nine jets to Malaysia and we will supply the remaining six out of 18 fighter jets to India to replace 18 jets exported to India in 1997 and 1999, he added.

"We are increasing production to 32 jets per year, while in Soviet times the factory made 28. It's a very tough production plan," Demchenko continued.

Irkut had net profits of 84.8 million dollars in 2005 -- up from 68.4 million dollars in 2004 -- and factory executives estimate current orders have a total value of five billion dollars, Vedomosti reported.