By Santanu Choudhury
NEW DELHI-An Indian Air Force fighter jet crashed Tuesday, a day
after the country's military paraded its might in front of the
nation and U.S. President Barack Obama during Republic Day
celebrations.
An air force official said the pilot of the single-engine,
single-seater MiG-27 aircraft of Russian origin ejected safely
before the plane crashed in Barmer, in the northwestern state of
Rajasthan, which borders Pakistan.
"The plane was on a routine mission," the official said, without
elaborating.
The crash highlights the aging equipment of the Indian armed
forces. The South Asian country has been seeking to modernize its
mainly Soviet-era military equipment to face an increasingly
assertive China, as well as Pakistan, but the pace has been dogged
by delays on several key projects.
Among the delayed projects is India's attempt to buy 126 fighter
jets. Dassault Aviation S.A. of France was chosen as the preferred
bidder in January 2012 but an agreement has yet to be signed.
India's armed forces have been hit by other accidents in the
past year.
In March last year, a Lockheed Martin Corp. C-130J Super
Hercules transport plane crashed in central India, killing all five
air force personnel on board.
On Feb. 26 last year, the country's naval chief, Admiral D.K.
Joshi, resigned to take responsibility for several accidents,
including a fire on a submarine earlier that day that left two crew
members dead.
The Russia-made MiG series of fighter jets form the mainstay of
India's air force. The MiG-21 fighter jet -the combat backbone of
the air force for decades--has been connected to so many crashes
that it earned the moniker of 'flying coffin.'
India celebrated its 66th Republic Day on Monday with Mr. Obama
in attendance as the chief guest. The parade saw displays by the
country's armed forces including precision fly past by Russia-made
Sukhoi Su-30MKI and MiG-29K fighter jets, as well as the C130J
Super Hercules transport aircraft, P-8I maritime patrol and
anti-submarine warfare jet and the C-17 Globemaster airlifter-all
of which were procured from the U.S.
Write to Santanu Choudhury at santanu.choudhury@wsj.com
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