A visit to India by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has seen India order an additional 29 MiG-29K carrier borne fighters and finally sign off on a new deal to refurbish the former Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov for the Indian Navy.
The additional MiG-29s come on top of 16 aircraft which were ordered in 2005 and deliveries of which commenced last year, and are for operations aboard the carrier which will be named INS Vikramaditya when it enters Indian service in late 2012. The refurbishment has been a stop-start affair and has resulted in several cost increases since it began in 2004, with the final agreed cost reported to be US$2.34bn (A$2.55bn).
Russia and India were also expected to sign a deal on co-development of the fifth generation PAK-FA fighter, with India to develop a two-seat version of the aircraft with unique avionics and weapons.
