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Article: Russian air force upgrades Soviet-era fighters
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- December 26, 2003
- Author:
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VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
12-26-2003
Dateline: MOSCOW
The Russian air force has begun fitting its Soviet-built fighter jets with new engines, weapons and avionics as part of the nation's most ambitious weapons modernization effort since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, officials said Friday.
The first batch of five upgraded Su-27SM fighters flew Friday from the aircraft plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Far East to the air force's Lipetsk combat training center in western Russia for evaluation and tests.
Russian television stations showed sleek twin-engined blue-and-grey fighters landing at a snowy airfield and enthusiastic pilots hailing their ...