NEWS

Catwalk in the air for fighter jets
February 8, 2007, Hindustan Times

SOME OF the world’s best fighters fought for attention on day one of Aero India 2007, the international airshow at the Yelahanka airbase in Bangalore on Wednesday.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet from USA won hearts as it rolled down the tarmac for its maiden demo flight, waving the Indian tricolour at the invitees from its cockpit. This was soon after another fighter, the GAS 39 Gripen of SAAB (Sweden), touched down after its maiden flight over Indian skies. A couple of minutes later, US major Lockheed Martin got its F-16 to strut its stuff.

Everyone waited for another debutant military jet - the MiG 35 that is flying for the first time outside Russia. The MiG 35, which was flown by two test pilots of the MiG Corporation, was first showcased at the Moscow International Air Show in August 2005. It is powered by the innovative RD-33OVT engine, whose nozzles can move in all directions. This makes it even more manoeuvrable than the Russian-built Su-30MKI, the world's first fighter jet with up-and-down thrust vectoring engines, which forms the backbone of the IAF's fleet of long-range fighter jets.