NEW DELHI — India inducted its frontline Sukhoi combat aircraft at its air force’s Halwara base in the northern state of Punjab, bordering Pakistan, on Sept. 25. The Su-30MKI, the Indian-built version of the Russian combat aircraft, will replace the now phased-out, Soviet-origin MiG-23 fighters in the 220 Squadron also known as “Desert Tigers,” a defense ministry official says. The first batch of Su-30MKIs was inducted into the Indian air force (IAF) in September 2002.

NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) plans to deploy nearly 15 airborne warning and control systems during the next 10 years. “India is planning additional airborne warning and control system projects with radars atop larger aircraft such as the IL-76, Boeing 777 or Airbus 320,” according to a defense ministry official. The announcement comes on the heels of the arrival of the first of three Embraer 145 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft from Brazil’s Embraer Defense and Security on Aug. 17.

NEW DELHI — India’s 101st space mission, the GSAT-10 communication satellite, will be launched Sept. 29 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana. “The 3.4-ton heavy satellite, GSAT-10, has been integrated with the Ariane 5 rocket along with Astra-2F spacecraft of SES as co-passenger for the launch Sept. 29 at 2:48 a.m. Indian time,” an Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) official says. Astra-2F belongs to the Luxembourg-based leading satellite operator SES.