Malaysia's newest, most hi-tech airplane - Su-30 MKM

Malaysia purchased 18 Sukhoi Su-30 MKM (MK - Modernizirovannyi Kommercheskiy, Modernized Commercial, M - Malaysia) multi-role jet aircraft in 2003 as part of a technology transfer program that saw the launch of our first Angkasawan into space.

The Su-30 MKM is a derivative of the venerable Su-27 Flanker (incidentally the NATO callsign for the Su-30 is Flanker-C), designed to be a counter to the USA's F-15 in the 1970s. The Su-30 is a version with longer range and multi-role capability, i.e. air superiority and ground attack. It also has Mach 2 capability plus canards and thrust-vectoring nozzles for increased manueverability. In addition to that, up to 8 tons of external stores can be carried on the aircraft.



Malaysia's Su-30s comes with a different avionics package than the normal Su-30 with a combination of French, South African and Russian equiupment.

Singapore has bought 24 F-15SGs (SG - Singapore) whose performance can match and in some cases exceed the Su-30's.

A good pic of the Su-30 can be found at http://www.aerospaceweb.org/aircraft/fighter/su30/su30_schem_01.gif