Wreckage of Missing Indian Sukhoi-30 Jet Found Near Chinese Border

Sputnik News

15:35 26.05.2017

The 72-hours-long search operation for the missing Sukhoi-30MKI jet came to an end on Thursday when Indian rescuers located the aircraft's wreckage in the dense forests of the Rupa Valley in Arunachal Pradesh.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – The Sukhoi jet, with two pilots aged between 25 and 30 on board, went missing after taking off from the Tezpur air force station situated in the north-eastern part of the country. The aircraft was on a routine training sortie.

Indian authorities deployed a C-130 aircraft with electro-optical payload, Su-30 aircraft with recce capability, four ground parties of IAF personnel, nine parties of Indian Army and two parties of state administration to locate the jet.

There has been no sign of survivors at the location where the wreckage was found. The C-130 transport aircraft and Chetak of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are being tasked to bring back the remains of the front line fighter jet.

A major part of Arunachal Pradesh, one of 29 Indian states, is a target of a territorial dispute between India and China.

Earlier, Lu Kang, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, warned India against "disrupting peace" in the region while the search and rescue operation was in process: "On the eastern section of the India-China border, China's position is consistent and clear. We hope India can stick to the arrangements reached between the two sides and avoid disrupting peace and stability at the border areas."

The Sukhoi-30MKI is a twin-seater, twin-engine multi-role fighter of Russian origin, which is capable of carrying a variety of medium-range guided air-to-air missiles with active or semi-active radar or infrared homing close range missiles.

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