NEW DELHI, March 31: Several of the Indian Air Force's (IAF) MiG 25R aircraft have developed structural problems lately. For instance, the rivets which fasten the skin to the fuselage or aircraft body of the MiG 25R have come loose, creating various problems. The airframe of the MiG-25R comprises 80 per cent welded tempered steel, with eight percent titanium in areas subject to extreme heating such as wing and tail units.
The IAF has approached Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) MiG complex at Nashik to repair these aircraft with structural problems of `skin bulges' in the airframe. HAL sources say that the bulges have occurred due to ageing.
The eight MiG-25R aircraft owned by the IAF are almost 15 years old. Air Force technical staff do only routine service and repair in the country and the more complex repairs are done in Russia.
In the HAL-IAF business relationship, the manufacturer is obliged to repair only those aircraft that it has built under license. Despite such an understanding, HAL last yearrepaired the IAF MiG-29 fighter interceptor aircraft which like the MiG 25R aircraft was imported from the former Soviet Union.
The Russian designed/built MiG 25R, codenamed `Foxbat' by Nato forces, can fly up to 1,00,000 feet in order to evade normal anti-aircraft fire. Even most interceptor aircraft cannot fly to such heights.
Last May, the MiG 25R made news for violating Pakistani airspace and this resulted in `sonic booms' creating a hiccup in Indo-Pakistan relations.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
