Angola has received the first two of 12 Sukhoi Su-30K multirole fighters and is expected to receive the rest by early 2018, Aleksandr Vorobei, the CEO of the 558th Aviation Repair Plant in Belarus, told Sputnik on 19 September.

According to the Sputnik, Angola signed a contract to purchase 12 Russian Su-30K fighters, which are currently stationed at the 558 Aviation Repair Plant in Belarus’ Baranovichi, during a visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to Luanda in 2013.

The aircraft were formerly operated by the Indian Air Force, which has ordered more than 200 Su-30MKIs in a number of batches. The early models delivered were basic aircraft without features like canards and thrust vector controls, and it is these 18 early model aircraft (ten Su-30MK and eight Su-30K fighters delivered between May 1997 and December 1999) that were returned to Russia and replaced with more advanced Su-30MKIs.

India had intended to upgrade these early aircraft but instead used them as part-exchange for new aircraft. They were retired in 2006 and sent to the 558th Aircraft Repair Plant at Baranovichi in Belarus between August and November 2011 as the property of Irkut Corporation.