Belarus will receive the first four of 12 Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighter aircraft from Russia later this year, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

On Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant said that the Armed Forces of Belarus were preparing to receive the first batch of Su-30SM fighter aircraft in 2019.

The media outlet quoted country’s Ministry of Defense as saying that Belarus expected to receive 12 two-seat fighters from Russia equipped with phased-array radar, frontal horizontal fins and steerable thrusters for supermaneuverability as well as with wide-angle HUD.

In 2018, the Minister of Defense of Belarus Andrei Ravkov said that Russia, due to the international sanctions on equipment and board electronics for aircraft, is still unable to deliver Su-30SM fighter jets to the republic – deliveries can be made in 2019.

Su-30SM is an advanced two-seat supermaneuverable fighter aircraft developed by Russia’s Sukhoi Aviation Corporation and produced by the Irkut Corporation. It is capable of employing advanced high-precision air-to-air and air-to-surface weaponry. Also, the aircraft may be used for training pilots of advanced multirole super-maneuverable single-seat fighters.

The Su-30SM multirole fighter is the further development of the Su-30MK combat aircraft family. The fighter was designed in accordance with the requirements of the Russian Air Force in terms of radar system, radio and recognition system, weapon structure, ejection seats and a number support systems.

Deliveries of Su-30SM aircraft to the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation are underway since 2012, to the Russian Navy – since 2014, to the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan – since 2015.