In the autumn of 1999, with technical support from Ukraine, at least two Uzbekistan Su-27s were delivered to Angola.
Ukrainian specialists helped to develop (technical and flight personnel) new equipment already in a new place in Luanda. The total number of delivered vehicles is unknown, allegedly only Su-27 and Su-27UB were delivered. Painted in a specific “camouflage” khaki colors – RPO antennas are painted over.
Two Su-27s were spotted in the fall of 2006 while performing aerobatics at a parade in Luanda. In 2011-2012, photographs of Google maps on the airfields of Angola showed that the Su-27 was not seen. With these tail numbers, the aircrafts were first seen in December 2006: Su-27 No. C605 and Su-27UB No. I-51, subsequently, the combat received No. C-110, the Su-27UB received a new b / n No. I-100.
Russia’s state arms export monopoly said 23 November 2013 that it will deliver 12 Su-30K fighter jets to a nation in southern Africa. In the wake of a visit by a high level Russian delegation earlier this year, it was widely reported in Russian media that Moscow had agreed to supply 18 of the jets to Angola. “These aircraft will be delivered to a South African country. For the first step, we are inclined to deliver 12 of the 18 units,” Mikhail Zavaliy, a top executive from Rosoboronexport told reporters, without specifying what country he was talking about. The final six aircraft will be supplied at a later date, Zavaliy said.
The Su-30K fighters in question are a batch of aircraft initially supplied to India in the late 1990s, prior to Delhi receiving the more advanced multirole Su-30MKI variant. They were returned to Russia in 2007 and have since lain idle in a Belarusian repair plant, according to a report in Vedomosti newspaper in Octobr 2013. Angola has close diplomatic and military ties with Russia that have endured since the Soviet era.
By the end of 2015 the first four refurbished and modified aircraft will be delivered. Completion of this work was planned for the end of 2016 – beginning of 2017. Angola had acquired 12 machines, while Rosoboronexport is looking for a buyer for the six others in this batch of trade-in aircraft. The Belarusian 558th Aircraft Repair Plant was chosen to fulfill the contract, as in the Soviet years has been the prime contractor to repair Su-27 (on the basis of which created the Su-30).
The Belarusian 558th Aviation Repair Plant (ARZ) in Baranavichy completed the transfer of a batch of 12 modernized Su-30K fighters to Angola in April 2019. Deputy Director for Development of the 558th ARZ Alexander Vorobey told TASS 16 May 2019 at the exhibition of weapons and military equipment MILEX 2019. “In April of this year, two Su-30K fighters were delivered by two flights of a transport plane to Angola. Thus, the 558th ARZ completed the contract for the revision of 12 Su-30K aircraft for the Angola Air Force, which was carried out in coordination with Rosoboronexport JSC”.
According to him, the Angolan Su-30K is actually refined to the level of Su-30SM fighters. They are equipped with 12 suspension points of aviation weapons and can use guided aircraft missiles such as anti-ship X-31A, anti-radar X-31P, class “air – air” RVV-AE.To protect against high-precision weapons, each Angolan fighter is equipped with a satellite jamming station, developed by the 558th ARZ. This station operates in the frequency range of 8-12 GHz, in which the homing heads of air-to-air weapons are operating.
Along with the fighters, the Angola air force received a flight simulator and a training class from Belarus. “The operation of the Su-30K fighters in Angola is currently provided by the warranty team of our plant,” said a representative of the 558th ARZ.
Su-30K fighters were delivered to India under a 1996 contract. Russia took them under a trade-in scheme and offered them to a number of African countries. In 2013, Angola acquired 12 aircrafts, Rosoboronexport is still looking for six more. The Belarusian 558th ARZ was chosen to fulfill the contract for the modernization of fighters for Angola, since back in the Soviet years it was the lead contractor for the repair of Su-27 fighters (on the basis of which the Su-30 was created).
Russia has completed its delivery of SU-30K fighter jets to Angola, Dmitry Shugaev, the director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said on 23 October 2019. “We have completed the delivery of our SU-30K fighter jets [to Angola]”, Shugaev said on the sidelines of Russia-Africa forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
