Russia has pointed out structural faults in MiG 29: Govt

NEW DELHI: Russia has pointed out structural faults in its MiG 29 warplane but there was no plan to decommission the aircraft as Indian Air Force has not encountered any major problems, Government on Wednesday said.

"There was a MiG 29 accident in Russia in December 2008. RAC MiG has intimated that corrosion on the fin root ribs has been identified as the cause of the crack development," Defence Minister A K Antony said while replying to a question in Rajya Sabha.

He added that there was no plan to decommission the aircraft from Indian Air Force (IAF).

"The repair scheme and preventive measures are in place and IAF has not encountered major problems concerning the issue," Antony said.

Meanwhile, replying to another query, he said that the Defence Ministry has agreed to release 25 Mega Hertz in 3G Band and 40 MHz in 2G Band on operationalisation of nationwide armed forces network.

He added that the phased release of spectrum was linked to the completion of armed forces network.

Replying to a query on Navy's P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft, Antony said that the aircraft would be inducted into the Navy between 2013 to 2015.