For the MKIs, where do the back-seaters come from?

um, why should they be coming from a process different from the pilots? :confused:

mm i thought that all No.20 jocks are qualified first on the No.24 birds. There are various ways to get to No.24. but there is only one way to get to No.20 and thats via No.24. I donno how No.30 will work.

That was how it was when the Lightnings were raised, once the number of SU units goes up I wonder how long this method can be sustained. For 3 MiG-29 squadrons, one of them has been designated as an OCU – the one based at Pune. Keeping the 24 Sqn as a first step to the uber-SU would seem logical.

Thats good info that you have posted asp. thx.

In an interview Alexey Fedorov once remarked that the IAF pilots with MiG-29 experience found it easier to switch to the Su-30. Not surprising considering how similar the two are in construction.

A real problem in the IAF is the “ulta pulta” artificial horizon issue when jocks like Flt Lt Gaurav Chibber shift from western to russian types and vice versa. In this particular case the pilot shifted from Jaguar to MiG-29. He died in a MiG-29 crash, and his aircraft was recovered in an upside down position. 😡 🙁

AFAIK the Su-30 jocks are mostly from the Iskra->MiG-21->MiG-29 stream of pilots.