Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to fly a sortie in a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday in Jodhpur. This reported by Indiatimes.

The minister will fly a sortie in the formidable fighter, which has nuclear strike capability and capability to penetrate deep in enemy territory, at the Air Force Station in Jodhpur.

After her recent stay on board INS Vikramaditya at sea and whirlwind tours to forward areas and different installations of the three forces, this sortie will be a part of the Defence Minister's continued effort to gauge and review the operational preparedness and combat capabilities of the armed forces, the sources said.

IAF sources said Sitharaman would visit the Jodhpur airbase, during which she would fly the sortie in the frontline fighter jet. The Sukhoi-30 MKI is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, it is a heavy, all-weather, long-range fighter.

The Sukhoi 30 MKI is a twin-engine fighter aircraft and has a two-seat cockpit. In November 2017, India had successfully flight-tested the air variant of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the fighter jet.