EXCITEMENT, at the Yelahanka Indian Air Force station 25 km outside Bangalore, was a Russian word last week. The lone Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft parked at the end of the apron at the Aero India 96 air show cast a palpable spell as a wide-eyed audience admired and caressed the 24-tonne jetthe first addition in a decade to the aging family of Indias combat aircraft. A few days before the air show, a team of top Indian Defence Ministry officials fina-lised a Rs 6,142-crore dealthe largest-ever signed by the countrywith the Russian defence export agency Rosvoorouzhenie for the supply of 40 Su-30 MKIs by the year 2000. The deal also has a clause for licensed production of the aircraft in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to meet future requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF). So it was no coincidence that Rosvoorouzhenie had brought in the state-of-the-art aircraft to be showcased by its chief test pilot, Igor Vontintsev, before Indias decision makers.