India’s only aircraft carrier capable aircraft, the MiG-29K suffers from an unsatisfactory serviceability rate ranging from 15.93 per cent to 37.63 per cent, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) whose report was tabled in the Indian parliament today.

CAG slammed the Indian Navy for accepting the 45 MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB acquired from 2009 to 2016 in a $ 2.2 billion deal. According to the first deal, 16 fighters were acquired to arm the INS Vikramaditya (ex-Admiral Gorshkov) carrier, while an option clause contract for 29 additional aircraft was signed in March 2010 in which 13 would arm the indigenous INS Vikrant carrier.

The fleet demonstrated poor serviceability, ranging from 15.93 to 37.63 percent by the MiG-29K, while 21.3 to 47.14 percent for the twin seat MiG-29KUB trainers.

Even though advanced and improved than its predecessor, the RD-33MK engine still had reliability problems and design defects, which had caused ten cases of single engine landings.