Automobile tyre manufacturer MRF Ltd has formally announced the start of commercial production and supply of main wheel tyres of the Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft to the Indian Air Force.

This is a breakthrough in the indigenisation of the Su-30 the mainstay of the IAF, said Air Vice Marshall JK Singh, addressing an event to mark the start of commercial production of the tyres under the MRF Aero Muscle brand.

MRF will supply these tyres at about ₹56,000 a piece compared with over ₹1 lakh it costs to import.

Koshy K Varghese, Executive Vice President – Marketing, said the product is a result of over six years of development in-house and has been cleared by the authorities concerned.

They are manufactured at MRF’s Medak factory in Andhra Pradesh.

The SU-30 tyre has been tested at ground speeds of 420 km an hour and loads in excess of 18 tonnes on each tyre.

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