The Indian Navy will deploy 45 MiG-29K aircraft with Black Panthers, a squadron of MiG-29K aircraft, by mid 2012, according to an official.

Commander-in-chief of the squadron Commander B Hota said the first batch of 16 aircraft was likely to be delivered this month.

“The second lot of 29 aircraft will arrive at a later date,” Press Trust of India quotes Hota as saying.

Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau, the Mikoyan MiG-29K is an all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft that can destroy aerial targets, and an enemy’s surface and shore targets.