NEW DELHI - After Rafale fighter jets from France, Indian Air Force makes yet another lethal 4th generation fighter jets deal with Russia.

Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to acquire the new 21 MiG-29 fighters from Russia and equip them with indigenous weapon systems such as the Astra air to air missile.

"The proposal for the acquisition of 21 MiG-29s would be placed before the Defence Acquisition Council soon. The IAF wants the MiG-29s to be of the upgraded MiG-29s that are already in service," defence sources told ANI.

"The IAF also wants that the aircraft should be equipped with the Indian weapon systems including the Astra missiles," they said.

The sources said there are other indigenous equipment and weapons which would be integrated with the aircraft once the deal comes through.

The MiG-29s with the Russians have a new airframe and had been lying unused in Russia.

The push for promoting indigenous weapons has come at a time when IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria has made it clear that the force will fully back indigenisation efforts such as the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and the fifth Generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft programme.

The IAF had carried out a study to check if the airframes of the MiG-29s on offer were good enough for it to operate for a long time.