India pushes talks with russia for pakfa and super sukhoi

[salarsikander]

Mostly the latter since MKI production is almost at an end. If MKIs are ordered subsequently, they will be of S-S standard I would assume. Its like F-16 blocks etc.

Point noted

 

[dadeechi]

India, Russia to invest $4 billion each in final phase of 5th-generation fighter creation
Military & Defense
July 11, 14:23 UTC+3 NEW DELHI
India is finally taking forward the negotiations with Russia on stalled projects to jointly develop a futuristic fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) as well as upgrade its existing Su-30MKI jets
Material has 1 page

© Marina Lystseva/TASS/archive



NEW DELHI, July 11. /TASS/. India is boosting negotiations with Russia on joint development and creation of the fifth-generation fighter (FGFA - Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) and is ready for the sides’ equal contribution to the project worth $4 billion at the stage of development work, The Times of India newspaper reported on Monday with reference to the Indian Defense Ministry.

India is finally taking forward the negotiations with Russia on stalled mega projects to jointly develop a futuristic fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) as well as upgrade its existing Sukhoi-30MKI jets into ‘Super Sukhois’ with advanced avionics and weapons, the article says.

Though India and France are now close to inking the estimated €7.8 billion deal for 36 Rafale jets, the Defense Ministry acknowledges that just 36 fighters will not be enough to stem the country's hemorrhaging air combat power. The IAF is down to just 33 fighter squadrons - including 11 obsolete MiG-21 and MiG-27 squadrons slated for retirement - when at least 42 are required to keep the "collusive China-Pakistan threat" at bay.

The "multi-pronged strategy" to progressively crank up airpower ranges from inducting the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft to exploring a second line of fighter production in the country, with the American FA-18 and F-16 as well as Swedish Gripen-E already in contention for this proposed ‘Make in India’ project, The Times of India writes.

Apart from these 4th-generation fighters, the Defense Ministry is now finally working towards inking the final R&D design contract with Russia this year for the Indian "perspective multi-role fighter", a variant of the Russian single-seat FGFA called Sukhoi T-50 or PAK-FA. "Apart from resolving technical and cost issues, Russia has also agreed to allow IAF test pilots to fly its prototypes now," said a source. The final R&D contract for the FGFA was on hold till now despite the two countries having first inked an inter-governmental agreement in 2007 and then following it up with a $295 million preliminary design contract in 2010, as was earlier reported by The Times of India. Under the main design contract to be executed in over six years now, India and Russia will chip in around $4 billion each for prototype development, testing and infrastructure build-up. The overall cost for producing 127 of these single-seat fighters - which will combine stealth, super-cruise and multi-sensor integration - in India will be about $25 billion.

Amid all this, the Indian Defense Ministry is also trying to ensure "maximum operationally availability" of the existing fighters at any given time. Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, for instance, says serviceability of Sukhois has jumped to 60% now from an alarming 46% earlier.

"The aim is to achieve 75% serviceability. This has been done with an active tripartite dialogue among Russia, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and IAF to ensure better availability of spares and maintenance for the Sukhois," a source said. This, in turn, has led to renewal of the plan to upgrade the jets into `Super Sukhois', with advanced AESA (active electronically scanned array) radars and long-range stand-off missiles. "The technical requirements should be finalized this year, with the contract being inked next year," said the source, according to The Times of India.

The FGFA fighter is developed based on the Russian PAK FA (Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation or T-50) jet in accordance with the Indian side’s technical requirements. In particular, the design and development of a two-seater version of the aircraft, the integration of an advanced engine with increased thrust are planned at the request of India.



http://tass.ru/en/defense/887497

 

[dadeechi]

When did that happen? afaik only 272 mkis on order in total and 218 of them are in active services by March 2016.

A watershed year for Russia's Sukhoi combat aircraft on the global arms market
Military & Defense
February 20, 12:56 UTC+3
An overview of Russian Sukhoi warplanes' prospects on the global arms market in 2016


MOSCOW, February 20. (TASS-DEFENSE). The current year seems to be a watershed one for Russia's Sukhoi fighters and bombers at the global arms market. As a high-ranking military-diplomatic source told at the Singapore Airshow 2016, a number of countries had already revealed their keen interest to Russian fixed-wing aircraft.

Russia may deliver Su-35S (NATO reporting name: Flanker-E+) fighters to China in late 2016, he said.

"Deliveries of Su-35S to China are likely to begin in late 2016 - early 2017. Su-35S is a sophisticated aircraft," he said adding, that export modification of the fighter will be supplied.

"Chinese adjustments were jointly designed, something was done by us and something by China. Adjustments were introduced to aircraft displays, in particular," the source said.

It was reported in November 2015 that Moscow and Beijing had agreed on supplies of 24 fighters, as well as ground equipment and spare engines. The deal was valued at not less than $2 billion. China has become the first international buyer of Russian Su-35S which are currently supplied to the Russian Air Force.

India may buy in Russia additional 40 Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) multipurpose fighters` sets for local assembly, the source said.

"Indian Air Force faces a number of problems. The purchase of French Rafale fighters is in doubt and no serial production has been launched for Indian aircraft designs," he pointed out.

"The equipment of the national Air Force with new combat aircraft is vital, and the purchase of another 40 Su-30MKI fighters sets for local assembly will help India," the source said.

If agreement is reached the additional Su-30MKI sets delivery terms will be agreed in an appendix to the main contract.


India has ordered 272 Russian Su-30MKI fighters in total. The first contract for the purchase of 230 aircraft in Russia and their licensed production in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Corporation (HAL) was signed in the middle of the '90s. In December 2012, HAL signed another contract worth USD1,66 billion for additional 42 locally assembled Su-30MKI.

India assembles the fighters according to the license obtained by HAL. Since 2007, Russia has delivered 50 aircraft in flyaway condition. Then India has assembled 134 licensed fighters. The national Air Force plans to deploy 14 Su-30MKI squadrons by 2018. Therefore, at least 272 fighters should be delivered by this time.

A contract with Algeria for Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) front-line bombers delivery may be signed in 2016, according to the source.

"The related talks are ongoing and they have reached an advanced stage. The contract has yet to be signed. They have been willing to get Su-34s for a long period of time. Previously, the aircraft did not have the export certificate. Now the appropriate documents have been obtained. I believe the contract will be signed in mid-2016 or definitely by the end of the year," he said.

"There is a mutual interest in the deal. Everything will be done this year," the source said.

Previously, a source in the United Aircraft Corporation said the talks on the sale to Algeria of 12 Su-32 front-line bombers (Su-34`s export designation) have considerably advanced. In total, the North African country may acquire up to 40 aircraft of such type.

Russia plans to sign a deal for the multifunctional Su-35S fighters with Indonesia in May 2016, the source said.

"Talks with Indonesia are at advanced stage. There is a small technical issue. I believe it will be resolved by May and the contract for the delivery of Su-35S to Indonesia will be signed," he said.

"The contract for the delivery [of Su-35 fighter jets] is likely to be signed at the Russia-ASEAN summit in Sochi (19-20 May 2015). The summit will be a momentous event," the source said, without specifying the exact number of Su-35 fighter jets Russia would deliver to Indonesia.

Indonesian news agency Antara reported that the national defense ministry had chosen Su-35S fighters to replace obsolete F-5E/F Tiger II. The contract may be for 16 Su-35S.



By Liubov Milovanova


http://tass.ru/en/defense/858137



With Brahmos-fitted Sukhoi-30, IAF capability reaches new high
Ajai Shukla | New Delhi June 25, 2016 Last Updated at 22:30 IST

The Sukhoi-30MKI line in HAL Nashik, where the Brahmos missile has been integrated into the fighter

With the successful test flight on Saturday of a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter fitted with a Brahmos cruise missile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has moved closer to a potent new capability.



When the Indo-Russian Brahmos is operationalised on the Su-30MKI, IAF pilots would no longer have to fly deep into heavily-defended airspace to strike enemy fighter bases, or targets like terrorist camps, nuclear installations and military headquarters. Instead, they can launch a Brahmos from as far away as 295 kilometres, and turn back to safety while the missile flies on to do the destruction.

Business Standard learns the IAF will modify at least 40 Su-30MKI fighters to carry the Brahmos missile.

Air-launched land-attack missiles are not new, nor are cruise missiles like the vaunted US Tomahawk missile, that can be launched from thousands of kilometres away. What makes the Brahmos-Su-30MKI combination lethal is the speed with which it strikes - the aircraft flies well above Mach 2, and the missile flies at Mach 2.8, giving enemy air defences little chance to detect and shoot them down before they strike the target.

Besides eliminating the need for taking a human pilot over heavily defended targets, the Brahmos has also proven to be a highly accurate missile. For the IAF, getting Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) - which builds the Su-30MKI under licence at Nashik - to integrate the aircraft with missile has been a priority.

On instructions from Air Headquarters, Sukhoi (in Russia) and HAL (in India) independently conducted feasibility studies. After the IAF determined that HAL had evolved the simpler, most manageable, design, it placed an order on HAL in January 2014 to integrate the Brahmos onto the Su-30MKI.

"It is a perfect example of 'Make in India' and an engineering marvel in aviation history of India. It proves that when all agencies come together with one mission, there is nothing like impossible," declared the HAL chief, T Suvarna Raju, after the flight test today.

Business Standard was granted exclusive access to the Brahmos upgrade, while HAL was carrying it out at a facility called the Aircraft Upgrade R&D Centre (AURDC) in Nashik.

The AURDC had earlier upgraded the MiG-27 and MiG-21 fighters, partnering a Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) laboratory called the Defence Avionics Research Agency (DARE). Along with DARE, the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, also played a part in the Brahmos upgrade.

A key challenge was to strengthen the Su-30MKI airframe, particularly its underbelly weapons station, to carry the huge Brahmos missile (8 metres long, 0.7 metres in diameter, and 2560 kg in weight).

Since the Brahmos protrudes beyond the Su-30MKI's air intakes, it was imperative to ascertain that it did not impede the flow of air into the fighter's engines. This was achieved through computational fluid dynamics modelling.

Meanwhile DARE modified the pilots' digital cockpit display, creating a new "page" that the pilots would use while launching the Brahmos.

Having established that the Su-30MKI can carry the Brahmos in flight, the IAF will now carry out flight-testing to determine the penalty such a bulky external load imposes on flight parameters like speed and turn performance.

After that, the IAF will actually fire the Brahmos from the aircraft, ensuring that the missile separates from the fighter smoothly. This phase of testing will also check how accurately the Brahmos hits its target.

The Su-30MKI is already a highly modified aircraft, with HAL having carried out more than 40 modifications to the fighter originally delivered by Russia.

It is expected that countries like Malaysia, which fly a similar version of the Su-30, could also seek the Brahmos capability.

http://www.business-standard.com/ar...pability-reaches-new-high-116062500906_1.html

 

[TylerDurden07]

more than 5th gen i m waiting for super su30 with AESAeadar and new standoff weapons