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Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Indian Air Force (IAF)'s mainstay heavy weight fighters, the Russian Sukhoi 30MKI aircraft to be upgraded, will undergo two types of upgradation programmes. India Director of the Sukhoi programme, Vitaly A Borodich said during the biennial air show MAKS-2009 in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, that Moscow was looking at an increased participation from New Delhi in the upgrade programme.The joint upgrade will involve the Russian Federation's Irkutsk, and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
One of the upgrades will be the structural modification of the aircraft to have the air version of the Brahmos missile installed on it. Active negotiations are on for Brahmos integration on the aircraft. Sources have indicated that the IAF is looking at around three years to recieve the modified aircraft.
The launcher interface is to be integrated to the aircraft, internal trials to be conducted, before the field evaluation tests of the missile could begin, all of which would take a year or slightly more, and three years for its induction in service.
The air-launched version of the missile for the IAF has taken longer than anticipated. The air to ground missile to be integrated on the Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft of the IAF was to be ready by the end of 2009.
The first test of the missile is likely not before 2010-11.
The second upgrade for the existing fleet of the fighter is called the 'deep upgrade', which includes enhanced combat features, systems and avionics, which would increase the flight performance of the aircraft and the variant of this upgrade would keep the aircraft in service for a longer duration.
The technical negotiations between the IAF and ICDS of Russia, which have been going on for sometime, are likely to conclude in October this year, said Borodich.
The biggest feature of the deep upgrade, is the inclusion of the AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar.But the integration would be in two phases, one with array and one without array. Presently the Sukhoi aircraft uses a passive radar. The upgradation of the radar too has two stages, one of which is modification of the radar system, since it has to be integrated on the aircraft, which is possible by 2015, and the other stage would be installation of the system on the aircraft.
Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan had several meetings with the IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal P K Barbora, during the MAKS air show, to sort out the configuration of the upgraded radar on the aircraft as specified by the IAF.
The IAF operates three squadrons of the Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft, and has approximately 60 aircraft in its inventory, all of which would have the upgraded data systems, digital glass cockpit, and other systems on board, after the contract is signed for upgrade.
The Indian Air Force (IAF)'s mainstay heavy weight fighters, the Russian Sukhoi 30MKI aircraft to be upgraded, will undergo two types of upgradation programmes. India Director of the Sukhoi programme, Vitaly A Borodich said during the biennial air show MAKS-2009 in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, that Moscow was looking at an increased participation from New Delhi in the upgrade programme.The joint upgrade will involve the Russian Federation's Irkutsk, and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
One of the upgrades will be the structural modification of the aircraft to have the air version of the Brahmos missile installed on it. Active negotiations are on for Brahmos integration on the aircraft. Sources have indicated that the IAF is looking at around three years to recieve the modified aircraft.
The launcher interface is to be integrated to the aircraft, internal trials to be conducted, before the field evaluation tests of the missile could begin, all of which would take a year or slightly more, and three years for its induction in service.
The air-launched version of the missile for the IAF has taken longer than anticipated. The air to ground missile to be integrated on the Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft of the IAF was to be ready by the end of 2009.
The first test of the missile is likely not before 2010-11.
The second upgrade for the existing fleet of the fighter is called the 'deep upgrade', which includes enhanced combat features, systems and avionics, which would increase the flight performance of the aircraft and the variant of this upgrade would keep the aircraft in service for a longer duration.
The technical negotiations between the IAF and ICDS of Russia, which have been going on for sometime, are likely to conclude in October this year, said Borodich.
The biggest feature of the deep upgrade, is the inclusion of the AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar.But the integration would be in two phases, one with array and one without array. Presently the Sukhoi aircraft uses a passive radar. The upgradation of the radar too has two stages, one of which is modification of the radar system, since it has to be integrated on the aircraft, which is possible by 2015, and the other stage would be installation of the system on the aircraft.
Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan had several meetings with the IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal P K Barbora, during the MAKS air show, to sort out the configuration of the upgraded radar on the aircraft as specified by the IAF.
The IAF operates three squadrons of the Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft, and has approximately 60 aircraft in its inventory, all of which would have the upgraded data systems, digital glass cockpit, and other systems on board, after the contract is signed for upgrade.
