Su-30 for Russian Air Force

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110718/165261909.html

IAPO from Irkutsk is in talking with Russian MoD to deliver 40 Su-30 to Russian air force. Contract will be signed next year.

Nice.

Should be a huge step up from Su-27 while not being as expensive as Su-35.

http://www.interfax.ru/news.asp?id=200064

Black sea fleet of Russian navy will in next three years buy 12 Su-30SM fighters to replace their old Su-24 planes. Maybe those 12 planes will be a part of 40 planes order for Irkut.

Irkut to supply 40 Su-30 fighters to Russian Air Force

RIA Novosti

15:23 18/07/2011 IRKUTSK, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Irkut aircraft holding is in talks with the Defense Ministry on the delivery of up to 40 Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighters to the Russian Air Force, the company said on Monday.

"We will sign a contract with the Defense Ministry next year," Irkut President Alexei Fyodorov said.

The contract stipulates the initial delivery of 28 fighter jets and the supply of an additional 12 aircraft as an option.

The Su-30 Flanker-C is a twin-engine, two-seat multirole fighter for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface missions. Russia currently operates four of these fighter jets.

Fyodorov said the company had slashed its modernization program from 40 billion rubles ($1.4 bln) to 30 billion rubles.

"We have reduced the amount of investment by folding several projects that are not related to the development of MS-21 [passenger] aircraft," he said.

The MS-21 is a family of twin-engine jet aircraft with a capacity of 150-212 passengers being designed and produced by Irkut and the Yakovlev design bureau, part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation. The model was showcased for the first time at Farnborough International Airshow in 2010.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2011/russia-110718-rianovosti01.htm

Black sea fleet of Russian navy will in next three years buy 12 Su-30SM fighters to replace their old Su-24 planes. Maybe those 12 planes will be a part of 40 planes order for Irkut.

This is very strange... I thought the Russian Navy had lost all its land based strike and fighter components and was left with land based maritime patrol and ASW aircraft and ship based aircraft...

http://www.rg.ru/2011/06/14/reg-dvostok/su.html

Old news, but still correct to be here. Russian air force regiment in Far East receive 2 factory new Su-30 fighters. Unfortunately it's not clear if they were from Komsomolsk on Amur or from Irkutsk.

http://www.lenta.ru/news/2011/11/10/su30m2/

Russian air force will receive additional 10 Su-30M2 to operate in North Caucasus region, where are already 2 Su-30M2. I think ( new Su-27SM will also go there to join 4 Su-27SM3, which operate there too. So they could have two new squadrons there, one with 12 Su-27SM3 and one with 12 Su-30M2.

Their range would allow them to deal with any "problems" in South Ossetia or Abkhazia if needed urgently too.

By putting them there they have modern aircraft able to react quickly without the outcry that would come from Georgia if they based Su-35s there.

There is a bit of a shift from WVR combat to BVR combat, and in many ways the Su-34 is as good as any fighter in BVR combat.

It is all a bit like trying to fit R-77s to an Mi-28N however... you might be able to do it, but the Mi-28N has a job and by filling its weapon pylons with R-77s you are actually making it less capable in its intended role.

In many ways I would think the Su-34 is a direct replacement for the Su-24, while for air cover the Su-34 would likely have Su-35s above it.
The Su-30 could be considered a mix... depending on the version, as either an mini AWACS controlling a flight of lesser fighters... directing them to targets and controlling their missiles so the lesser fighters can operate radar and radio silent while getting target data from the Su-30.
The other role of light strike/fighter means the Su-30 can also replace the combination of Mig-23 and Mig-27 in the medium and short range strike role. This is opposed to the combat air support role that will be performed by a combination of Helos and Su-25s, where the enemy is in direct combat and your aircraft are being used as mobile artillery to hit them and weaken their hard points.

George1 wrote:Do anyone know which is the actual numder of Su-30 in russian air force? In wiki i read for 5 su-30 + 4 new su-30m2

That's about right, several of the "old" Su-30s are still very much operational, 4 Su-30M2s delivered, and 2 Su-30SM in 2012.

I think some of the "old" Su-30s were actually part of the PVO, and so now might be part of the space and air defence forces.

It is rather tricky to pick out the Su-30 as of course it looks very much like the Su-27UB two seat operational trainer that the Su-30 was based upon.

Pretty sure they are VVS, based at Lipetsk.

Here is a nice recent pic:
http://russianplanes.net/ID62829

Lipetsk is the Russian Air Force training centre... all new aircraft go there for final testing and to create operations manuals and support schedules.

The old Su-30 aircraft in Russian service were used by the PVO, which at that time was part of the Air force, and its purpose was as a lead fighter that would use its superior radar to detect targets and pass target data to other aircraft flying in the formation who could therefore operate radar silent closer to the targets to launch missiles.

These new Su-30s are fully multirole and are quite different aircraft.

GarryB wrote:I think some of the "old" Su-30s were actually part of the PVO, and so now might be part of the space and air defence forces.

Possible, given that at one point they were based at Savasleyka with MiG-31s as part of the training unit.

GarryB wrote:It is rather tricky to pick out the Su-30 as of course it looks very much like the Su-27UB two seat operational trainer that the Su-30 was based upon.

Except the Su-30 has always featured an IFR probe and the correspondng offset IRST dome. Both are easily noticed.

http://lenta.ru/news/2012/03/22/su30sm/

Russian MoD sign a contract with Irkut to buy 30 Su-30SM.

Interesting that they are planning to use them as replacements for the Su-24 for the Navy.

I suspect it is a combination of the Su-30 being able to be produced in numbers quickly and probably cheaper, while still being able to carry the weapons necessary for the mission.

Except the Su-30 has always featured an IFR probe and the correspondng offset IRST dome. Both are easily noticed.

Quite right, but not all photos are from the front of course...

Sukhoi Su-30SM: An Indian Gift to Russia�s Air Force

RIA Novosti

22:11 23/03/2012 Konstantin Bogdanov, RIA Novosti military analyst - Russia’s Defense Ministry has ordered 30 heavy Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter planes. Given that the same model has been exported to India for more than 10 years, this choice seems both logical and pragmatic.

Thirty 30’s

The Defense Ministry and the Irkut Corporation, an affiliate of the United Aircraft Corporation, have signed a supply contract for 30 Su-30SM multirole fighter aircraft, a Defense Ministry spokesman told journalists Thursday, March 22. “Under the contract, Irkut Corporation will build for Russia’s Ministry of Defense 30 planes of this type by 2015,” he said.

Rumors that Irkut, a long-standing exporter, may supply several dozen fighter aircraft to the Russian Air Force began circulating late last year. Now the rumor has become a reality – a contract in black and white.

But why did the Defense Ministry choose the Su-30’s? After all, they have been mostly supplied to customers abroad rather than to the Russian Armed Forces, where just a few planes of this type are in use.

The Su-30, properly speaking, is an entire family of aircraft and the most famous Russian-made (not to be confused with Soviet-made) fighter plane outside of Russia. It was developed in the Soviet Union on the basis of the Su-27UB combat trainer aircraft as a command plane for Air Defense air regiments flying ordinary Su-27 interceptor aircraft.

In 1993, its export version, the Su-30K, was developed, sparking record demand and the sale of several hundred planes.

The family is further subdivided into two parts: the “Chinese” Su-30MKK/MK2, which were produced in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and exported to Venezuela, Indonesia, Uganda, Vietnam, and of course China; and the “Indian” Su-30MKI, manufactured in Irkutsk and purchased by India, Algeria and Malaysia.

The model ordered by the Russian military is a “localized” version of the “Indian” Su-30MKI. Earlier, Komsomolsk-on-Amur delivered to the Air Force four “localized” Su-30MK2’s.

A flying multi-tasker

As a basic platform for the multirole heavy fighter aircraft, the Su-30MKI is remarkable primarily for its universality. It boasts a so-called “open architecture”, making it relatively easy to add new systems in the basic electronic equipment and to use advanced guided weapons (supplied by different manufacturers).

The Su-30MKI sports a Russian radar and optic locator, French navigation and heads-up display systems, Israeli EW and weapon-guidance systems, and Indian computers.

The “Chinese” line is based on a different logic that prescribes parallel installation of new systems that fall short of full integration.

Most likely, the military is attracted by how easy it is to add different weapons and equipment to the Su-30MKI, transforming it into an attack fighter-bomber, a heavy interceptor aircraft, or something else.

Who placed the order?

It is hard to pinpoint who exactly ordered these 30 aircraft. The contract was signed by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Irkut President Alexei Fedorov. After the signing ceremony, Serdyukov commented that the planes would “increase the Air Force’s combat power.”

By contrast, Fedorov went on record as saying last summer that the Defense Ministry was going to order 40 aircraft. Later the press reported, citing the Irkutsk aircraft plant’s general director Alexander Veprev, that the deliveries were likely to be made in two installments: the first 28 aircraft were intended for the Air Force and another 12 as an option for naval aviation. Air Force C-in-C Alexander Zelin confirmed the figure of 28 in fall 2011.
As we can see, the first batch of Sukhoi-30’s has been purchased. The remaining 12, as some military sources intimated to the press, were intended for the Black Sea Fleet’s naval aviation.

Given that naval aviation has seen cuts in combat aircraft, it seems logical to reinforce it with heavy Su-30SM two-seaters that are efficient both in air-to-air combat and against ground and surface targets.

Thus far, however, there is no mention of plans to buy the Su-30 for the Navy. Possibly the option will be realized later.

Exporters’ courtesy

There is another simple explanation for choice of the Su-30MKI. Irkut has been churning out these planes for 10 years thanks to its completely streamlined production method. This means that its products are of high quality, relatively cheap (which pleases the Defense Ministry in particular) and will be supplied on time.

It is one thing if, in order to make 30 aircraft, you have to breathe life into an idling plant, to fine-tune (or develop anew) your technological method, buy additional equipment, and – still worse – hire personnel. But it’s quite another if you have been manufacturing standardized aircraft for years and years and can easily divert your workforce to produce an “improved” modification for your own country’s Air Force. The cost of this batch on the side is dramatically lower.

This approach (buying quickly and on the cheap what can be produced immediately) has been growing in popularity in the Russian military. We have mentioned the Su-30M2 combat trainer aircraft intended for the Russian Air Force. The same goes for the carrier-based MiG-29K, which in its present form was developed for the Indian Navy.

This approach is logical in its own way. The military expects certain fundamentally new models that are being tested with some degree of success. The Air Force is eying the T-50, the fifth-generation fighter aircraft, and the Navy has been trying to get into shape its Lada project involving the construction of non-nuclear submarines. The Land Forces have boycotted the purchases of all currently existing armor models, urging manufacturers to invent something totally new.

In the meantime, the Armed Forces will buy cheap, mass-produced, well-equipped, if ordinary, military hardware, like the Su-30SM.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2012/russia-120323-rianovosti03.htm

Nice article.

In many ways the Su-30MKs they are buying are cheap two seat Su-35 models, and I have read in an article that mentions the order for 40 with 28 going to the Air Force and 12 going to the Navy, that the Navy aircraft are to replace the Su-24s which have been transferred to the Air Force, and that the aircraft going to the Air Force will be used as multirole aircraft, but that one use will be as trainer aircraft for the Su-35.

This makes a lot of sense to me as there is a huge step from an Su-27 or Su-27UB to an Su-35 in many ways, and making Su-30MKs is much cheaper than making a two seater Su-35.

In terms of export there are the two strands of Su-30 that can be used so if someone bought the Su-30MKI they could use those as trainers if they decided to buy Su-35s. Equally those that bought Su-30MKKs could use them as trainers or even this new variant of the Su-30MK being developed for the Russian AF.

The main difference between the Su-30MKK and the Su-30MKI is that the latter integrates foreign equipment as mentioned above but most importantly uses a military standard digital data bus... like an onboard computer network, that pretty much works like a PC computer where as long as the sensors and components meet the standards can be added like a plug and play device like a memory stick or external hard drive on a computer.

For the MKK it is perhaps more like an old MacIntosh where things not made by Apple either wont work at all or will need additional interface hardware and software to get the two things to communicate.

Just the Su-27SMs ability to carry R-77 will improve its worth over a basic Su-27P by 3-4 times in the air to air role, but I would think that 150 Flankers of various types will not be sufficient.

They will have 100 upgraded Mig-31s, they should have 150 odd Mig-29SMT/-35s as well.

PAK FA numbers are likely to be 200-250, but I would expect a relatively low production rate so it might be 60-100 PAK FAs by 2020 and 250 by 2025.

A stealthy short range attack CAS type to replace the Su-25 will be interesting though...

150 odd MiG-29SMTs/35s is really unlikely IMO. SMT upgrade is done, the AF is not interested in anymore. There is possibility of 35 batch, but how much? Probably around 24-36, if it ever happens.

I do agree the number of Flankers will be insufficient, I'd like to see the Su-35 order after the current batch to be doubled. 96 over 5 years would be a good sign of the industry recovery, and are badly needed. Hopes and reality often differ though .

I was thinking more in terms of perhaps a few more Mig-29s in the best condition with the lowest hours getting an SMT upgrade, and perhaps a 48 aircraft batch of Mig-35s.

The Mig equivalent of the Su-30MK would be the Mig-29M2 which is basically a Mig-29K2 with non folding wings and no tailhook and would be more capable than the SMT models but cheaper than the Mig-35s.

I think investment in Migs would be very useful and fill out numbers efficiently, though the Mig-35s will be the most expensive Mig fighter because of its AESA radar it might also be the most capable too.

This would be very good for Mig, but also for the makers of radar used by Mig aircraft. Klimov, the maker of the RD-33 is probably doing OK as it is supplying engines to China for their JF-17 and of course for the Indian order for Mig-29Ks and upgrades of Indian Mig-29UPGs.

Klimov is also making the new more powerful Helicopter engines for the Ka-52, Mi-28NM and other helos, taking over from Motor Sich...

I wonder if Russian MoD will also buy more Su-30M2 in KNAAPO for two seater trainer.