Indian Su-30MKI: News

India to ditch Russian AL-41F-1S engines for its Sukhoi Su-30MKIs
November 15, 2024 Maurizio Sparacino

Rosoboronexport, the Russian defense export agency, has proposed that India upgrade its Su-30MKI fighter aircraft by installing the AL-41F-1S engine, the same powerplant as the Sukhoi Su-35 multirole combat aircraft and the upgraded version of the Su-30SM known as the Su-30SM2 .

A proposal aimed at upgrading the Indian Su-30MKIs considering the qualities of the engine with higher thrust, lower fuel consumption and other improvements. However, New Delhi declined the proposal deciding to retain the current AL-31FP engine, apparently to retain the current infrastructure and logistics built around this engine for which the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have vast experience in maintaining it along with large stocks of spare parts and trained personnel.

The transition to the AL-41F-1S would require significant investments not only in the acquisition of high-performance engines, but also in upgrading existing infrastructure in addition to additional costs for personnel training and maintenance.

Given the budget constraints notoriously present in the Asian country, the switch to the new engine is not financially possible, at least not in the immediate future. On the other hand, as reported last month by Analisi Difesa , New Delhi has also given the green light to a major deal for the production of 240 AL-31FP engines for its Su-30MKI fighters over the next eight years.

https://www.analisidifesa.it/2024/10/lindia-acquistera-240-motori-al-31fp-per-i-sukhoi-su-30mki/

The engines will be procured from HAL at a total cost of over Rs 260 billion (about $3.1 billion), with deliveries expected to begin from 2025 and under the terms of the contract to be completed within eight years. The AL-31FPs will thus be manufactured at HAL’s Koraput facility and will feature 54% Indian-made components with the remainder being manufactured by Russia’s Salyut (for a value of about $1.14 billion).

In 2021, Russia's United Engine Corporation (UEC) signed an agreement in India on the transfer of licenses for the production of AL-31FP engines to the aircraft manufacturing company HAL under the so-called “Make in India” program.

This collaboration on the one hand strengthens India's self-sufficiency in defense production, on the other hand it enhances the operational capabilities of the IAF without mentioning the maintenance of the strategic relationship with Russia. Last but not least, it is worth mentioning the recent modernization program of a first maxi batch of 84 Indian Su-30MKIs worth 7.5 billion dollars.

The ambitious plan aims to significantly expand the capabilities of the Indian Su-30MKIs by making them more lethal in air-to-air combat and air-to-ground operations, including the integration of advanced technologies such as modern radars, avionics and long-range weapons.

Sujoy wrote:
The Virupaksha radar now being installed on the Su 30MKI makes it the most formidable aircraft in the subcontinent that can easily match the Chinese J-10 and Su-35.

https://sputniknews.in/20240805/indias-virupaksha-radar-to-revolutionise-su-3omki-fighter-jets-7961976.html

"It should be noted that India is already at an advanced stage in the development of the Virupaksha radar and LRDE is about to fit the prototype of this radar on the Sukhoi-30MKI combat aircraft," Group Captain (Retd) Uttam Kumar Devnath, an IAF veteran, told Sputnik India on Monday.
He highlighted that Virupaksha was an upscaled version of the Uttam Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar that has already been installed on the LCA Tejas and hence, it is expected to track, detect, and monitor targets at a much longer range with far better accuracy.
"During trials, it has been able to track 64 to 100 targets simultaneously. Furthermore, it is vital for an Air Force pilot to launch multiple air-to-air missiles and Virupaksha radar has been successful in controlling, maneuvering, and steering six missiles at a target concurrently in air-to-air attack mode," added Devnath, who served as the head of the material-management group at the Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL) during his long stint in the Indian Armed Forces.
The expert reckoned that if successive trials show similar results, it is quite probable that the IAF would ask HAL to equip the Su-30MKIs with the Virupaksha radars

Tactical and technical characteristics
Air-to-Air mode: - detection range of targets with RCS = 3 m2 – 350 km Coverage area: - elevation: ± 60 degrees; - azimuth: ± 120 degrees. Number of detected and tracked targets - 30 pcs. Number of simultaneously engaged aerial targets - up to 8 pcs. Air-to-Surface mode: - mapping with a synthetic aperture with a resolution of 3 meters; - mapping with a real beam in the DOL mode; - selection of moving ground targets; - tracking of up to 4 ground targets; - tracking of one ground target while maintaining airspace coverage

GarryB wrote:My understanding is that electric generators are attached to the drive shaft of the jet engine to convert the rotational energy of the jet turbine into electrical energy.

Improvements in takeoff power can be as simple as improved efficiency generators attached to the jet engines.

There was a test of jamming platforms for the Russian AF and it came down to an Il-76 and a Tu-22M3 aircraft type.

In terms of jamming the Tu-22M3 offered the chance of flying with supersonic aircraft and strike and strategic bomber types, while the Il-76 had more room for jamming equipment.

In the end it came down to the fact that generators on four 12 ton high bypass engines generate more electrical energy and the Il-76 had more room for bigger more powerful jamming systems than the two 25 ton thrust engines of the Tu-22M3.

An electric generator is merely an electric motor so new electric motor technology is going to improve generator efficiency and performance over time.