Advertisement

SU-30MKI (bottom)
and Eurofighter (top),
Indra Dhanush 2007
(click to view full)

India’s 105 existing SU-30MKI aircraft are the pride of its fleet, and up to 230 have already been ordered in 3 stages: 50 ordered directly in 1996, another 40 ordered direct in 2007, and a license-build deal with HAL that aims to produce up to 140 more planes from 203-2017. The aircraft and crews performed very well at an American Red Flag exercise in 2008, and the RAF’s respect for it in the 2007 Indra Dhanush exercise is equally instructive.

India is undertaking the Tejas LCA program to fill its low-end fighter needs, and the $10+ billion MMRCA competition will purchase an intermediate tier. But India isn’t neglecting its high end, either. Recent reports indicate that another purchase of SU-30MKIs may be in the works, along with an upgrade program for serving aircraft…

Contracts & Key Events

SU-30MKI
(click to view full)

Oct 9/09: The Indian Ministry of Defence issues a release regarding the 9th meeting of the Russia-India Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation on Oct 14-15/09:

“The modernisation of the SU 30 MKI aircraft is also expected to come up for discussion in the Commission’s meeting. The aircraft, contracted in 1996, are due for overhaul shortly and the Russia side have offered an upgrade of the aircraft with incorporation of the latest technologies during the major overhaul.”

Obvious areas for modernization would include the aircraft’s N011M Bars radar, now that Russian AESA designs are beginning to appear. Engine improvements underway for Russia’s SU-35 program would also be a logical candidate for any SU-30MKI upgrades. The most important modification, however, might be an upgraded datalink that could reduce the level of coalition fratricide observed in exercises like Red Flag 2008. Indian MoD | RIA Novosti.

IL-78MK Refuels
IL-78 refuels SU-30MKIs

Oct 2/09: Jane’s reports that India is looking to buy another 50 SU-30MKIs, quoting Air Chief Marshal P V Naik who said that the IAF was “interested.” This comes hard on the heels of comments that the IAF’s fleet strength was 1/3 the size of China’s, coupled with comments that the IAF would eliminate its fighter squadron deficit by 2022.

Interest is not a purchase, but reported prices of $50-60 million for an aircraft that can can equal or best $110-120 million F-15 variants do make the the SU-30 an attractive buy, even relative to options like the foreign designs competing for the MMRCA contract. Forecast International offers an additional possibility, citing the context within which that interest was expressed, and wondering if the new SU-30KIs might be tasked with a nuclear delivery role. Their range and payload would certainly make them uniquely suited to such a role within the IAF.

If a purchase does ensue, it would be good news for a number of players, including Indian firms that have contributed technologies to the SU-30MKI design. Samtel Display Systems (SDS), who makes avionics for the SU-30MKI’s cockpit, would be one example of a growing slate of private Indian defense firms with niche capabilities. Construction firms may also benefit; The Deccan Herald reports that:

“The IAF is keeping one squadron of its most advanced Su-30 MKI fighters in Bareilly whose primary responsibility is the western and middle sector of the LAC. Similarly a Su-30 base is being created in Tezpur, Assam, for the eastern sector [near China].”

See: Jane’s | Russia’s RIA Novosti | Times of India | Associated Press of Pakistan | Pakistan’s Daily Times | Avio News | Forecast International | IAF size comments: Daily Pioneer and Sify News | Frontline Magazine on Indian-Chinese relations.

Additional Readings

• Wikipedia – SU-30MKI

• Bharat Rakshak – SU-30MKI Flanker

• Vayu Sena – Irkut/HAL Su-30MKI Air Dominance Fighter

• Flight Interational (Nov 6/08) – US Red Flag pilot candidly assesses Su-30MKI’s limits, Rafale’s dirty tricks. Compared to US F-15/F-16s, the USAF pilot describes the SU-30MKI as “a bit better.”

• The DEW Line (Nov 5/08) – USAF pilot describes IAF Su-30MKI performance at Red Flag-08. Video Briefing – really enlightening re: tactics, also use of French Rafales for industrial espionage.

• Indian Defence Review (Vol 23.4, Sept-Dec 2008) – Strategic Implications of Exercise Red Flag 2008 By Air Marshal BK Pandey.

• Milavia – Flankers in Eagle’s Realm, 08-04. notes that the SU-30MKI’s Tikhomirov Instrument Bureau (NIIP) radars were restricted to training mode, in order to preserve secrecy, and the only missiles they allowed themselves to simulate were older AA-10s, not short-range AA-11/R-73 Archers or AA-12/R-77 “AMRAAMSKIs”. The exclusion of the AA-11 is odd, since the USA got plenty of training with them from German MiG-29s.

• Aviation Week (Aug 21/08) – Indian Advanced Su-30MKIs Come to USA

• DID (July 17/07) – Typhoon vs. SU-30MKI: The 2007 Indra Dhanush Exercise