India's Sukhoi Jets to be upgraded to Fifth Generation Characteristics

Source : IDRW

News source : IANS

India’s air superiority Sukhoi-30MKI fighters will soon be converted into ‘Super Sukhois’ by upgrading them with fifth generation combat jet features, the Russian original equipment manufacturer Irkut Corporation has announced. 

The upgrade will include a new cockpit, an upgraded radar and advanced stealth characteristics to make the plane less visible to enemy radar than the existing Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30 fleet, Irkut’s president and chairman Alexy Fedorov said at the Moscow Air Show here.

The IAF currently has five operational Sukhoi 30MKI squadrons numbering around 100
aircraft. It will ultimately have over 230 Sukhoi-30MKIs or 13 squadrons in its fleet.

The fleet is under licenced production at the Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the entire fleet will be upgraded to the ‘Super Sukhoi’ configuration.

“The upgrade will apply not only to the aircraft in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF) but also to those yet to be delivered to India and to be licence-manufactured by HAL,” Fedorov said.

Most significantly, the aircraft will be able to carry a heavier weapon load, including the airborne version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, he added.

China's first aircraft carrier sets sail on maiden voyage

Source : RiaNovosti

China's first aircraft carrier, originally built in the Soviet Union, left its shipyard in northeastern Liaoning province early on Wednesday for its first sea trial, Xinhua said.



The ship's maiden voyage will be short, the news agency quoted military sources as saying. After returning from the trial, the aircraft carrier will continue refit and test work, the sources said.


China bought the Admiral Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier, named Varyag by the Soviets, from Ukraine for $20 million in 1998. Before being sold, the ship was disarmed and its engines were removed.

The 1,000-feet vessel is designed to carry 26 planes and 24 helicopters and be equipped with Soviet-designed AK-630 and CADS-N-1 Kashtan close-in weapon systems, P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles, Tor short-range surface-to-air missile systems and UDAV-1 anti-submarine weapon systems.

MMRCA Updates

SOURCE: AVIATION WEEK

 

The winner of the Indian air force’s $12 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) fighter competition should soon emerge, as the government is set to formally begin the process of identifying the lowest bidder in early September.

The Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale are the final contenders left in the race and Indian government officials have finalized how they will judge offset and industrial participation offers that are crucial in deciding which company will be chosen to supply the initial order for 126 fighters. However, a defense ministry official indicates that the air force wants contractual options to be exercised immediately, which would boost the buy to 189 fighters and the program value to almost $20 billion.

Air Chief Marshal (ret.) P.V. Naik revealed the impending source selection decision just before he retired July 31 and said a formula has been found to benchmark the offers to provide a like-for-like comparison. This is designed to determine what the government considers a reasonable cost, reflecting several factors such as pricing in other countries, known commercial bids and inflation.

The defense ministry’s Technical Offsets Evaluation Committee has almost completed its review of the two offset packages and will make its report final shortly, according to government officials. The MMRCA competition has a 50% offsets requirement, running into at least $6 billion and acknowledged by industry observers to be one of the most challenging reinvestment propositions in recent aerospace contracting.

A key challenge is that India’s aerospace industry is not considered mature enough to absorb all those offsets, putting pressure on the winner to work with companies to establish the capability to deliver on what is being promised, warns a European industry executive. 

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