According to AN INTERNET DEFENSE NEWS SITE
SU 30 is getting Scorpius Escort Jammer from Israel Elta
Sukhoi Su-30MKI
- Thread starter Ashwin
- Start date
According to AN INTERNET DEFENSE NEWS SITE
SU 30 is getting Scorpius Escort Jammer from Israel Elta
The recent DAC clearance pertains to amendments to a previous approval from DAC. I believe they have reduced the development timeline from 7 years to 5. Papers are now being processed for CCS clearance. This implies that by 2035, 84 Su-30 MKI aircraft must have completed MLU.
Increasing the numbers from 12 per year to 24 is not difficult.
They have a separate Nasik MRO line doing 20 per year. Im assuming it will be doing this.
Finally gov showing some seriousness. Su30 MKU will literally outclass anything in our enemies arsenal except J20.
By that time china Will already have further upgraded it's j16's which already have GaAs Aesa radars and other shit.
They even have growler equivalent using j16.
Su30 MKI MLU can still match J16 as it will come right out the bat with GaN radar.
J-16 is literally their fighter-bomber while MKI despite 40-60 units converted for carrying BrahMos is our primary Air Dominance Fighter. It's born superior to J-16 against popular opinion. With UPG. MLU, it will easily outclass J-16. And we're working on a Photonics based AESA radar for MKI UPG. batch 2 or 3. That will make passive stealth completely redundant. Even Virupaksha is getting developed with in-built AI enabled algorithms to detect and track VLO targets at BVR ranges. So it will be able to fight J-20 and J-35 on its own.
Or the MLU line itself will be expanded. It also means the first phase could go beyond the initial 84 jets too.
Future upgrades depend on what they do about the engine though.
Yup, no Photonics radar with current engines. However, GOI is in talks with Saturn to procure/local manufacter 177S engines. If that happens then Virupaksha 2 featuring GaN-on-Diamond and Virupaksha 3 featuring Photonics based AESA are all in perfect realms of possibility.
May I escort you back to reality, good sir? Talks with Saturn for local prod of 177S? 177S isn't flight certified yet, and would require funds for completion from the customer. A country which is penny pinching for it's local aero engines is not going to pay for development & certification of a foreign engine. I'd suggest, stop putting too much stock into reports with no substance. They're nothing short of fiction, existing just for the sole purpose of generating clicks.
why didnt MoD get the al41 engine for super sukhoi, and will we stop at 84+12 units or will se eventually upgrade the whole fleet, lots of confusion in the defence space
Talks are serious, just leave it at that
Anyways, to power high capability radars, MKI UPG. would need more advance and powerful engines is a well-known fact. Who knows, in future even AL-51F could be put into it?!
Agree on the need for more powerful engines. By the time Su-30 MLU takes off, the AL-51F hopefully be fully ready so that we can approach the Russians for that. No point going for an engine which isn't a significant upgrade (AL-41F1) or which needs our money for completion (177S).Talks are serious, just leave it at that
Anyways, to power high capability radars, MKI UPG. would need more advance and powerful engines is a well-known fact. Who knows, in future even AL-51F could be put into it?!
There's already a contact signed for delivery of 240 AL-31 TFs wherein deliveries commenced late last year & is due to be completed in 2032.Talks are serious, just leave it at that
Anyways, to power high capability radars, MKI UPG. would need more advance and powerful engines is a well-known fact. Who knows, in future even AL-51F could be put into it?!
That's straight away 120 MKIs undergoing engine upgradation. Around 80 MKIs are undergoing major structural , avionics & sensor upgradation in a project due to be completed by ~ 2040 (?).
Beyond that we aren't even aware whether all the MKIs will be similarly upgraded or this will be all .
Frankly I don't see where does the 177S fit into all of this ?
177S is also known "Universal Flanker Engine". People are wrongly assuming that only India has to foot the bill for the development of this engine. People also assumed the same regarding Su-57. But did Russia stop Su-57 development or production after India dropped out of FGFA program? Nope.
Similarly, 177S is nothing but amalgamation of AL-51F1 tech into AL-31FP. Its size and weight is identical to AL-31FP along with all the mounting points. Which means unlike AL-41F-1S, which needs a larger intake, it's legit dtop fit into all current Flankers and Hellduck without any modifications.
Now, what does it bring to the table? Much higher fuel efficiency, supercruise, much lower RF & IR signature, far better thrust-to-weight ratio and 6000hrs total life.
Even if we have to foot the bill of its deveopment and get 100% tech/IP rights along with know-why and know-how, then the smart thing would be to jump the ship and join its development.
Jet engine development is the final frontier for us. Once we have it, 100% self-reliance is then only a matter of time.
PS: When I talk about such things, people only look at my optimism but no one cares to look deeply towards my sagacity, which is not very good.
I'm not really sure if the IAF is keen on engine change. Let's see if the AL-31F itself is upgraded or not.
Money is less of a problem.
Another one of my usual scary predictions is coming to pass.
India intends to hike defence expenditure share in GDP to 2.5% from 1.9% in next 5 year plan: Defence secy - CNBC TV18
Defence Secretary RK Singh said India signed two contracts worth ₹2 lakh crore in the financial year 2025 and the ministry intends to keep up a similar pace. Read on:
2.5% in 5 years. We are expected to be a $7+T economy by 2030. That gives us a defense budget of $175B. By 2035, we are likely to be $10 or $11T, that takes us to $250B. We are likely to see the capital budget rising from 30% to 40-45%, which will give us upwards of $100B, roughly 5 times higher than today's.
MKI will still remain our tip of the spear in 2035, I don't see the IAF penny-pinching upgrades for it.
While I find 117S unlikely, it's merely an incremental upgrade over the AL-31FP, 117 seems to be a stopgap, so a derated AL-51F can become an option. That's the level of upgrade necessary to push the MKI towards 6th gen avionics. AL-51 has been made compatible with Flankers.
Plus the Russians need to figure out ways to cut holes in the MKI's airframe for new sensors, something they have been shying away from due to lack of their own offerings. So future MKI upgrades can become more complex. I don't see the IAF making the same mistake they made with Jaguars either.
By 2040 there's a good chance we could reengine most of the fleet, at least 8-10 squadrons. Or even the last 4-5 squadrons meant to be used until 2065-70.