Sukhoi Su-30MKI
- Thread starter Ashwin
- Start date
So capacity is going to idle till new contract?
Or they have been informally given go ahead to make additional Su 30 with internal funds..
They can't go ahead informally, as any new order will have to be approved by Russians as they will be providing the kits in lieu of royalty payments....
I hope we aren't stupid enough to keep production capacity idle with so much shortage of fighters....
But there is no signature for Mk1A, super Sukhoi or additional Su 30.
So can't make a guess.
I don't think we ll sign anything in coming months without budget for it.
8-12 Su30MKI production will be approved soon.
The problem is budget. IAF says that directly importing Su30MKI from irkut and then adding western components at BRD will be 25-30% cheaper atleast, and much quicker too.
But the prime concern for additional Su30MKI orders is that the HAL line shouldn't go idle before the start of Super Sukhoi Refit program.
Let's see.
The problem is budget. IAF says that directly importing Su30MKI from irkut and then adding western components at BRD will be 25-30% cheaper atleast, and much quicker too.
But the prime concern for additional Su30MKI orders is that the HAL line shouldn't go idle before the start of Super Sukhoi Refit program.
Let's see.
262 flying pieces should be there.
I can count of 10 accidents. One of them the airframe seemed that it might be possible to repair it, so it might be between 260-263.
Read the news that the last of the SU-30MKI NO.222 delivered to IAF and no future orders at present.
So 222 assembled in India, 50 from Russia, that's the original procurement requirements of 272 units done.
10 crashes and remaining are 262?.
So IAF will have 262 SU-30MKI and now invest in other jets?
So 222 assembled in India, 50 from Russia, that's the original procurement requirements of 272 units done.
10 crashes and remaining are 262?.
So IAF will have 262 SU-30MKI and now invest in other jets?
There's a further 12-18 in the pipeline to make up for attrition. Post which we're expected to sign the package for the Super Sukhoi upgrade. There's a lot of speculation that once the upgrade package is signed we may go in for another 60-70 odd jets in the upgraded configuration apart from getting such kits & subjecting most if not all the remaining 262 jets here to the same upgrade. So, we're talking about 350 jets here.
Su-30 MKI Crash List
Its 9 crashes as of today.
April 30, 2009: An IAF pilot killed and another seriously injured in the first-ever Su-30 MKI fighter jet crash near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
November 30, 2009: A Sukhoi fighter jet crashed during a routine training sortie south-west of Pokhran firing ranges in Rajasthan. The two pilots, Wing Commander Srivastava and Flight Lieutenant Arora, bailed out safely.
December 13, 2011: A Sukhoi jet crashed soon after taking off from Lohegaon airbase near Pune but both the pilots managed to bail out safely. The aircraft was on a routine mission.
February 19, 2013: A Sukhoi aircraft crashed in Jaisalmer but both the pilots bailed out safely. There was no loss of life or damage to property on the ground.
October 14, 2014: A Sukhoi jet crashed at a village near Pune. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were unharmed.
May 19, 2015: A Sukhoi fighter crashed at Laokhowa in Nagaon district of Assam with both the pilot and co-pilot ejecting safely. It was on a routine sortie from Tezpur Air Force station and lost radar connection and crashed thereafter.
March 15, 2017: A Sukhoi aircraft crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer district, injuring three villagers. Both the pilots ejected safely from the plane.
Jul 14, 2018 : An IAF statement said a two-seater SU-30 MKI which took off from Tezpur airbase today as part of a two-aircraft formation, lost radar and radio contact with the IAF's air traffic control at 11.10 am.
Aug 9, 2019: An Indian Air Force fighter jet crashed Thursday night in Assam. The air force jet that crashed was a Sukhoi Su-30. The Su-30 MKI fighter jet was on a routine training mission when it crashed in the paddy field in the Milanpur area and burst into flames at around 8:30 pm.
Its 9 crashes as of today.
April 30, 2009: An IAF pilot killed and another seriously injured in the first-ever Su-30 MKI fighter jet crash near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
November 30, 2009: A Sukhoi fighter jet crashed during a routine training sortie south-west of Pokhran firing ranges in Rajasthan. The two pilots, Wing Commander Srivastava and Flight Lieutenant Arora, bailed out safely.
December 13, 2011: A Sukhoi jet crashed soon after taking off from Lohegaon airbase near Pune but both the pilots managed to bail out safely. The aircraft was on a routine mission.
February 19, 2013: A Sukhoi aircraft crashed in Jaisalmer but both the pilots bailed out safely. There was no loss of life or damage to property on the ground.
October 14, 2014: A Sukhoi jet crashed at a village near Pune. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were unharmed.
May 19, 2015: A Sukhoi fighter crashed at Laokhowa in Nagaon district of Assam with both the pilot and co-pilot ejecting safely. It was on a routine sortie from Tezpur Air Force station and lost radar connection and crashed thereafter.
March 15, 2017: A Sukhoi aircraft crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer district, injuring three villagers. Both the pilots ejected safely from the plane.
Jul 14, 2018 : An IAF statement said a two-seater SU-30 MKI which took off from Tezpur airbase today as part of a two-aircraft formation, lost radar and radio contact with the IAF's air traffic control at 11.10 am.
Aug 9, 2019: An Indian Air Force fighter jet crashed Thursday night in Assam. The air force jet that crashed was a Sukhoi Su-30. The Su-30 MKI fighter jet was on a routine training mission when it crashed in the paddy field in the Milanpur area and burst into flames at around 8:30 pm.
12 more to be ordered soon.
Not happening.
It's not me, it's your favorite defense blogger PKS ( the one whom you criticise as purveyor of semi fiction, yet whose blog you're the first to visit come a new article) who's been claiming we're going in for 350 MKI's come hell or high water since a decade now.
The latest catch is he says further procurements would happen as per the Super Sukhoi standard once the upgrade program is finalized & signed. I'm converted to his PoV.
Some questions I have if anyone can answer:
How different are the su30mkis made in early 2000s from the ones that rolled out recently (2019~2020)? I'm assuming they still have the same hardware from early 2000s(radar, engine, seats, etc) but had gradual software upgrades with minor hardware upgradations (adding more sophisticated pods,etc). Is this assumption correct?
How different are the su30mkis made in early 2000s from the ones that rolled out recently (2019~2020)? I'm assuming they still have the same hardware from early 2000s(radar, engine, seats, etc) but had gradual software upgrades with minor hardware upgradations (adding more sophisticated pods,etc). Is this assumption correct?
There is no other point of view when COAS says it in press conferences. People who still goes by whatever fan fiction is just resisting growing up.
A dozen more to make up for attrition, so yes, the focus will shift to the procurement of other jets.
Mk1A and Rafale GTG for now, followed by MMRCA 2.0 and MWF.
If the CDS has his way, then MMRCA 2.0 may be cancelled in favour of buying more Rafale in tranches every few years.
Yep. More or less. Pretty much the same systems, some have seen hardware improvements, all have seen software improvements. Some new hardware has been added in order to keep it up with modern tech. The mission computer has seen constant upgrades, which has helped keep the aircraft relevant. Hundreds of upgrades are carried out during overhauls, but we are not clear what type of upgrades.
The Russian version, Su-30SM, comes with some more advancements compared to MKI. The newer Su-30SM1 will come with Irbis-E and 117S engine. So this is a pretty big hardware update.
In spite of all those grand plans & grander statements by the who's who in the Ministry of Defense, the IAF , ADA, HAL, etc we're still running a huge deficit of fighter aircraft given the ones we've retired from service & will be retiring say from 2010-2025. Add most of the Jaguars to this list too for reasons known.
Hence, given current info, all we have are 120 Tejas + 36 Rafales to recompense for the 400-500 fighter aircrafts we've retired / will be retiring by 2025 timelines. Please note, I'm not including the MiG 29's we're supposed to be inducting from the mothballed stock in Russia in whatever numbers we would be the 12 -18 MKIs we'd be ordering for attrition replacements , purportedly additional Rafales in tranches, MWF, ORCA, AMCA - Mk1, FGFA, etc .
Now, since you're such a dear pal , I'd share with you a secret. Long long ago, E R Sakthivel of D F I locked horns with PKS on his blog regarding the Tejas which PKS was disparaging & Sakthivel passionately defending. The latter then casually mentioned for all the sometimes nonsensical posts PKS made & a few yarns that he spun, he had an amazing track record in predicting the systems our armed forces would opt for right down to the make, numbers , schedule, etc they'd procure. This was somewhere in 2013 if memory serves me right. And you know what, I've been following PKS since then & I've lost count of the times Sakthivel has been right about this attribute of PKS.
Finally, let me end with the current situation. When this current phase thanks to the Chinese virus ends which it will, it'd have devasted our economy along with that of the world. All our procurement plans will have gone got a toss. Jugaad will be the name of the game & you'd have to then rely on the few tools you have to make up the depleted numbers instead of getting into cumbersome procurement procedures once more to make up for lack of time & money.
That's where the IAF / MoD will have to rely on what they have instead of what they want which means re opening the lines in HAL Nashik to manufacture the MKI's in decent numbers much much more than the ones to make up attrition numbers.
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