Take Off Russia
Transcript of Take Off Russia
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1/44Sukhoi Superjet 100 arrives to new customers[p.30]
New combat jetsfour RusAF[p.4,6]
Sukhoi T-50four prototypesunder trials[p.18]
Tikhomirov NIIP radarsTo see first means to win[p.14]
Ilyushin 476undergoing tests[p.34] in service with RMAF
[p.8]
march 2013 Special edition for LIMA '13
SU-30MKM
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OBORONPROM Corporation, a Russian Technologies State Corporation company, is a diversified industrial-investment group
in the engineering and high technologies sectors
The Corporation integrates more than 30 leading Russian helicopter and engine manufacturing companies in 12 Russian regions
Russian Helicopters Company, a subsidiary of OBORONPROM Corporation, is the leading Russian designer and manufacturer
of rotary-wing aircraft equipment
United Engine Corporation, a subsidiary of OBORONPROM Corporation, is the leading Russian industrial group producing
engines for aircraft, aerospace industry, gas compression stations and power plants
UNITED INDUSTRIAL COR PORATION OBORO NPROM I 29/141 Verejskaya st. Mo scow 121357 Russia I [email protected] I www.oboronprom.ru
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HIGH TECHNOLOGIES.
G E T T I N G R E A L
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Dear reader,
You are holding another issue of the Take-off magazine, a supplementto Russian aerospace monthly VZLET. This issue is timed to the LIMA '13
Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition. The show on
the Malaysian island of Langkawi has more than 20 years experience
and is the 12th one this time around. Over the two decades since LIMAs
inception, the show has grown much in terms of scale and participation,having turned into a major regional aerospace and naval business forum
in Southeast Asia.
Russia has been a regular major participant in LIMA shows owing,
to a large degree, to the increasing scale of aerospace cooperation
between the two nations. In the mid-1990s, the Royal Malaysian Air
Force commissioned into service the MiG-29N fighters developed in linewith its order. A bit later, Malaysian fire-fighting service Bomba received
Russian-made Mi-17-1V and then Mi-171 helicopters. Today, the most
advanced and perfect multirole combat aircraft in service with RMAF is
the Russian-built Su-30MKM fighters delivered by the Irkut Corporation
in an 18-ship batch during 200709. Malaysia also became the customer
for the advanced new-generation MC-21 short/medium-haul airlinerunder development by Irkut in Russia.
Although Irkut Corp. successfully fulfilled the whole contract on
18 Su-30MKMs delivery to RMAF in 2009, more fighters of the type could
be in demand in Malaysia soon as it decided to withdraw in the futureits MiG-29N aircraft fleet delivered by Russias MiG Corp. in 1990s. Insuch case Su-30MKM, possibly in further upgraded version, for example
armed by BrahMos-A long-range air-to-surface missiles or fitted with a
brand-new AESA radar, could become the best choice for Malaysia in
terms of RMAF fighter fleet combat efficiency and operational logistics.
By the way MiG Corp. now has a great experience in upgrading earlier
delivered MiG-29 fighters under the Generation 4+ and 4++ standards.The first step was MiG-29SMT fighter for Russian Air Force and some
foreign customers. Recently it handed over the first MiG-29UPG
upgraded flighters to Indian Air Force under a contract for more than 60
aircraft the whole fleet of MiG-29s in service with IAF. So, MiG could
offer such upgrade solutions for Malaysia as well alongside with new
deliveries of modern versions of MiG-29 family including MiG-29M/M2and MiG-35 fighters. In such case prolonging long-term cooperation with
MiG Corp. could be a good chance for the Royal Malaysian Air Forcehaving almost 20-years experience of flying with MiG-29s to expand its
traditions and extend its capabilities.
In this issue we have focused on the most important novelties andrecent events in Russian aerospace industry, with preference given to
those of them that could be of special interest to the current and potential
customers of Russian aircraft in Malaysia and Southeast Asia in whole.
I wish you fruitful work at the LIMA 13 air show, useful contacts and
lucrative contracts!
Sincerely,
Andrey Fomin,
Editor-in-Chief,
Take-off magazine
News items for In Brief columns are prepared by editorial
ff based on reports of our special correspondents, press
eases of production companies as well as by using information
tributed by ITAR-TASS, ARMS-TASS, Interfax-AVN, RIA Novosti,
C news agencies and published at www.aviaport.ru, www.avia.ru,
ww.gazeta.ru, www.cosmoworld.ru web sit es
The magazine is registered by the Federal Service for supervision of
servation of legislation in the sphere of mass media and protection
cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. Registration certificate
FS77-19017 dated 29 November 2004
Aeromedia, 2013
O. Box 7, Moscow, 125475, Russiael. +7 (495) 644-17-33, 798-81-19x +7 (495) 644-17-33
mail: [email protected]
March 2013
Editor-in-ChiefAndrey Fomin
Deputy Editor-in-ChiefVladimir Shcherbakov
Editor
Yevgeny Yerokhin
ColumnistsAlexander VelovichArtyom Korenyako
Special correspondentsAlexey Mikheyev, Victor Drushlyakov,Andrey Zinchuk, Valery Ageyev,Natalya Pechorina, Marina Lystseva,Dmitry Pichugin, Sergey Krivchikov,Sergey Popsuyevich, Piotr Butowski,Alexander Mladenov, Miroslav Gyurosi
Design and pre-pressGrigory ButrinMikhail Fomin
TranslationYevgeny Ozhogin
Cover pictureMarina Lystseva
Publisher
Director GeneralAndrey Fomin
Deputy Director GeneralNadezhda Kashirina
Marketing DirectorGeorge Smirnov
Business Development DirectorMikhail Fomin
Special Projects DirectorArtyom Korenyako
ms in the magazine placed on this colour background or supplied
h a note Commercial are published on a commercial basis.
torial staff does not bear responsibility for the contents of such items.
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c o n t e n t s
MILITARY AVIATION
Irkut delivers first 15 Yak-130s to RusAF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
First two Su-30SMs delivered to RusAF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
More Su-34 and Su-35S aircraft for RusAF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Su-30MKM in service with RMAF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
To see first means to win
Interview of Tikhomirov-NIIP Director General Yuri Bely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
T-50
Four aircraft in flight trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
CONTRACTS AND DELIVERIES
First three upgraded MiG-29UPGs delivered to India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
IAF ordering 42 Su-30MKI fighters more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Russian and India launching MTA co-development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
As many as 25 Indian An-32s upgraded in Kiev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
India to receive 71 Mi-17 helicopters more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Brazil becoming launch customer for Ka-62 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
COMMERCIAL AVIATION
Angara launches An-148 commercial services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
New aircraft for presidential air detachment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Sukhoi Superjet 100 arrives to new customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
INDUSTRY
Ilyushin 476 undergoing tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Upgraded An-70 in trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
First Russian Emergencies Ministry An-148 in trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
First SSJ100/95LR kicking off its trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Endurance tests under MC-21 programme go on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
PD-14: prototype engine manufacture begins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Last Tu-154M built? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Be-200: first local production aircraft under assembly in Taganrog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Ka-226T to be ready for delivery this year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4034
March 2013
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4
Irkut JSC, a subsidiary of the
United Aircraft Corporation, met
its commitments under last years
governmental defence procure-
ment order, having delivered the
first 15-ship Yak-130 combat
trainer batch to the Russian Air
Force. The aircraft were delivered
to the RusAF Borisoglebsk Training
Centre operating 10 Yak-130s, built
by the Sokol aircraft plant in Nizhny
Novgorod, since 2011. Once the
2005 contract for 12 Sokol-made
Yak-130s for the Russian Defence
Ministry was fulfilled in June 2011,
a decision was made that all sub-
sequent Yak-130 orders both
domestic and export ones would
be handled by the Irkutsk Aviation
Plant of the Irkut corporation.
In December 2011, Irkut fulfilled
its first export contract for 16
Yak-130s ordered by the Algerian
Air Force. Not long before that, on
7 December 2011, the Irkut cut its
first deal with the Russian Defence
Ministry for 55 Yak-130s intended
for RusAF during 201215.
The training centres aircrews
ferried first three Yak-130s from
Irkutsk to Borisoglebsk on 5
October 2012. Three more air-
craft followed the trio four days
later, on 9 October. Another two
three-ship Yak-130 batches went
to Borisoglebsk from the man-
ufacturing plant on 21 and 30
November respectively, followed
by last three aircraft slated for last
years delivery on 19 December.The 15 brand-new Yak-130s bear-
ing side numbers 31 through 45
joined the first 10 Borisoglebsk-
based Yak-130s, bringing the total
number up to 25. The remaining 40
combat trainers under the contract
shall have been delivered within
three years, with 10 options having
been provided for.
The Yak-130s combat train-
er version with its weapons
suite passed its official tests in
December 2009. RusAF has been
taking delivery of Yak-130 com-
bat trainers since February 2010
(first they were fielded with the
State Aircrew Training and Aircraft
Operational Evaluation Centre of
the Defence Ministry in the city of
Lipetsk). Now, Irkut is in talks withnew foreign customers, particu-
larly those from CIS countries, at
the same time with the delivery of
Yak-130s to RusAF.
One of the results produced
by the talks was the contract for
delivery of four Yak-130 combat
trainers for the Belarusian Defence
Ministry, signed in December
2012. The aircraft will be delivered
to BelAF in 2015. The Republic of
Belarus became the first CIS mem-
ber state to buy Yak-130s.
MikhailKhokhryakov
SergeyAlexandrov
IrkutC
orp.
Irkut delivers first 15 Yak-130s to RusAF
First two Su-30SMs delivered to RusAF
On 22 November 2012, the Irkut
corporation delivered two Su-30SM
multirole supermanoeuvrable two-
seat fighters to the Russian Air
Force. The acceptance report was
signed at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant,
a subsidiary of the Irkut corporation.
The first two aircraft were built
under the March 2012 order by the
Russian Defence Ministry for 30
Su-30SMs to be delivered between
2012 and 2015. The Su-30SM is a
derivative of the Su-30MKI fight-
er that the Irkutsk Aviation Plant
has been made for export since
2000. An official Irkut news release
states the tailoring of the aircraft
to the RusAF requirements, which
had been performed by the Sukhoi
design bureau, pertained radar,
communication and IFF systems,
ejection seat and a number ofauxiliary systems. Modifications
had been made to the weapons
suite as well.
The first Su-30SM earmarked for
RusAF made its maiden flight in
Irkutsk on 21 September last year,
followed by the other four days later.
On 19 December 2012, the
Russian Defence Ministry placed
another contract with Irkut for 30
Su-30SM fighters more. Thus, Irkut
is to make 58 Su-30SMs more and
deliver them to RusAF in the com-ing years.
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6
In December 2012, the Sukhoi
company supplied the Russian
defence Ministry with 16 brand-
new warplanes 10 production-
standard Su-34 multirole tactical
bombers and six cutting-edge
Su-35S multirole supermanoeuvra-ble fighters, having thus fulfilled
its part of the 2012 State Defence
Procurement Order.
The first five Su-34s (side num-
bers 11, 12, 20, 21 and 22) flew
from the manufacturers airfield
in Novosibirsk to Baltimore AFB
in the vicinity of Voronezh on 25
December 2012. Five more aircraft
(side numbers 23 through 27),
which the customer had received
in Novosibirsk in the run-up to
New Year Day, on 29 December,
have arrived there a month later,
on 25 January this year. Thus, the
air base in Voronezh has got as
many as 20 Su-34 tactical bomb-
ers. Sukhoi has delivered them
under the government-awarded
November 2008 contract stipulat-
ing the construction and delivery
of 32 aircraft of the type during
201013.
The first four Su-34s under the
contract (side numbers 06 through
09) were manufactured and deliv-
ered late in 2010. At first, they were
assigned to the Aviation Personnel
Training and Aircraft Operational
Evaluation Centre in the city of
Lipetsk and have been based in
Voronezh since December 2011.
The next batch (six aircraft with
side numbers from 01 through 05
and 10) arrived to Baltimore AFB in
December 2011.
This year, Sukhoi is going to
have its manufacturing plant in
Novosibirsk build 12 Su-34s more,
thus completing the order landed in
2008. Right after this, it will start
fulfilling the next unprecedented
governmental order for 92 Su-34
tactical bombers more to be deliv-
ered to RusAF from 2014 to 2020.
Not long before New Year Day,
on 28 December 2012, Defence
Ministry representatives signed
acceptance reports on advanced
Sukhoi planes at the Komsomolsk-
on-Amur Aircraft Plant as well.
The customer received six more
Su-35S supermanoeuvrable mul-
tirole single-seat fighters under
the August 2009 contract for 48
aircraft of the type.
As is known, the first two
Su-35S fighters (side numbers
are 01 and 02) under the con-
tract were made by KnAAPO (now
KnAAZ Russian acronym for
Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft
Plant named after Yuri Gagarin, a
Sukhoi subsidiary) and delivered
to the Defence Ministry in May and
December 2011. Another two (side
numbers 03 and 04) were flight-
tested in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in
January and February 2012. The
four aircraft were ferried to the
Defence Ministrys State Flight Test
Centre in Akhtubinsk to undergo
their official trials. The six more
aircraft delivered late last year will
join them there in the near future.
Their ferry flight to Akhtubinsk was
slated for late January. Later on,
they will be based at the Aviation
Personnel Training and Aircraft
Operational Evaluation Centre in
Lipetsk, where they will be used for
opeval and the conversion of the
flying and ground crews of RusAF
combat units to the type.As the head of the United
Aircraft Corporation Mikhail
Pogosyan told Russian President
Vladimir Putin during his last year
visit to KnAAZ, Sukhoi will supply
RusAF with 12 Su-35S fighters
annually during 2013 and 2014
and will deliver the last 14 fighters
under the contract to the military
in 2015. By then, the Defence
Ministry is expected to place a
new, equally big long-term order
for Su-35S fighters that will havebeen delivered until 2020.
More Su-34 and Su-35S aircraft for RusAF
UAC
UAC
Sukhoi
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United Engine CorporationBldg. 141, 29 Vereyskaya str., Moscow, 121357, Russia
Tel./fax: +7 (495) 232-91-63
www.uk-odk.ru
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Worth about $900 million, the contract for
18 Russian-made Su-30MKM aircraft to be
delivered to RMAF was signed on the top
governmental level in August 2003, with the
Rosoboronexport state corporation to fulfil it.The aircraft were to be developed by the Sukhoi
company and built by the Irkut Corp. Under
the deal, in addition to delivering the fighters,
Russia was to train RMAF flying and ground
crews and provide weapons and other equip-
ment relevant to the effective operation of the
fighters. A decision was taken to have Malaysias
personnel trained in their country. RMAF had
taken delivery of the first two aircraft in June
2007 and four more by the year-end, with the
next six in March 2008. The remaining six
Su-30MKMs were delivered in summer 2009.
The Su-30MKM fighter is a derivative of theproven Su-30MKI that has been in service with
the Indian Air Force (IAF) since 2002. Under
the contracts fulfilled or still under way, IAF is
to take delivery of as many as 272 Su-30MKI
fighters by the end of this decade, of which
50 were built by Russias Irkut Corporation and
222 are to be licence-produced by Indian aircraftmanufacturer HAL under a licence programme.
To date, Irkut has shipped 50 fighters of the type
to India as well as more than 120 licence produc-
tion kits. The first Indian-assembled Su-30MKI
has been flown and handed over to IAF in
November 2004. Since then, the number of
Indian-produced Su-30MKIs in IAFs inven-
tory has been on the rise. As for today, more than
170 Su-30MKIs both delivered from Russia
and assembled by HAL are in service with IAF.
One more derivative of the fighter, the
Su-30MKI(A), was developed by Sukhoi
and delivered by Irkut Corp. The customer isAlgerian Air Force which ordered 28 fight-
ers of the type in 2006 and 16 more in 2010.
Deliveries began in late 2007 and by 2013 a total
of 44 Su-30MKI(A) fighters have been built by
Irkut and delivered to the customer.
The Su-30MKM is another step in
developing the Su-30 platform further, theSukhoi design bureaus First Deputy Designer
General Alexander Barkovsky told Take-off.
The Malaysian version is wrapped around the
Su-30MKI design, differing mostly in avionics
but retaining its airframe, AL-31FP thrust vec-
tor-controlled (TVC) engines and fly-by-wire
control system. Still, there have been a number
of radical modifications to the Malaysian air-
craft, Alexander Barkovsky said.
They included, first and foremost, modifica-
tions to the IFF transponder, self-defence suite,
display system and podded optronic systems. For
instance, the Su-30MKM mounts an advancedFrench-made IFF system, with its plates situ-
ated on top the nose section fore of the cockpit.
8 www. t a ke -o f f . r utake-offdecember 2009
Coming summer will mark the 10th anniversary of the landmark contract for 18 Sukhoi/Irkut Su-30MKM two-seatsupermanoeuvrable multirole fighters for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The aircraft have been successfully operated byRMAF, being its most advanced and sophisticated aircraft type. The Irkut corporation delivered them to Malaysia between2007 and 2009. Now all of 18 superagile Su-30MKMs are in service with the 11th squadron of the Royal Malaysian Air Forcestationed at Gong Kedak air base in the Kelantan province, on the coast of the South China Sea, 300 km north of the nationalcapital, Kuala Lumpur. The international debut of the advanced Malaysian fighters took place at LIMA 2007 airshow at theisland of Langkawi. This time, Su-30MKMs are also the participants of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospaceexhibition and, no doubt, will become the main stars of the demonstration flight programme at LIMA '13.
Su 30MKMSu-30MKMIN SERVICE WITH RMAFIN SERVICE WITH RMAF Andrey FOMIN
AndreyFomin
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However, the main difference featured by the
Malaysian variant is its laser warning systems
and missile approach sensors. They were devel-
oped and in production by South African com-
pany Avitronics, a member of the SAAB group,
and are placed in various parts of the airframe.
Two front-hemisphere laser-illumination sensor
sets are under the nose section and the other
two, which keep an eye on the rear hemisphere,
sit on the sides of the air intakes. Between theformer, there is a UV three-sensor set to spot
incoming missiles in the lookdown mode. The
second such set of UV sensors is on top the
spine fairing aft of the air brake. It operates in
the lookup mode.
In addition to the South African systems,
the Su-30MKMs self-defence suite comprises
an upgraded Russian radar-warning receiver,
Russian electronic countermeasures (ECM)
system in two pods mounted on wingtips, and
Russian passive IR dispensers in the tail section
(98 cartridges with flares and chaff).
Actually, the share of Russian-made compo-
nents is larger than that on the Indian variant
due to Russian components replacing some of
the Indian and Israeli ones. Particularly, the
Su-30MKI has two different digital comput-
ers (the main one is Russian and the backup is
Indian), while both of the Su-30MKMs com-
puters are Russian-made.
In addition, the Su-30MKM has more
French-made systems. The Thales wide-angle
HUD has ousted the Israeli ElOp HUD mount-
ed by the Su-30MKI. The Su-30MKMs colour
multifunction LCDs are French-made as well.
Like the Indian fighter, its Malaysian counter-
part houses three 5x5 MFD55 displays at each
combat station in the cockpit, with the rear sta-
tion also fitted with the fourth, larger display
the 6x6 MFD66.
Another novelty implemented in the
Malaysian version is the Thales podded
optronic systems (the Su-30MKI can carry
the Israeli-made Litening electro-optical pod).
There are two such systems: the LDP Damocles
pod ensures round-the-clock air-to-surface
attack while day and night flight and navigation
is ensured by the NAVFLIR system housed by
the pylon being the hardpoint for the Damocles.
According to the official data at the Thales
web site, the Damocles podded optronic sys-
tem (the pod weighs 265 kg and is 2.5 m long)
handles the surface search, target acquisition,identification and tracking, laser spot detec-
tion and target ranging and designation for
laser-guided weapons, including smart bombs.
To this end, it has the thermal imaging capability
with the 35 micron wavelength as well as two
laser channels: a 1.5 micron eye-safe ranging
laser and a target illumination laser. The thermal
imagers extra-wide field of vision in the naviga-
tion mode measures 24x18, wide one 4x3
and narrow one 1x0.75. The twofold elec-
tronic magnification (zoom) is possible.
The 35 micron infrared NAVFLIR naviga-
tion system has the front-hemisphere look-
down/lookup capability with the 24x18 optical
field of view (the electronic zoom with 12x9
angle of view) and shows the resultant imagery
on the HUD and/or MFDs. The acquisition
and identification range for objects measuring
20x20 m is 1012 km and those for 100x100 m
objects is 22.550 km. The system, except the
pod and cooling system, weighs mere 20 kg.
The rest of the Su-30MKMs search and
targeting systems are Russian-made and most-
ly similar to those on the Su-30MKI. They
include, first and foremost, the Tikhomirov
NIIP Bars phased-array radar capable of simul-
taneously tracking at least 15 aerial threats at a
high spatial angle and engaging four of them at
a time, effectively attacking ground targets and
operating in the air-to-air and air-to-surface
modes concurrently. The passive phased array
of the Bars radar is fitted with the addition-
al hydraulic horizontal turn mechanism and
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offers 70 total scan in azimuth and 40
in elevation. The assured acquisition range
for aerial threats with a radar cross-section of
3 sq.m equals at least 140 km.
In addition, the Su-30MKMs surveillance
and targeting gear includes the OLS-30I IRST
from the Urals Optical & Mechanical Plant
named after E.S. Yalamov (UOMZ) and the
Sura helmet-mounted target designator from
the Arsenal plant in Kiev. The infrared segment
of the IRST tracks aerial targets out at 90 km
in the rear hemisphere and 50 km in the front
hemisphere. The airspace scan zone measures
60 in azimuth and -15/+60 in elevation. The
OLS-30Is wide field of view accounts for 60x10
and the narrow one is 20x5, with the field of
view being 3x3 in the lock-on mode. The laserrangefinder ranges ground targets out at 5 km at
the least and aerial ones out at 3 km at the least.
The Su-30MKIs navigation aids include
the TACAN short-range radio navigation
system, LINS-GPS inertial/satnav system
and VOR/ILS/MRK landing equipment. To
ensure safe formation manoeuvring, the air-
craft also is fitted with formation flight lights
on the sides of the fuselage nose section and
air intakes, fins and wingtips. The avionics
was integrated with the use of multiplex data-
bus meeting the MIL-STD-1553B standard.
As far as its weapons suite is concerned,the Su-30MKM is close enough to IAFs
Su-30MKI. The types of weapons used remain
virtually unchanged and include up to ten
RVV-AE medium-range active radar homing
air-to-air missiles, up to eight R-27ER1 semi-
active radar homing and R-27ET1 heat-seeking
AAMs (including up to two R-27ET1 AAMs),
up to six R-73E dogfight missiles, Kh-59ME
air-to-surface missiles (two missiles with
TV command guidance), Kh-31A or Kh-31P
(six ASMs with active or passive radar homing
heads), six TV-guided Kh-29TE missiles and
five Kh-29L semiactive laser beam-riding ASMs.
Guided bombs include KAB-500Kr (OD) and
KAB-1500Kr TV-guided bombs and advanced
KAB-1500LG laser-guided bombs. The use of
Kh-59ME missiles is supported by means of the
APK-9E pod carried on the hardpoint under
the port air intake and that of Kh-29L missilesand KAB-1500LG bombs by the Damocles pod
mounted on the hardpoint under the starboard
air intake.
The non-guided weapons carried by the
Su-30MKM are virtually the same as those
hauled by other aircraft of the Flanker family.
The Su-30MKM carries up to eight HE grav-
ity bombs or 500 kg disposable cluster bomb
units, up to thirty-two 250 kg or 100 kg
blast/fragmentation bombs and 80, 122 and
266/340 mm (420 mm) folding-fin aerial
rockets (80 S-8, 20 S-13 or four S-25 FFARs
in various versions) in four rocket pods orlaunchers. The maximum payload mounted
on 12 hardpoints totals 8,000 kg. To cap it all,
c o n t r a c t s a n d d e l i v e r i e s | r e p o r t
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the fighter packs a 30 mm GSh-301 automatic
cannon with the 150-round ammo load.
In conclusion, a few words about one other
feature of the Su-30MKM. The aircraft is fit-
ted with the integral oxygen generator from
the Zvezda company in the town of Tomilino,
Moscow Region. Zvezda is known as the devel-
oper of the unique K-36D-3,5E ejection seat
the Su-30MKM is fitted with.
The Su-30MKM has a long flying life 6,000 flight hours or 25 years of operation as far
as the airframe is concerned. Heavy maintenance
is required after the aircraft logs 1,500 flight hours
or 10 years of operation. The AL-31FP engines
from UMPO in Ufa have an assigned life of
2,000 flight hours and a time before first overhaul
of 1,000 flight hours, with their TVC nozzles have
an assigned life of 500 flight hours.
In 2006 the Sukhoi design bureau fur-
nished two prototype aircraft to test the
Su-30MKMs advanced electronic systems
and integrate it with the avionics suite. Two
preproduction Su-30MKIs serialled 05 and
04 were converted to this end, becoming
the prototypes of the Su-30MKM. One of
them was first flown by Sukhois test pilots
Sergey Kostin and Vyacheslav Averyanov in
Zhukovsky on 23 May 2006. The other pro-
totype completed its maiden flight in Irkutsk
on 9 June 2006 with Vyacheslav and Yevgeny
Averyanovs at the controls. The bulk of the
tests conducted at LIIs airfield in Zhukovsky
and at the Defence Ministrys State Flight
Test Centre (GLITs) in Akhtubinsk were
complete in late spring 2007, with the assem-
bly of the first production Su-30MKMs being
in full swing at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant.
Both Su-30MKM prototypes remained in
11
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Russia for use under various test programmes
to keep on refining the Su-30MKM and other
aircraft of the family.
The ceremony of acceptance of two first
production-standard Su-30MKMs took
place at the airfield of the Irkutsk Aviation
Plant, a subsidiary of the Irkut Corp., on 24
May 2007. The Malaysian delegation attend-
ing the acceptance ceremony was led by the
then RMAF commander, Gen. Dato SriAzizan bin Ariffin. Less than a month later, on
18 June, an Antonov An-124 Ruslan airlifter
flew both aircraft to RMAFs Gong Kedak
air base in the Kelantan province, on the
coast of the South China Sea, 300 km north
of the national capital, Kuala Lumpur. Two
more Su-30MKMs joined them in August.
The Subang air base vic. Kuala Lumpur
hosted the ceremony of the Su-30MKMs
RMAF service entry on 10 August 2007. The
importance of the event was highlighted by
the presence of Malaysian Deputy Prime
Minister and Defence Minister (now
Prime Minister of Malaysia) Dato Sri Mohd
Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak and Malaysian
Chief of Defence Forces General (Army)
Tan Sri Dato Paduka Seri Abdul Aziz Hj
Zainal. Rosoboronexport Deputy Director
General Victor Komardin, who represented
Russia during the ceremony, handed the
documentation on the delivered aircraft over
to RMAF Commander.
By then, the fighters delivered had been
used by the first group of RMAF pilots for
conversion to the aircraft of a type new to
them, with Russian test pilots Yevgeny Frolov,
Sergey Bogdan and Sergey Kostin of the
Sukhoi design bureau acting as instructor
pilots. Already on 31 August 2007, three
Su-30MKMs flown by Malaysian pilots par-
ticipated in the air parade dedicated to the
50th anniversary of Malaysias independence.
The international debut of the advanced
Malaysian fighters took place at LIMA 2007
airshow at the island of Langkawi in
December 2007. Lt. Col. Norazlan Aris
and Maj. Azman Jantan from RMAFs
11th squadron became the heroes of the show
due to their fantastic Su-30MKM flight dis-
play over Langkawi. By then two more RMAF
pilots were flying the new type of Malaysian
fighter, Maj. Fadzli Sabirin and Maj. Choy
Swee On. All of them previously flew RMAFs
MiG-29N or F/A-18D fighters or Hawk
trainers and were high-skill military pilotswith a flight backlog of 2,0003,000 hours.
Later on more and more Malaysian pilots
passed conversion for flying Su-30MKM and
attended the 11th squadron.
With introducing the Su-30MKM into ser-
vice, RMAF became the second air force
in the world to operate supersonic multi-
role supermanoeuvrable fighters capable of
thrust vector control and the worlds second
air force flying Russian fighters fitted with
phased-array radars. With air crews given rel-
evant training, they will be able to use dogfight
missiles in the supermanoeuvrability mode as
well. As a result, the combat capabilities of
the Malaysian Su-30MKMs could far exceed
those of the fighters operated by other air
forces in the region.
At present, RMAF is gearing up for issu-
ing tender for a batch of advanced multirole
fighters to replace, in due time, the services
MiG-29N aircraft fleet that are to be decom-
missioned in the future. Rosoboronexport and
Irkut are intent on offering the Malaysians a
new batch of Su-30MKM fighters that have
earned the countrys recognition and can
embody a number of improvements, if the
customer wishes so. For instance, they can
be fitted with an upgraded fire control radar
system that can be equipped with the active
electronically scanned array (AESA) and the
latest weapons, including the Russian-Indian
BrahMos-A heavy multipurpose supersonic
air-to-surface missile. In such a case, RMAF
will get the unique capabilities for accom-
plishing all of their missions.
take-offdecember 200912
RMAF chief Gen.
Rodzali bin Daud
about Su-30MKMDuring a previous LIMA air show at the
Malaysian island of Langkawi, the Take-off
editor had an opportunity to be granted an
exclusive interview by the chief of the Royal
Malaysian Air Force, General Dato Sri Rodzali
bin Daud. Sharing his impressions of the
Russian-made Su-30MKM fighters in service
with RMAF, Gen. Rodzali bin Daud said the
following:
We are very pleased with the technical
performance and tactical capabilities of the
Sukhoi fighter we have received. Firstly, the
Su-30MKMs have satisfied our need of long-
range multirole fighters dual-hatted as both
the fighter and the strike aircraft capable of
operating above land and sea. Previously, we
had had no planes in the class and needed
them much. Secondly, owing to the top-notch
flight and technical characteristics, manoeu-
vrability, cutting-edge avionics and weapon
suites, the Su-30MKMs brought RMAF to
a radically higher technical level and heav-
ily influenced the development of Malaysiasaerospace industry, since we had from the
outset participated in the Su-30MKM devel-
opment by selecting its international avion-
ics and weapons suites comprising the best
Russian and Western systems.
One of the reasons, for which the
Su-30MKM was selected, was our rather long
knowledge of Russian aircraft, because RMAF
had operated the Mi-29N fighters for a decade
and a half by then and had been satisfied
with the cooperation with your country on the
whole. Again, we have got no problem with
the Su-30MKM aircraft itself and we are verysatisfied with this bargain.
AndreyFomin
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Su-30MKM basic specifications
V.Tikhomirov Scientific-Research Institute of Instrument Design, JSC
3, Gagarina str., Zhukovsky, Moscow region, 140180, Russia
Tel.: +7 (495) 556-23-48 Fax: +7 (495) 721-37-85E-mail: [email protected] www.niip.ru
TO SEE FIRS TTO SEE FIRST
M E NS TO W INMEANS TO WIN
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Mr. Bely, how are things with the develop-
ment of the AESA radar for the fifth-gen-
eration fighter? What are the early results
produced by its flight tests?Early last year, the third AESA radar pro-
totype was tested and tuned at Tikhomirov-
NIIPs test rigs and handed over to the Sukhoi
company that installed it in the PAK FAs
third flying prototype brought to Zhukovsky
from Komsomolsk-on-Amur in late 2011 for
flight tests. The radars flight trials began in
July 2012 following the round test cycle on
board an aircraft. Approximately 20 AESA
radar test sorties had been flown by year-end
2012, most of which had been completely
successful. The key result achieved is the
stable operation of the AESA radar in allair-to-air and air-to-surface modes from the
outset. Having used late last years scheduled
improvements of the aircraft, we dismounted
the radar from it and checked it out on a
test bench of ours: its AESAs operability
and characteristics remained unchanged, noimprovements were required, and the radar
was fit for continued flight tests that are to
resume in the nearest future.
Last year, we made the fourth AESA radar
set. It was sent to Komsomolsk-on-Amur
where it was mounted on the fourth PAK
FA flying prototype and tested on it on the
ground. The T-50-4 flew for the first time in
December 2012 and conducted a ferry flight
to Zhukovsky in mid-January. Thus, we have
got two T-50s, fitted with our radars, in the
flight trials. At present, the fifth AESA radar is
almost complete at Tikhomirov-NIIP and willsoon be shipped to Komsomolsk-on-Amur
for installation in the fifth flying prototype of
the PAK FA. Another radar set is being manu-
factured as well. It is designed for preliminary
ground tests.
Timely delivery of more AESA radar sets tothe customer is ensured through the institute
having two test rigs. One of them, the chief
designers rig, is being used for testing the AESA
radar prototype to enhance its operating enve-
lope as well as introduce advanced operating
modes and improved software packages. The
other one is being used for tuning more radar
sets before mounting them on follow-on aircraft.
Overall, we are satisfied with the results pro-
duced but realise full well that a lot has remains
to be done. But I would like to emphasise that
the AESA radar programme is on schedule,
with the schedule having been approved by thecustomer and the produced results meeting all
expectations. Test pilots praise our radar too.
TO SEE FIRSTMEANS TO WIN
Interview of Tikhomirov-NIIP Director General Yuri Bely
Last year, the Tikhomirov-NIIP researchinstitute launched the flight tests ofan active electronically scanned array(AESA) radar on board the SukhoiPAK FA Future Tactical Aircraft. Thethird flying prototype of the aircrafthas logged a number of test sortiesto test the advanced radar that hasdemonstrated stable operation in allmodes. At the same time, the institutes
personnel are participating in theofficial trials of the Su-35S multirolefighter fitted with the production-standard Irbis passive electronicallyscanned array radar, with the trialshaving produced unique results. Thesuccess in the development of the Irbisand the AESA radar predetermined thechoice of Tikhomirov-NIIP in 2012 asdeveloper of the radars to fit upgradedand future long-range bombers.In addition, last year saw the completionof the governmental test programmeson the upgraded MiG-31BM interceptor
and upgraded Su-27SM(3) fighter andthe Russian Defence Ministry takingdelivery of the first Su-30SM multirolefighters, with all of these warplanesbeing equipped with improved radarsfrom Tikhomirov-NIIP.Tikhomirov-NIIP radars are known wellin India. The Bars electronically scannedarray radar fits IAFs Su-30MKI fighterfleet of more than 150 aircraft of thetype, with the contracts signed to boostthe number to 272 over time. The radarfor the advanced Russian-Indian fifth-generation fighter known as PerspectiveMultirole Fighter (PMF) is being derivedfrom the AESA radar designed for thePAK FA. In the run-up to the Aero India2013 air show in Bangalore, the Take-off had met Tikhomirov-NIIP DirectorGeneral Yuri Bely and asked him aboutthe key achievements of the company heleads in 2012 and about the prospects ofthe cooperation with India.
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It is an open secret that the AESA radar we
are developing to fit the PAK FA will serve
the basis for development of the radar system
of the Russian-Indian PMF fifth-generation
fighter. Tikhomirov-NIIP has been selected
as prime contractor for the radar to fit the
PMF. The Indians are supposed to develop
and manufacture some of the subsystems
of the fighters radar system, with specific
subsystems being discussed now. Last year,there was a review of the draft design of the
aircraft and, hence, our part of it the AESA
radar. Next on the agenda is the signature of
a contract for the development work. As soon
as the contract is signed, the development of
the AESA radar system for the Perspective
Multirole Fighter will shift into high gear.
What is the state of affairs of your work on
passive electronically scanned array radars?
The Bars radar equipping the planes of the
Su-30MKI family has become well known in
the world. What is the status of the programme?
Indeed, the Bars radar designed for the
Su-30MKI fighter family has earned inter-
national recognition. Series deliveries of the
radars of the type are performed by our long-
time partner, the State Ryazan Instrument-
making Plant that also assists the Indians in
having the Bars productionised by local com-
panies. Last year, the Bars radar in the final
configuration, designed for IAF Su-30MKIs,
has passed its tests, having incorporated all
software improvements and implementation
of all operating modes under the contract.
Production-standard Bars radars assembled
both in Ryazan and in India are supplied
to the customer in this version now. Earlier
radars fitting the early-batch Su-30MKIs will
be given relevant improvements in due time.
A further IAF Su-30MKI-intended Bars
upgrade programme has been under dis-
cussion for several years now. As is known,
a decision has been made in principle a
long time ago, but the contract has not been
signed yet. Initially, the Bars is supposed to
be refined while retaining its current array,
with the improvements to include extended
range, higher resolution and the ability tosupport the use of advanced weapons. Then,
the Barss array is to be replaced with an
AESA. Obviously, it makes sense to do it after
the AESA radar for the Perspective Multirole
Fighter is tested so that to build on the exper-
tise gained from the efforts.
Another milestone of last year was that
two sets of the Russian Bars version designed
for fitting the first two Su-30SM fighters of
the Russian Air Force were delivered to the
Irkutsk Aviation Plant (a subsidiary of the
Irkut Corp.) in May 2012. As is known, the
Russian Defence Ministry and Irkut strucktwo deals for a total of 60 Su-30SM aircraft,
with the Su-30SM being a Su-30MKI deriva-
tive intended for RusAF. In November, the
first two Su-30SMs were handed over to the
Defence Ministry for participation in the
official test programme. The deliveries of
production-standard aircraft will have gone
on for several years to come.
To date, the air forces of three countries
(India, Malaysia and Algeria) have operated
over 200 Su-30MKI family fighters equipped
with Bars radars. Now, the Bars is enteringservice with our Air Force as well, and the
number of the aircraft carrying radars of the
type will have totalled 400 in several years,
given the contracts concluded.
In addition, the experience gained from the
Bars development was used last year in devis-
ing the Bars-130 light radar proposal ordered
by the Irkut Corp. The Bars-130 could be
used in advanced versions of the Yak-130
combat trainer, which are being mulled over
by the Yakovlev design bureau. As is known,
production-standard Yak-130s have been
delivered to RusAF since 2010, and the export
deliveries of the type kicked off in 2011. In
parallel with ramping up the production of the
Yak-130 combat trainer that lacks a radar so
far, Irkut is pondering approaches to further
development of the plane as a light strike air-
craft, a light fighter aircraft, etc. Such versions
could use a radar that should be lightweight
and small enough, but able to perform a wide
range of tasks as part of air and ground target
seeking and acquisition, terrain mapping, etc.
What about your firstborn among the elec-
tronically scanned array radars the Zaslon
designed for the MiG-31 interceptor? Is its
upgrade complete?
The official test programme of the upgrad-
ed MiG-31BM interceptor, carrying the
Zaslon electronically scanned radar improved
by Tikhomirov-NIIP and new weapons,
was completed late last year. As you know,
Tikhomirov-NIIP developed the Zaslon wayback in the 70s. The Zaslon became the
worlds first airborne phased-array radar. We
enjoy an undeniable priority in this respect.
The MiG-31BMs upgraded in Phase I (i.e.
furnished with the improved Zaslon radar
and an advanced cockpit display system at the
backseaters combat station) have been fielded
with combat units. In December 2012, suc-
cessful launches of new long- and medium-
range air-to-air missiles crowned the Phase II
trials. The official tests report is to be approved
in the near future, and aircraft upgraded this
way will start fielding with line units too.
Will you dwell on the Irbis radar that is
surely the summit of the passive electronically
scanned radar technology?
You are right, the Irbis is second to none
in the world, indeed, as far as its test-proven
characteristics are concerned. Last year, the
fight trials involving the Su-35 fighter pro-
duced the unique aerial target acquisition
results much more than 400 km! This is the
unrivalled achievement of the worlds aircraft
NIIP
AESA prototype
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radar industry. Based on the outcome of the
official tests of the Su-35S, a preliminary
report was signed last year, and the deliv-
ery of production-standard Irbis-equipped
fighters to the Russian Defence Ministry
begun. The first two production-standard
fighters were delivered late in 2011, with
eight more delivered during 2012. All of
them are fitted with production-standard
Irbis radars, which production was launched
at the State Ryazan Instrument-making
Plant with Tikhomirov-NIIPs support. The
radars basic characteristics have been prov-
en by flight tests. Now, the radar has to take
tactical tests involving launches of various
weapons. As is known, the governmental
contract stipulates the construction of 48
Su-35S aircraft for RusAF throughout 2015.
The deliveries are not likely to be limited
to the number or the deadline. In addition,
export sales of the Su-35 equipped with our
Irbis-E are being looked into.
The order for deriving an electronically
scanned array radar from the Irbis as part ofthe upgrade of the Tupolev Tu-22M3 and
Tu-160 long-range bomber fleets, which was
awarded to us last year, is a kind of recognition
of the top-notch performance of the Irbis. This
line of work is new to us, for we have never
developed radars for long-range bombers yet.
However, the lessons learnt from the Irbis
development makes us hopeful that we will
reach the objective. We have worked out a draft
design for Irbis versions earmarked for the
Tupolev aircraft and are preparing the paper-
work for launching the development work. If
all goes to plan, the first upgraded Tu-22M3sand Tu-160s equipped with our radars will
commence their trials as soon as 2014.
Skipping ahead, I hope that the exper-
tise gleaned from the work on the Tupolev
bombers and our successful development of
the AESA radar for the PAK FA will guar-
antee our success in landing the order for
the development of the radar system to fit
the PAK DA Future Long-Range Aircraft.
In conclusion, which of the results pro-
duced by Tikhomirov-NIIP last year seem to
you the most important ones?
Overall, 2012 was rich in events as far as
our company is concerned. I would high-
light the beginning of the flight tests of
the AESA radar designed for the PAK FA
and the stable operation of the radar in the
course of the trials, in the first place. Next
goes the issuance of the preliminary report
in the wake of the official tests of the Su-35
equipped with the Irbis and the record-set-
ting characteristics of the radar. Then, thereis the successful official trials of the upgraded
MiG-31BM and Su-27SM(3) fighters fitted
with our upgraded radars. Completing the
testing of the upgraded Bars designed for the
Su-30MKI and launching the deliveries of
such radars to RusAF as part of Su-30SM
fighters. Commencing the development of
a radar for the Long-Range Aviation air-
craft. Finally, working out the proposals for
the Bars-130 lightweight small-size radar
designed to fit aircraft in the Yak-130s class.
Thus, the scope of the work being done
by Tikhomirov-NIIP is increasing. While
we used to make radars for fighters only
(MiG-31, Su-27, Su-30 and its derivatives,
Su-35, PAK FA) as far as airborne radars
are concerned, now the number of carriers
is growing. I believe that the application of
Tikhomirov-NIIP radars will range all the
way from the lightweight Yak-130 to the
heavy Tu-160 in the near future.
We, at Tikhomirov-NIIP, continue to
adhere to the motto of our company, which is
To see first means to win.
Bars phased array radar
Irbis phased array radar
NIIP
AndreyFomin
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SU 30MKONLY THE BEST
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The construction of the fourth PAK FA
flying prototype had been finished by late
autumn last year. On 10 December 2012,
the plane was rolled out to the airfield andperformed its first taxiing run. Two days later,
it taxied two times more, including a high-
speed run with nose wheel lift-off. After that,
a decision was made to conduct the first flight.
At 16.50 local time on 12 December 2012,
Sukhoi test pilot Sergei Bogdan took off in
the aircraft on its first flight and landed it
safely onto the runway 38 min later. The first
mission was accomplished, with all systems
operating normally. The test pilot checked
the planes stability and controllability and
evaluated the operation of the powerplant and
all systems.Afterwards, the T-50-4 took off thrice and
was painted then. On 14 January 2013, Sergei
Bogdan gave the newly painted aircraft a check
flight that proved its being fit for the long flight
to the Moscow Region. As is known, following
several test flights in Komsomolsk-on-Amur,the first three PAK FA prototypes would be
disassembled and airlifted to Zhukovsky by
An-124 Ruslan transports. The T-50-4 is the
first of the prototypes, which ferry flight from
the manufacturing plant in the Far East to the
Moscow Region was under its own power.
The 7,000-km-long route passed via Chita,
Kansk and Chelyabinsk. The advanced fighter
piloted by Sergei Bogdan set off for long a
road on 15 January. The first overnight stopo-
ver was in the city of Chita (Domna airfield).
On the next day, the aircraft flew to Kansk
and arrived in Zhukovsky at about 16.15 hon 17 January in heavy snow and under the
limited visibility conditions after a stopover in
The fourth flying prototype of the PAK FA Russias Future Tactical Fighter the T-50 fifth-generation fighter being developed by theSukhoi company came to the airfield of the Gromov Flight research Institute in Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, on 17 January 2012.It made its first long-range flight, having covered about 7,000 km with several stopovers across Russia from Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East, where such aircraft are made by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant named after Yuri Gagarin(KnAAZ). The T-50-4 (side number 054) was flown by Honoured Test Pilot of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia Sergei Bogdan.Thus, as many as four flying prototypes of the T-50 are used in the trials under the PAK FA flight test programme now, with KnAAZcompleting the fifth prototype of the fighter. This year, the prototypes are to be used in the official test programme.
Andrey FOMIN
Photos by Vladimir Ivakhnenko / Sukhoi
T 50
FOUR AIRCRAFTFOUR AIRCRAFT
IN FLIGHT TRIALSIN FLIGHT TRIALS
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Chelyabinsk (Shagol airfield). The PAK FAs
characteristics allow such a long flight to be
made with fewer stopovers, but owing to the
novelty of the aircraft and possible adverse
weather that might have necessitated divert-
ing to a backup airfield that were few and far
between en route, a decision was made against
unnecessary risk. Mention should be made
that the new fighter, which had logged only
five sorties in Komsomolsk-on-Amur priorto its ferry flight to Zhukovsky, proved itself
in the course of the long-distance flight, with
all of its systems operating like clockwork and
the pilot being quite pleased with his aircraft.
Having arrived to Sukhois flight test facil-
ity in Zhukovsky, the T-50-4 will soon join
the flight test programme, under which three
prototypes have been flown here.
The third flying PAK FA prototypes flight test
phase commenced at Sukhois flight test station
in Zhukovsky in mid-June 2012. Sukhois test
pilot Hero of Russia Sergei Bogdan took T-50-3
prototype for its maiden flight in Komsomolsk-
on-Amur on 22 November 2011. Following
three sorties under the factory acceptance pro-
gramme, the aircraft had been painted and
T-50-4, PAK FAs fourth flying prototype, during factory tests.Komsomolsk-on-Amur, December 2012
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airlifted by an An-124 Ruslan heavy-lifter to
Zhukovsky on 28 December 2011.
The aircraft had been assembled and its sys-
tems had been debugged and ground-tested at
Sukhois flight test facility in Zhukovsky for
five months. In particular, the aircraft was for
the first time equipped with an AESA radar
prototype developed by the Tikhomirov-NIIP
institute, and the radars operation as part
of the avionic suite was tested. In mid-June,
the T-50-3 was rolled out to the airfield, and
its taxiing and running tests began. Once the
bugs had been troubleshot, the plane was
cleared for a check flight, and Sergei Bogdan
took it to the sky at the Gromov Flight Test
Institute airfield on 21 June 2012. The check
flight took about an hour, and the aircraft with
its systems performed as expected.
The AESA radar continued its tests in July.
First, it was tested on the ground against an
aerial target in the form of the Su-27M (side
number 710) that had been used as a fly-
ing testbed for testing the PAK FAs engine
in 2010. The AESA radar was turned on
and tested in several operating modes during
another test flight of the T-50-3 on 24 July.
In addition to trying the AESA radar, other
advanced avionic systems, which have not
been mounted on the earlier prototypes yet,
will be tested on this aircraft.
According to an official statement by
Sukhoi, the early tests of the radars air-
to-air and air-to-surface modes onboard the
T-50-3 prototype have produced good stable
results on a par with the performance of the
best existing aircraft. Approaches to refining
these capabilities have been proven. Work has
begun to test the optical channels.
To date, the T-50-3 has flown about 30 test
sorties, mostly to test the AESA radar and
other avionics.
The second flying prototype, the T-50-2,
has been undergoing improvements in the
run-up to high-g and flying restriction tests.
It conducted its fist flight on 3 March 2011
with Sergei Bogdan at the controls. A monthlater, the T-50-2 was carried to Zhukovsky,
and it has flown in the Moscow Region
since mid-August 2011, having logged over
80 sorties.
Early in August 2012, Sukhoi started testing
the T-50-2 for in-flight refuelling. The tests
involved a Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-78
tanker plane. Test pilot Sergei Bogdan on the
T-50-2 performed a series of approaches to
the tanker and nine hook-ups with the refuel-
ling drogue (the so-called dry refuelling) on a
single sortie, which was recorded on camera
from onboard the Su-25UB escort aircraft
furnished by the Defence Ministrys State
Flight Test Centre.
According to a Sukhoi news release, the
T-50-2 is also used for research into stability,
controllability and strength within a wide sub-
sonic and supersonic speed bracket in various
configurations.
The first prototype is being used in the
trials too. It had spent about a year, under-
going improvements since the unveiling at
the MAKS 2011 air show in August 2011.
Sergey
Lysenko
T-50-4 approaching Gromov LII Flight Research Institute airfield in snowfall,17 January 2013
The fourth flying PAK FA getting ready for long-range ferry flight to Zhukovsky.Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 15 January 2013
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The T-50-1 first flew in Komsomolsk-on-
Amur on 29 January 2010 (it has flown in
Zhukovsky since April 2010). The preparation
of the T-50-1 for extreme angle-of-attack and
supermanoeuvrability test flights had been
completed by last autumn, and its first flight
in the wake of the modification took place
in Zhukovsky on 11 September 2012. It had
performed more than 80 sorties by now.
The 100th test flight under the PAK FAtest programme was performed in November
2011, with the 200th flight took place in
January 2013. This year, the fifth aircraft is
to join the trials. T-50-5 is in assembly at
the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. It will
be followed by the sixth example. As many
as five Sukhoi test pilots have been flying
the T-50s: in addition to Sergei Bogdan,
who performed the maiden flights on the
four prototypes being tested, they are Roman
Kondratyev, Yuri Vashchuk, Sergei Kostin and
Taras Artsebarsky.
The RusAF commander Lt.-Gen. Victor
Bondarev said in January that the PAK FA
in 2013 would start its official tests at the
Defence Ministrys Flight Test Centre in
Akhtubinsk. The construction of the six pro-
totypes will be followed by the manufacture
of a low-rate initial production batch for
operational evaluation and then by full-rate
production. According to the media, about 60
production-standard PAK FAs are planned
for fielding during 201620. Obviously, the
deliveries will continue past 2020.
It looks like the programme on the joint de-
velopment and production of the Prospective
Multirole Fighter (PMF), which is also knownin India as FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Air-
craft), may become the major programme as
part of the Russian-Indian cooperation in the
sphere of aviation in the near future and in
a longer term. The aircraft is being co-devel-
oped by Russian and Indian specialists on the
basis of Russias PAK FA, with due account of
the Indian requirements.
The programme was officially launched by
the signature of the Russian-Indian intergov-
ernmental agreement on the co-development
and co-production of the future fifth-genera-
tion fighters in Moscow on 18 October 2007.Sukhoi and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL)
were appointed prime contractors. Indian
delegations had paid numerous visits to Rus-
sia during several months since then both
to the Sukhoi design bureau in Moscow and
the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur where the
construction of the early T-50 prototypes had
been under way since December 2007. Suk-
hois personnel had gone to India several
times to visit HAL. The key matters pertinent
to the co-development and co-production of
the advanced aircraft were agreed during the
negotiations held. The Russian-Indian next-
generation warplane programme implies both
its joint financing and the aircrafts co-pro-
duction at Sukhois and HALs facilities.
During then-President Dmitry Medvedev
visit to New Delhi, Rosoboronexport and HAL
made a contract for the devising of a prelimi-
nary design of the fifth-generation Prospec-
tive Multirole Fighter on 21 December 2010.
The contract is the beginning of the practical
development of the Russian-Indian fighter,
read Rosoboronexports official statement re-
leased on the occasion.The Indian press reported at the time that
the Prospective Multirole Fighter was to be
developed by 2017, and Air Chief Marshal
Pradeep Vasant Naik, who was the chief of the
IAF Air Staff during 200911, said the Indian
MoD was going to order up to 250 fifth-gen-
eration fighters.
In turn, Sukhoi reported in February 2011:
The PMF programme includes the designing
and development of a new-generation fighter
to feature such advanced characteristics as
low observability, supersonic cruising speed,
high manoeuvrability, a highly integrated avi-onics suite, an expanded situational aware-
ness system, internal carriage of weapons
and the feasibility of a centralised electronic
warfare system. The fighter is being derived
from the Russian PAK FA Future TacticalFighter in line with Indian technical require-
ments. The programme also makes provision
for the designing and development of a two-
seat version of the aircraft and the introduc-
tion of advanced engines featuring enhanced
thrust. Provision is made for cooperative mar-
keting of the aircraft in third countries.
In October 2011, IAF command published
more specific information about the number of
Prospective Multirole Fighters to be ordered
a total of 214 aircraft, including 166 single-
seaters and 48 twin-seaters and confirmed
that they intended to start taking delivery in2017. However, a year later, in October 2012,
IAFs Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal
Norman Anil Kumar Browne told Indian maga-
zine India Strategic in an interview that the
number of the fighters planned for procure-
ment had been reduced to 144 aircraft, with
all of them to be single-seaters. The reduc-
tion and the rejection of the two-seat version,
which had been planned before, were due
to the attempts to slash the cost of the pro-
gramme. Now, the first planes are planned for
entering service with IAF in 2020.
A little earlier, on 19 August 2012, the in-
fluential Indian newspaper The Times of India
ran a big article on the drafting of a contract
on the Russian-Indian PMF fighter develop-
ment work, with the contract expected for
signing in late 2012 or early 2013 (when this
issue went to press, the contract had not been
signed yet). The article reported that the PMF
programme had reached a crucial stage and
might turn into Indias largest defence pro-
gramme with is price tag estimated at about
$35 billion in the coming 20 years. According
to the newspaper, the value of the contractfor the PMF preliminary design signed in De-
cember 2010 and submitted to the customer
last summer is $295 million and the value of
the current development contract is estimated
at as many as $11 billion ($5.5 billion for the
Russian and Indian parties each). The news-
paper reports that the first PMF prototype
will be made in Russia and may be handed
over to HAL Ozar facility in Nasik for tests
as early as 2014. The second example is to
follow in 2017, while the third one in 2019.
The latter will likely meet all IAF requirements
and become the standard design for full-rateproduction, with the production facilities sup-
posed to be launched in Nasik by 2020.
From Russian PAK FA
to Russian-Indian PMF
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In December 2012, MiG Corp.
delivered to IAF the first three
upgraded MiG-29 fighters two
single-seat MiG-29UPGs and a
MiG-29UB UPG two-seater. They
were airlifted to the customer by
an Antonov An-124 Ruslan heavy
transport.
The MiG Corp. has been imple-
menting the MiG-29UPG pro-
gramme under the contract signed
on 7 March 2008 for integrat-
ed upgrade of the whole of the
MIG-29 fleet of the Indian Air
Force. In all, 62 aircraft, including
nine MiG-29UB two-seat combat
trainers, are subject to upgrade.
They are to be given more up-
to-date avionics, with their weap-
ons suite to be beefed up with
advanced missiles. In addition,
airframe and powerplant improve-
ments will extend the fighters
service life by far, and the aircraft
will switch to on-condition mainte-nance. The fuel load will increase
owing to a conformal spine fuel
tank aft of the cockpit. At the same
time, the fighters will get the mid-
air refuelling capability.
Overall, the concept of upgrad-
ing the IAF MiG-29s corresponds
to that of the MiG-29SMT that has
been in service with the Russian
Air Force since 2009 and mastered
by Russian pilots. At the same time,
there will be a high degree of avion-
ics and weapons commonality withthe MiG-29K/KUB carrierborne
fighters that entered service with
the Indian Navy on 19 February
2010. At the customers request,
systems from various foreign
manufacturers are integrated with
the avionics suite of the upgraded
MiG-29UPG (the so-called inter-
national avionics suite). Similar
experience has been gained from
the fulfilling of the Russian-Indian
contracts for upgrade of the IAFs
MiG-21bis to MiG-21UPG Bison
standard and for development and
manufacture of the Su-30MKI and
MiG-29K/KUB fighters. The expe-
rience has showed itself to good
advantage.
The upgraded MiG-29UPGs fire
control system is wrapped around
the advanced Phazotron-NIIR
Zhuk-M2E slotted-array radar and
OLS-UEM IRST with the laser,
thermal-imager and TV capabili-
ties from the Precise Instrument
Systems Scientific and Production
Corporation (NPK SPP). The same
radar and IRST fit the MiG-29K/KUB.
The cockpit management system
is based on colour multifunction
liquid-crystal displays. The inter-
national segment of the avionics
suite includes a helmet-mounted
target designator from Thales, an
inertial/satellite navigation system
from Sagem, an Indian electronic
intelligence system and an Israeli
electronic countermeasures sys-
tem (the same gear equips the
MiG-29K/KUB).
In addition to the conformal
fuel cell behind the cockpit and
the mid-air refuelling boom on
the portside, visual differences
between the MiG-29UPG and
the baseline MiG-29 include the
underwing chaff/flare dispens-
ers from Bharat Electronics and
advanced antennae of the defence
aids suite under wign and in the
root of the right fin.
The basic weapons carried by
the MIG-29UPG are the same as
those carried by the MiG-29SMT
and MiG-29K/KUB. Unlike the
weapons suite of productionMiG-29s, they also include the
RVV-AE medium-range active
radar homing air-to-air missiles
and such precision-guided air-to-
surface weapons, as the Kh-29T
general-purpose TV-homing mis-
sile, Kh-31A active radar homing
antiship missile, Kh-31P passive
radar homing antiradation missile,
KAB-500Kr TV-homing bombs, etc.
The MiG-29 has been in IAFs
inventory since 1987. Overall,
80 aircraft of the type had beendelivered from the later 1980s to
the mid-90s, including about 70
MiG-29 singleseaters (version B,
or MiG-29B) and 10 MiG-29UB
twinseaters.
Under the contract, the first
six IAF MIG-29s (four singleseat-
ers and two twinseaters) were
upgraded and tested in Russia,
where they arrived from India in
2008. The first MiG-29UPG made
its maiden flight after upgrade in
Zhukovski on 4 February 2010.
Upon completion of the tests, the
first two upgraded MiG-29UPGs
and a MiG-29UB UPG were
returned to the customer early
in December 2012. Three more
aircraft are slated for delivery this
spring. The remaining 56 aircraft
will be upgraded in India at the
production facilities of the IAFs
11th Repair Base, using knock-
down kits supplied from Russia.
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First three upgraded MiG-29UPGs delivered to India
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On 24 December 2012, during
Russian President Vladimir Putins
visit to India, there was the long-
awaited signature of the contract
for delivery of 42 Su-30MKI mul-
tirole supermanoeuvrable fighter
knockdown kits to India. The aircraftare to be licence-produced at the
manufacturing facilities of Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (HAL). On
behalf of Russia, Rosoboronexport
Deputy Director General Alexander
Mikheyev signed the contract, with
HAL Chairman R.K. Tyagi and HAL
MiG Complex Managing Director
S. Subrahmanyan signing the con-
tract on behalf of India. According
to the Indian press, the deals worth
is estimated at about $1.6 billion.
The Irkut corporation will deliver theknockdown kits to India.
Today, the Su-30MKI two-seat
supermanoeuvrable multirole fighter
fleet is the trademark of the Indian
Air Force and its most sophisticated
combat planes in service. To date,
the Russias Irkut corporation has
supplied IAF with 50 fly-away aircraft
of the type and Indias HAL corpora-
tion has been licence-producing the
Su-30MKI since 2004.
Irkut delivered the first 32
Su-30MKIs under the 1996 contract
to IAF during 20022004. Later on,
18 more fighters of the type arrived
in 20082009 under a trade-in deal
clinched in 2007 as a replacement of
18 Su-30Ks delivered in late 1990s.
The contract with India on
licence production of 140 Sukhoi
Su-30MKIs, AL-31FP thrust vec-
tor control engines and avionics,
including the Tikhomirov-NIIP Bars
phased-array radars, was signed on28 December 2000. It became the
major deal in the Russian-Indian
cooperation, valued at $3 billion-
plus. The first HAL-assembled
Su-30MKI was accepted by IAF on
28 November 2004.
In 2007, Rosoboronexport and
Irkut, on the one hand, and the
Indian Ministry of Defence and
HAL, on the other, struck a deal
for 40 Su-30MKI knockdown kits
more, with Irkut having completed
the deliveries under the contract
during 200810.
HAL Chairman R.K. Tyagi said in
December 2012 that after 42 more
knockdown kits had been ordered,
HALs licence-produced Su-30MKI
output would total 222 aircraft, of
which 119 have already been deliv-
ered to IAF. Thus, considering the
ready-made Su-30MKIs delivered by
Irkut, IAF will have a fleet of 272
aircraft of the type in the end.According to an official HAL
news release, the Russian-Indian
Su-30MKI licence production pro-
gramme involves 157 Indian sub-
contractors. HALs MiG Complex in
Nasik handles the manufacture of
Su-30MKI airframes and the final
assembly of the planes. The manu-
facture of AL-31FP engines with the
use of UMPO JSC-supplied compo-
nents is performed by HALs plant
in Koraput. The communication gear
and navigation systems are made
in Hyderabad, while the hydraulic,
pneumatic and fuel units in Lucknow
and cockpit MFDs and satnav sys-
tems in Korwa.
Meanwhile, the Su-30MKI pro-
gramme has not been sitting on
its hands, and the fighter being
delivered to India these days differ
from those supplied earlier in the
decade in greater capabilities of the
fire control system owing to lat-est operating modes and enhanced
characteristics of the avionics suite.
Since the Su-30MKI production and
deliveries will have continued for at
least four to five years more while
their service life will last at least
25 years, further improvement of
the aircraft by means of even more
sophisticated avionics and weapons
comes to the fore. Such priori-
ties now include the arming of the
Indian Su-30MKI fleet with the cut-
ting-edge BrahMos-A long-range
precision-guided multirole air-to-
surface missiles that is under devel-
opment by BrahMos Russian-Indian
joint venture, which has already
delivered missiles ship-based and
land-based versions to the Indian
Navy and Army.
In addition, the upgrade will
apply to the fighters avionics suite.
The current preliminary agreements
stipulate phased upgrade of the
Tikhomirov-NIIPs Bars phased-array radar. The first phase of the
upgrade is supposed to boost the
radars performance through intro-
duction of additional operating
modes as well as more-capable
computers and software. This is
to maximise the reliance on the
solutions of the existing phased-
array radar already productionised
by India under Russian license.
Phase two of the upgrade is to see
the Barss passive phased array
replaced with an active electronical-ly-scanned array (AESA).
IAF ordering 42 Su-30MKI fighters more
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A group of 31 design engineers
with Indian corporation HAL came to
Moscow on 4 December 2012 for the
joint work under the MTA advanced
multirole transport aircraft develop-
ment programme. The co-designing
of the MTA has been under way at aUAC Transport Aircraft facility in
Moscow, with the core of the design
team being a group of designers with
Russian airframer Ilyushin.
The contract for the first phase of
the development of the MTA medi-
um multirole transport aircraft was
signed in New Delhi on 12 October
2012 by UAC Transport Aircraft
(UAC-TA), Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd. (HAL) and Russian-Indian joint
venture Multirole Transport Aircraft
Ltd. (MTAL). MTAL Director GeneralN.K. Agarval signed the contract on
the part of the customer, and UAC-TA
Director General Sergei Velmozhkin
and HAL Director T. Suvarna Raju on
the part of the contractor companies.
The contract officially launched
the design work under the require-
ments specifications approved by the
defence ministry of the two countries
and kicked off the financing of thework. As is known, Russia and India
signed an intergovernmental agree-
ment on the MTA programme in 2007
and an agreement on setting up the
MTAL joint venture to develop and
produce the MTA on 9 September
2010. The parties were going to invest
$300 million into the programme each
and launch the airlifters production in
Russia and India, with the output to
stand at 205 aircraft at least.
According to UACs official website,
the MTA medium transport aircraftwill be capable of hauling up to 20 t of
cargo or 140 troops (90 paratroops in
case of an airdrop), or 80 casualties.
Its maximum takeoff weight will be
68 t, its range with a 20-t payload
will measure 2,000 km and that with
a 12-t payload 4,700 km. Ferry
range will account for 7,300 km with
a full fuel load of 25 t. MTAs cruising
speed is estimated at 800 km/h while
its run and roll at 1,050 m. The crewof three (pilot, co-pilot and navigator
with the flight mechanic as an option)
will be able to operate the aircraft
from paved or unpaved airfields sit-
ting at sea level up to 3,300 m. The
powerplant is supposed to include
two new-generation PD-14M turbo-
fans with a takeoff thrust of 15,600
kgf. The cargo holds lateral cross
section will measure 3.45x3.4 m and
its length will be 14 m.The MTA is expected to conduct
its maiden flight in 2017, with its
full-scale production slated for 2019.
VasilyKoba
VasilyKoba
Russian and India launching MTA co-development
January 2013 has seen the com-
pletion of the overhaul and upgrade
of the 25th Indian An-32 airlifter
(serial K2694) in Kiev. The air-
craft is the last one in the fifth
group of planes that had arrived to
Ukraine from India under the con-
tract made by the Indian Defence
Ministry and Ukrainian governmen-
tal arms exporter Spetstekhexport
on 15 June 2009. 105 Indian Air
Force An-32s are to be overhauled
and upgraded in all, with the first
40 of them being handled by the
Kiev-based government-owned
410th Civil Aviation Plant in con-
junction with the Antonov govern-
ment-owned company and MotorSich joint stock company and the
remaining 65 to be subjected to the
same overhaul and upgrade at IAFs
aircraft repair plant in Kanpur.
The overhaul and upgrade of the
An-32s in question is to extend
their service life with IAF by 15
years at the least. The upgradeprogramme approved by the parties
stipulates for fitting the An-32s with
about 25 advanced systems from
Ukrainian and foreign manufactur-
ers. The upgraded aircraft shall be
designated as An-32RE (RE stands
for re-equipped).
The first five IAF An-32s arrivedin Kiev for upgrade on 4 March
2010. The first upgraded aircraft
was rolled out in a ceremony on 27
August of the same year, and the
whole of the first five-ship batch
returned to India in May 2011.
Four months later, in September
2011, IAF received five upgraded
An-32REs more. They had been
brought to Kiev in July 2010.
The handover of the third five-air-
craft batch of upgraded An-32s took
place on 12 March 2012, and on 4October 2012, the Ukraine delivered
the fourth batch of five upgraded
An-32RE airlifters to IAF. Thus, IAF
had had as many as 20 An-32RE air-
lifters by this year, and the numbershall increase to 25 in the near future
with the delivery of the fifth five-ship
batch overhauled and upgraded in
Kiev since May of last year.
Meanwhile, work is under way
on another portion of IAF An-32s.
Another five aircraft came in from
India in September 2012, with the
next batch slated to arrive in January.
This leaves only the last five An-32s
to be upgraded in Ukraine under the
contract, after which the remaining 65
planes will be upgraded to An-32REstandard by the Indians themselves.
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Russian helicopter-making hold-
ing company Russian Helicopters has
landed a new lucrative order for Mil
Mi-17 family helicopters from India.
On 24 December 2012, during Russian
President Vladimir Putins visit to New
Delhi, the contract for 71 Mi-17V-5helicopters, of which 59 are earmarked
for the Indian Air force and remain-
ing 12 for the Ministry of the Interior
(including six for the borderguards) was
signed. The value of the deal is estimat-
ed at $1.3 billion. The machines will be
manufactured by the Kazan Helicopters,
a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters. The
delivery is slated for commencement in
2014, after the current 2008 contract
for 80 Mi-17V-5s has been fulfilled.
The deliveries under the 2008 con-
tract kicked of in autumn 2011, and theMi-17V-5 entered service with IAF in
a ceremony held on 17 February 2012
at Palam airbase, in New Delhis sub-
urbs. By then, as many as two dozen
helicopters of the type had been deliv-
ered. Another batch of Mi-17V-5s was
headed to India in December last year,
with the 2008 contract to be completed
before this year-end.
The Mi-17V-5s intended for India
are manufactured in an improved
version, with due account of extra
customer requirements. They are pow-
ered by advanced Klimov VK-2500turboshaft engines fitted with FADEC.
The engines feature enhanced power,
which is especially important on oper-
ations in the hot climate and moun-
tainous terrain. The sophisticated
navigation and electronic display suite,
which includes four multifunction dis-
plays in the cockpit and had been
tailored to the Indian version of the
Mi-17V-5, enables the helicopter to
operate round the clock under various
weather conditions.
The Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters have
long been in service with IAF and anumber of other users in the coun-
try. The first Kazan Helicopters-built
Mi-8Ts appeared in India more than
three decades ago, having become very
popular in the course of both routine
operation and several armed conflicts.
In 1986, India started taking delivery of
more advanced Mi-17 helicopters pow-
ered by TV3-117MT engines. 53 aircraft
of the type were ordered at the time. In
2000, the Indian Ministry of Defence
ordered another batch of 40 modified
Mi-17-1Vs powered by TV3-117VM
high-altitude engines.According to the Flight International
weekly, IAF had operated 150 Mi-8 and
Mi-17 helicopters b