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Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed Cabinet Committee on Security in its meeting on Monday approved a proposal for procurement of 240 aero-engines (AL-31FP) for Russian-origin SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft from defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of over ₹26,000 crore.
Earlier, the MoD had given nod to HAL for major upgrade of SU-30 MKI fleet of aircrafts of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to increase their operational lives which is worth ₹60,000 crore.
Through that, the aircraft will have new electronic warfare capabilities, weapon systems, radars and mission control systems. The comprehensive upgrades will add another two to three decades to the lives of aircraft whose body frame otherwise remains flying worthy for 50 years, said HAL sources.
The Ministry of Defence said the proposal for upgrade of SU-30 MKI has been given nod under Buy (Indian) category and the delivery of these aero-engines would start after one year and complete over a period of eight years.
“The engines will have indigenous content over 54 per cent, enhanced due to indigenisation of some key components of aero-engines. These would be manufactured at Koraput division of HAL, the Ministry stated in a statement to media.
The AL-31FP engines will replace existing engines on Su-30MKI jets that have completed their operational lifespan.
Su-30 MKI is one of the most powerful and strategically-significant fleet of IAF. The supply of these aero-engines by HAL would meet the fleet sustenance requirement of IAF to continue their unhindered operations and strengthen the defence preparedness of the country.
Indigenous manufacturing
HAL will engage significantly private sector for the upgrade of SU-30 MKIs which will boost indigenous manufacturing capabilities and reduce dependency on imports from Russia and other countries. In the first phase, new avionics and radars would be mounted on the jets followed by flight control systems.
The analogue cockpit display will be replaced by modern digital ones with more screen presence, HAL sources had said earlier. It will also make SU-30 MKIs a 5th generation fighter aircraft without the stealth feature.
The upgrades are also expected to throw possibilities of exports of spares and systems since many countries like Malayasia, Indonesia and Vietnam too operate the Russian origin fighter jets.
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