Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India’s state-owned airframer will play a key role in the planned upgrade of Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi SU-30 MKI fighter jets.

The SU-30 MKI fleet is the backbone of the IAF and it is now planned to substantially upgrade the fighter jets, many of which were built in India under license from Sukhoi by HAL. HAL had manufactured Su-30MKI at its Nasik facility from Raw material Phase by successfully absorbing the Transfer of Technology provided by the Russian airframer.

Speaking to Future Warfare Magazine, prior to the start of the Paris Airshow, Dr. D.K. Sunil, HAL’s Chairman & Managing Director with Addl. Charge of Director (Engg and R&D) said the aircraft upgrade involved a comprehensive revamp of the SU-30 MKIs avionics architecture with integration of indigenous systems like Mission Computer, improved sensors like Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Electro Optic/Infra-Red (EO/IR), improved Electronic Warfare (EW) suite, indigenous weapon control systems and weapons, larger displays, sensor fusion, Net Centric Warfare capability and other associated indigenous avionics systems. Commenting on the effect of these upgrades, Dr. Sunil stated that there would be an enhancement of combat capability through integration of state-of-art modern weapons.

He added that sensors with better performance characteristics and larger operational envelopes would be integrated on the SU-30 MKI to complement the employment of modern weapons. He also added that HAL would have control over avionics architecture and software to support future growth in long term. The upgrade effort will also include obsolescence management.

Dr. Sunil also highlighted HAL’s role in undertaking the Repair and Overhaul (ROH) of IAF Su-30MKI aircraft for over a decade, successfully overhauling more than 140 aircraft to date. “HAL has mastered the technology for ROH of Su-30MKI aircraft and its components. HAL has progressively reduced the ROH cycle time from 22 months to 15 months,” he said. overall, Hindustan Aeronautics has produced 222 SU-30 MKIs under license.

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