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Six Indian Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft and a IL-78 mid-air refueller will be leaving for France for a joint air combat exercise with the French Air Force next month. The exercise, Garuda-IV, will be held at the Istres airbase in France from June 14 to 25. "The exercise will help to further enhance interoperability between the Indian and French air forces since pilots as well as the ground crew will get to see each other's operational, technical and administrative practices from close quarters,'' said an officer. The exercise comes at a time when India and France are all...

India has placed orders with the Russian defense industry to modernize Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters produced in India under the Russian license, India Today magazine reported in its June issue, without disclosing the sum of the contract. The project codenamed Super 30 stipulates the installation of new radars, onboard computers, electronic warfare systems and BrahMos supersonic missiles on 40 Su-30MKI fighters, the magazine said. The Indian Air Force currently operates about 100 Su-30MKI fighters and plans to produce another 170 aircraft in the next 10 years under the Russian license. India has a long history of defense ties with Moscow. The...

China to train Indonesian pilots for Su-family fighters Indonesia and China have agreed to continue cooperation in training pilots for Russian-made Su-family fighters in service with the Indonesian air force, the Antara news agency said on Friday. The agreement was reached during the current visit of the deputy chief of China's Central Military Commission Gen. Guo Boxiong to Jakarta. According to the Indonesian military, ten Indonesian pilots have already undergone Sukhoi jet fighter simulation training in China and training courses for new pilots will start in the near future. Under a $300 million contract, signed in 2007, Russia is expected...

Operating, maintaining and flying Sukhoi fighter aircraft is a Malaysia-India-Russia 'love story', says a senior Malaysian air force official.Though a three-year trilateral arrangement nears its end, Russian and Indian officials are committed to reinforcing Malaysia's air defence and combat capability as far as the Sukhoi Su 30 MKM Flanker squadron is concerned. The assurance came from Russia's warranty team leader Vladimir Konnov, from aircraft manufacturer Irkut Corporation, and Indian Air Force's (IAF) chief flight instructor Group Captain K.V.R. Raju. Konnov stressed the need for the arrangement to continue in some form. Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) 11th Squadron commanding officer...

Satellite photos recently revealed that the Chinese Navy has received J-11 jet fighters. These are illegal Chinese copies of the Russian Su-27. This plagiarism has been a source of friction between Russia and China for over five years. It all began, legally, in 1995, when China paid $2.5 billion for the right to build 200 Su-27s. Russia would supply engines and electronics, with China building the other components according to Russian plans and specifications. But after 95 of the Chinese built aircraft were built, Russia cancelled the agreement. They claimed that China was using the knowledge acquired with this Su-27...

India intends to integrate a variant of its Nirbhay long-range cruise missile on the Suhkoi Su-30MKI Flanker strike aircraft, following the weapon’s initial development in the ground-launch configuration. The addition of the Nirbhay to the Flanker’s weapons inventory would give the platform a long-range—and potentially strategic—strike capability. While details on the Nirbhay program remain scant, Indian officials have suggested the weapon will have a range of 800-1,000 km. (500-620 mi.). An air-launched derivative of the Nirbhay would be a candidate platform for the air force element of India’s strategic nuclear triad ambitions. Packaging of a warhead in the constrained space...

Russia's fifth-generation fighter aircraft PAK FA has undergone a fresh round of flight test near here last week. The combat aircraft took to the skies from the Zhukovsky air base in southeast of Moscow on April 29, 2010, Arms-Tass reported. The aircraft was piloted by Sergey Bogdan, it said. The PAK FA aircraft entered flight testing on January 29, 2010, by making its maiden flight over the sky of Komsomolsk-on-Amur city for nearly 45 minutes. The aircraft since then has undergone a series of flight tests to validate its prowess. The supersonic PAK FA with a range of 5,500 km...

Russia’s two engine manufacturers are to collaborate on the next stage of engine development for the Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter after years of going head-to-head as rivals. The Moscow-based Salut and United Engine Corp. (UEC) have agreed to work jointly on the so-called second-stage engine for the T-50 being developed to meet the air force’s PAK FA requirement. NPO Saturn, now part of UEC, and Salut have been competing for this program for several years, with designs known as Eniseysk-A and Eniseysk-B, respectively. According to senior UEC executives, the workshare on the engine to replace the T-50’s current Saturn 117...

Officials here said the Russian Defense Ministry has been overseeing development of a new fighter-jet for the Air Force. They said the platform marked a fifth-generation combat aircraft titled T-50 and designed for long-range attack missions. "Flight tests of the fifth-generation fighter are continuing successfully," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. In a statement on April 20, Putin expressed satisfaction with flight-tests of the T-50. The fighter-jet completed its maiden flight, which lasted 47 minutes, in January 2010. The T-50 has been developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in a project launched in 2002. In mid-2009, officials said, the Defense...

The plane, developed by Sukhoi, is intended to match the American F-22 Raptor, and the manufacturers say it boasts a number of unique capabilities. It is equipped with a largely new set of avionics that integrates an "electronic pilot" function, reducing the pressure on the pilot and allows him to concentrate on tactical tasks, the company said in a press release. The plane's on-board equipment enables it to conduct data exchange in real time both with ground control and the airborne colleagues. The use of compound materials and innovative technologies, the aerodynamic composition of the plane and measures to lower...

Russia’s two engine manufacturers are to collaborate on the next stage of engine development for the Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter after years of going head-to-head as rivals. The Moscow-based Salut and United Engine Corp. (UEC) have agreed to work jointly on the so-called second-stage engine for the T-50 being developed to meet the air force’s PAK FA requirement. NPO Saturn, now part of UEC, and Salut have been competing for this program for several years, with designs known as Eniseysk-A and Eniseysk-B, respectively. According to senior UEC executives, the workshare on the engine to replace the T-50’s current Saturn 117...

The Indian Air Force is planning to arm its Su-30MKI fighter aircraft with 40 BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile, said Dr AS Pillai, CEO & MD BrahMos Aerospace as reported by RIA Novosti. "The inclusion of BRAHMOS cruise missile will make the aircraft unique in firepower," said Dr Pillai at the Defence Services Asia-2010 exhibition here, in an interview with the Russian news agency. He also added that the first trials of the air-launched version were set for 2011 and the first test-flight with the missile on-board are scheduled for 2012. The supersonic cruise missile has a range of 290-km and...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today said he was satisfied with the tests of Russian fifth-generation fighter jets. ''Flight tests of the fifth-generation fighter are continuing successfully," Putin said in his annual address to the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament. Under the Russian Constitution, the government is obliged to deliver annual reports to the State Duma. ''Once again I want to thank everyone who worked on this machine, as well as those who are now putting it in the air,'' Putin said. The first Russian fifth-generation fighter jet was delivered to Zhukovsky in the Moscow region for...

By September, operations at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base here are expected to be an all-Malaysian affair. Gone will be the 50-odd Russian and Indian technical crew, engineering officers and instructor pilots following the end of their two-year service tenure. RMAF chief Gen Datuk Seri Rodzali Daud said the departure of the expatriates would pose a strong challenge to the local airmen and women to stand on their own and operate the Sukhoi SU-30MKM flanker multi-role combat aircraft. "We are confident (that we can) run the base and flight operations by ourselves, by which time there will be proper...

The SU-30MKI multi-role fighter is a two-seat highly-manoeuvrable aircraft designed for air-superiority and for strikes on ground and naval targets. These aircraft have significantly enhanced the combat capabilities of the Indian Air Force. Su-30MKI is a tailor-made aircraft for Indian specifications. It has an "international" avionics portfolio, including sub-systems and units made by 14 foreign firms from 6 countries. The aircraft features state of the art avionics developed by Russia, India and Israel which includes display, navigation, targeting and electronic warfare systems. Other key avionics used in the aircraft were sourced from France and South Africa. The Su-30MKI avionics suite...

Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft makers have brought their latest fifth-generation jet to an airfield near Zhukovski southeast of Moscow for further tests. The maiden flight was on the 29th of January and lasted 47 minutes. The plane is a computerized fighter bomber boasting cutting-edge radar and fly-by-wire systems and remarkable stealth capabilities. The latter are the result of composite materials in the design. Together with upgraded fourth-generation jets, such fighters will form the backbone of this country’s Air Force in the coming years

The government was yesterday reported to have signed a contract with the Russian government to buy six Su-30MK2s fighter jets at a cost of Shs108b each. Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms exporter, would also sell 16 fighter jets to Algeria, Vedomosti a leading business daily in Russia reported. But the army yesterday denied they had bought six new fighter jets from Rosoboronexport, valued at about Shs654 billion. Another dealThe defence and military spokesperson, Lt. Col Felix Kulayigye, told Daily Monitor that the UPDF had instead sent its old fighter jets to Rosoboronexport for overhaul. Although Col. Kulayigye admitted the government was...

Uganda has denied international media reports that it has signed a deal for the purchase of six fighter jets from a Russian company. Several Russian media houses yesterday reported that state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport signed two contracts worth $1.2b for the delivery of six fighters to Uganda and another 16 to Algeria. “The two African nations will receive different models of the Su-30 Flanker fighters,” said Vedomosti, Russia’s most reputable business daily, adding that Kampala will receive the Su-30MK2 model. Russia’s state-owned radio, The Voice of Russia, quoting a Moscow military-diplomatic source, said Uganda was planning to sign the agreement...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3uaS7pRGqE Just popped up on YouTube, a couple of interesting T-50 videos. The first is an overview of some of the technologies involved in the aircraft. Noteworthy points: the video highlights a new honyecomb core material designed for high temperatures. It also states that the T-50 will have no fewer than five radar arrays: the 1500-module forward active electronically scanned array (AESA), two side-facing X-band sub-arrays and two "decimetric" (L-band) arrays in the leading-edge root extensions. It also states that the goal is to fight the F-22 by closing within visual range

The flying debut of Russia’s answer to the F-22 Raptor isn’t wowing Air Force leaders. Dubbed the T-50 or PAK-FA, the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet made its maiden flight Jan. 29 — 47 minutes over eastern Russia — and has flown at least twice since then. The twin-engine jet will replace the MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker, both fourth-generation front-line fighters. The first operational T-50s should be delivered in 2015, the same year the Air Force expects its first F-35 Lightning II. Also a fifth-generation fighter, the F-35 has a single supersonic engine and stealth capabilities. “I didn’t see anything...