1.

2011

CONTENTS
Aircraft
04 Chengdu J-20. Chinas ram
for cheese boxes on rafts

Bangalor's Sky
Waiting

Summing-up
12 Russias aviation industry in 2010:
from Sukhoi PAK FA
to Tupolev TU-204SM
Review of the Most Important Events
of the Last Year

Engines
20 The Motor Sich:
Development, Production
and Services

Avionics
24 Radionix (Microwave Systems
Design Company) crisis solutions
to upgrade fighters avionics

Navigation
28 Compas: priorities of space
navigation

View of analyst
32 India and Russia:
new joint military projects
44 Russian arms trade

Editorial
Yet another exhibition of world aviation industry achievements Aero India 2011 has
opened its doors. The show gathered a large number of professionals from many countries,
two of which are India and Russia. These two powers have much in common in the aviation
sector, and India has been Russias strategic partner for many decades. Since the early
1960s India has been purchasing Soviet and Russian aviation equipment. Today, this
partnership has stepped to a new level. Not only does India purchase aircraft but the two
countries work on joint development projects, the most important one is the PAK FA T-50.
India keeps stressing the critical importance of the project in the light of the recent flight
tests of Chinas Chengdu J-20 fighter. The T-50 is developing successfully; the second
prototype is currently passing tests.
Apart from this, in 2010 a joint venture was established to develop the multipurpose
transport plane (MTA). The project also holds the status of joint programme which is
of great concern for both Russia and India.
The third important fact is that Russia is taking part in tender for selling 126 fighters for
the Indian Air Force with its MiG-35. These aircraft have successfully completed flight
tests in both countries, and Russia has every chance to win the tender partly because
MiG-35 has been unified with the MiG-29K fighter, which is currently entering service
with the Indian Navy. Apart from the mentioned competition Russia is also participating
in tender for supplying the light scout helicopters for the Indian Armed Forces with its
K-226s. Russia also hopes the final choice will be in favour of these machines. Trying to
describe the scope of Russian-Indian partnership its noteworthy that Indias advanced jet
trainer is equipped with Russian AL-55 engines. Some other interesting facts come to my
mind as well...
A lot can be said about Russian-Indian joint projects and military and technical
cooperation but lets sum it up to one phrase: There is no other country like India for Russia
to lead such a great number of joint projects and sign contracts to supply various aircraft
equipment. Today, India is Russias major strategic partner in the aviation industry. While
reading feature of this issue youll face some facts proving the statement and will find a lot
of interesting and useful information.
I wish you successful and fruitful work at the Aero India 2011, as well as fresh impressions
and prospective business contacts.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Gudko

Director General
Evgeny Osipov
Deputy Director General
Alexander Kiryanov
Commercial Director
Denis Kostin
Marketing Director
Leonid Belyaev
Marketing Manager
Elena Bebneva
Creative Director
Alexander Strelyaev
Editor-in-Chief of A4 Press Publishing
Viktor Murakhovskiy
Editor-in-Chief of AirFleet
Alexander Gudko
Editors
Mikhail Nayden
Art Director
Al'vina Kirillova
Designers
Alexander Shipilov
Nadezhda Fadina
Elena Shishova
REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN SAINT-PETERSBURG
Deputy Director General
Oleg Perevoschikov
Commercial Director
Sergey Baydak
Advertising Sales Director
Milana Nikolaeva
Development Director
Roman Moshnin
Marketing Director
Grigoriy Zubok
Photos and graphics in this issue:
M. Lystseva, A. Cheredayko, Rajesh Dangi,
M. Badrocke, N. Solovjev, Motor Sich JSC,
Radioniks Ltd., Compas MDB, blogspot.com,
photobucket.com, defenceindustrydaily.com, sflorg.
com, airwar.ru, free-review.net, radikal.ru
Partners:
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Circulation: 10 000
The magazine is registered in the Committee for Press of the
Russian Federation. Certificate 016692 as of 20.10.1997.
Certificate 77-15450 as of 19.05.2003.

AIR FLEET, 2011

ADDRESS
P.O. Box 77, Moscow, 125057, Russia
Tel.: + 7 495 626-52-11
Fax.: + 7 499 151-61-50
E-mail: af@airfleet.ru

8-10 March, 2011

AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong
www.AsianAerospace.com
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Aircraft

CHENGDU J-20.
CHINAS RAM FOR CHEESE BOXES ON RAFTS

On 11 January 2011 the new Chinese combat jet flew for the first time (in public, at least). The new
airplane is referred to as the Chengdu J-20. Chengdu is the name of the city which houses a few
aviation industry enterprises, including aircraft manufacturing plants producing jetfighters and design
houses developing them. Great many outsiders watched the J-20 fly, as they happened by chance
to be around the fence of Chengdu factorys aerodrome on that day. The flight itself was uneventful.
It took place in the conditions of clear skies allowing photographers to make some good shots.
Before touching off the ground, the pilot made several passes over the runway
so as to expose his airplane to the cameras
of aviation admirers all round the place.
Those took photos of the aircraft from different angles and depicted everything they
wanted except for doors of internal weapons bays.
These doors were either thoroughly hidden or removed from the shots by the picture
takers on the insistence of very competitive
advisers. But it is even more likely that these
doors were not actually fitted to the J-20
first operable prototype. They are not needed on the very first operable aircraft dedicated to assessment of flight performance,
flight envelope, various engine settings,
functioning of the essential onboard systems,
proving flight control algorithms. As a rule,
third or even later prototypes are devoted

to weapons testing, but these are yet to be

constructed and outfitted.
The J-20 first public flight occurred just
in time when US defense secretary Robert Gates was in Beijing on an official visit. Once there, he was trying to calm down
the Chinese leaders who were much worried about pending deliveries of modern
US-made weapons to Taiwan. Beijing considers this island an essential part of China.
A lot of pictures appeared on the Internet on the memorable day of 11 January. These shots gave more information
on the new airplane. In particular, they reveal the shape of the wing and its positioning in relation to fuselage. This makes it
possible to make some preliminary conclusions about the aerodynamics layout and
technical characteristics of the J-20, and
make guesses as to the main task the new

jet shall be solving after entering squadron service.

The J-20 represents a relatively large
tactical jet with the canards (foreplanes)
and large delta wing. The fuselage length
is somewhere between 23 and 25 meters, wingspan between 13 and 14 meters. By our estimation the maximum takeoff weight shall be in the region of 40 tons,
and operating empty weight twice less
than that.
Many aviation experts believe that
the J-20 relies on a pair of Russian engines
or their Chinese copies. In other words,
the J-20s engines are picked out among
members of the big family uniting the Item
117, AL-31F, WS-14 and WS-10 Taihang.
Two engines together develop in between
30 and 40 tons of thrust. If that is so, then
the capability of the propulsion system

Aircraft
is enough for supercruise, or supersonic
cruise flight at military power (highest power setting without afterburning). We may
also expect that the J-20 with restricted fuel and combat load (for instance, when flying air-to-air mission) can fly vertical without losing speed at subsonic regimes and
low altitudes.
When in-flight photos appeared,
the J-20 became the hottest topic for discussion among aviation enthusiasts round
the world. But as it appeared, the enthusiasts, and even world-famous western
journalists, had difficulty in classification
of the new Chinese warplane. Is it a superiority fighter? Is it a supersonic bomber? Or, perhaps, it is a multirole, multimode
airplane? Even columnist and experts with
worlds leading aviation magazines hesitated to give their clear answer to these
questions, that in the view of them hav-

ing good sources in the US and European intelligence bodies, defense ministries
and the industry. It seems that not only journalists, but the professionals were in some
state of shock after seeing the new Chinese bird.
First of all, lets determine J-20s center
of gravity position. There are some photos available of the J-20 taxiing, in which
we can clearly see its long fuselage, wingto-fuselage connection and landing gears.
The J-20 undercarriage is fighters classics: three-point with a nose gear. And so it
makes it easy to determine center of gravity position. To do that we take the main
landing gear strut, and attach a line to
it starting on the wheels ground contact
point. The line goes up with at an angle of,
say, 15 degrees, leaning towards the nose
of the airplane. The point where it crosses the fuselage center line is the most likely

The J-20 relies on a pair of Russian engines or

their Chinese copies coming from the big family
uniting the Item 117, AL-31F, WS-14 and WS-10
Taihang

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position for the airplanes center of gravity.

Here comes the first surprise: the likely center of gravity position rests too far
from the mean aerodynamics chord (MAC)
of the wing. As a first iteration for aircraft
designers, the center of gravity must be
somewhere 2535% of the wings MAC,
like so is prescribed in the classic aircraft
design books.
But the Chinese airplane appears to
have the center of gravity position somewhere at MACs edge. It is fairly strange
for a maneuverable fighter, since balancing of the aerodynamic forces and
the gravity will require relatively high deflection of the control surfaces canards
in the J-20s case. Should this airplane try
to execute high-G maneuvers at subsonic
speeds, the deflection of the canards could
be a limitation. All this is rather strange
for a maneuverable fighter But not for
the J-20, which does not appear to be one
of those!
Lets take a look at other available photos, in which the J-20 goes in for the landing with landing gear down. Apparently, the canards are set at a rather high positive angle (leading edge upwards), while
the wing has its leading edge deflected
downwards. The trailing edge surfaces are
also deflected down, at rather a small angle. Obviously, at the approach for landing configuration, the wings center line
is highly curved by means of the leading
and training edges down, which increases
lift (achieved through altering the camber
of the wing). But not so much as in the case
of classical flaps.
All this is, again, fighter classics for
the delta winged aircraft with foreplanes.
And here lies their limitation: the pilot cannot move the trailing edge further down,
since the resulting lift force that builds up
on the training edge will be hard to balance with the canards, in the view of their
limited deflection scope (in the view
of them stalling).
It is well known from the aviation history how to enable delta-winged airplanes to generate more of the lift force
at landing. For that purpose the canards
are placed as close to the fuselages nose
as possible, to have a larger distance to

Aircraft

F-35C Lightning II

the center of gravity. For instance, the Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic jet liner had foreplanes that were retracted into fuselage
all the time except landing. But Chengdu designers did not do this. Rather, they
positioned the canards fairly close to
the center of gravity position, and thus
sacrificed their effectiveness at landing for
some other purposes.
What purposes? Firstly, for non-retractable foreplanes it is important to have
them within the supersonic cone as it sets
on the top of the airplanes nose at Mach

What is the J-20? Is it

a superiority fighter?
Is it a supersonic
bomber? Or, perhaps, it
is a multirole, multimode
airplane? Few columnists
and experts dared to give
their explicit answer
6

numbers exceeding 1.0. This lead to a conclusion what the Chinese must have been
purposely shaping the J-20 for supersonic flying.
Why the Chinese shaped the J-20
in the way it is? Perhaps, they are unfamiliar with the classic solutions for a delta-winged, canard-equipped fighter? No,
this is not the case knowing that Chengdus
previous design was the J-10 light weight
fighter, now in service with PLAAF. On its
first public flight, the J-20 was escorted by
a J-10B twin seater, the operational trainer version of the baseline J-10 single seat
fighter. This airplane was the star of the Airshow China 2008 and 2010, when it flew
superbly with the PLAAF display team pilots at the controls. The J-10 is a very maneuverable airplane, and this is the testimony of the Chinese designers skills in development of maneuverable fighter aircraft.

Importance of proper shaping of supersonic fighters can be illustrated by

the case with the Sukhoi Su-27S, where suffix S points at the optimized
version with reduced transonic drag. The optimization effort was made
by Sukhoi designers in cooperation with TsAGI, as they tried to improve
transonic performance of then-new fighter. Three TsAGIs big wind
tunnels, the T-112, T-108 and T-109 were used in the process. As a result
of very accurate optimization of the fighters cross section distribution
diagram, the Su-27s wave drag was reduced by 25% not before
the designers had virtually redeveloped the airplane (the initial aircraft
was referred to the Su-27, improved the Su-27S).

Chengdu J-10B twin seat

operational trainer

Aircraft

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Aircraft

The J-10 is a classic design with proper positioning of the center of gravity, like
in the books. This is clear to tell looking
at the main landing gear struts attached
to the fuselage somewhere near 1530%
of the wings MAC. So, let us ask ourselves
the same question again, why the Chinese
designers shaped the J-20 in the way it is?
Here are some suggestions.
First, to achieve smooth airflow with desirable parameters at the entry to the engines fan, the J-20s designers have to
make the air intakes rather long. This was
an important consideration at design stage.
Second, they also needed to make
the air channel S-shaped, so as to hide
the fan blades from the radio waves emitted by enemy radars. The latter is needed for a lower visibility of the airplane. It
is worth to notice that the J-20s air intakes
resemble those first tried on the Lockheed

F-22 Raptor

Martin F-35 Lightning II. This gives move

ground to assert that the J-20 is optimized
for supersonic regimes and supercruise,
much like the F-35.
Third, let us make distribution diagram
for the airplanes cross section along

the J-20s fuselage centerline. We need to

take account of the thickness of the wing,
canards and tailplanes. The diagram is
very smooth, exceptionally smooth! It
comes without a peak, running smoothly at approximately the same height from

Mike Badrocke, AIR International

F-22 Raptor
Cutaway

Aircraft

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AL-31FN

Matej Furda, www.hitechweb.genezis.eu

the tops of the air intakes all the way to

the engine nozzles.
This seems to be the main thing for
the Chengdu designers. Apparently, they
wanted to make the airplanes equivalent body of rotation as narrow as possible. And they needed to make provision
for internal carriage of weapons, which
is a characteristic feature for fifth generation fighters. In actual fact, the J-20 has
much smoother cross section distribution
diagram than the F-22A Raptor, the F-35
Lightning II and the Sukhoi T-50 (PAK FA or
FGFA). Apparently, it required quite an effort from Chengdu designers and so made
them go for compromises on other things.
Should the designers from Chendgu
have made it classic, they would not
have moved the wing all the way towards
the engine nozzles. But they did because it
was the only effective way to make the airplane as narrow as possible, with the need
for big air intakes, air-supply channels and
internal weapons bays.
Again, this is the main thing about
the J-20 design, and it sets it apart from
all other known next-generation fighters. Other designs have peaks in some
6070% down the way from the fuselage
nose tip to the engine nozzles.
A smooth cross section distribution diagram is important for transonic drag. Supersonic aircraft are being designed
in accordance with so-called area ruling. For high Mach numbers (M>2)
the distribution diagram is not so important as for transonic regimes, M=11.5. It
seems the Chinese designers optimized
their new jet for transonic regimes and
moderate supersonic speeds.
Our impression from the J-20 is that it
is an uncompromised airplane for supercruse, for flying at moderate supersonic
speeds corresponding to Mach M=1.3
1.6. Such speeds can be achieved without afterburning. Surely, the J-20 can accelerate to M=2 and faster, but this would
require engaging afterburners. In turn,
the fuel burn will go high, lowering operational range of the aircraft and enlarging its heat signature.
In our view the Chinese designers optimized their new jet for M=1.31.6.

Aircraft

Sukhoi T-50

J-20 seems to be
intended for antishipping: firing missiles
at enemy warships while
evading interceptors by
means of higher speeds
structed fifty monitors modeled on their
namesake and made them the backbone of their navy. For their rather strange
looks, these ships were called cheese
boxes on rafts. Since the memorable Battle of Hampton, the North Americans never lose at sea, and now their cheese boxes sale when and where they want. China
prepares a ram for them.
Vladimir Karnozov

Here comes the clue: the J-20 is a missile launching platform able to evade enemy interceptors by high cruise speed.
The J-20 may prove a good interceptor,
very possibly. But its main task seems to
be anti-shipping: firing missiles at enemy
warships while denying their air defense
cover.
It may well be that one day the new
Chinese jets would be used in anger. And
it would probably be PLAAF sending their
pilots to attack warships off the coast
of a freedom-loving island not far from
the mainland China.
The history of the powerful US Navy can be traced back to the famous
duel of the USS Monitor and VSS Virginia (Merrimack) on 9 March 1862,
the first-ever battle of ironclads. Although
the Confederacy gunners scored hundreds of direct hits, shells bounced off
her armor: the Monitor seemed to have
impunity to enemy fire. The USS Monitor, a 987-ton armored turret gunboat,
was built at New York, with a large single cannon turret on a low freeboard. After the battle, the North Americans con-

10

Aircraft

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11

Summing-up

RUSSIAS AVIATION INDUSTRY IN 2010:

FROM SUKHOI PAK FA TO TUPOLEV TU-204SM

Review of the Most Important Events of the Last Year

The year of 2010 turned to be a momentous year for the Russian aviation industry. It was marked
by the first test flights of the Sukhoi fifth generation fighter and new Tupolev civil airliner at the
beginning and at the turn of the last year, respectively. Such events as certification of SaM-146
engine, which is intended for Sukhoi Superjet-100, and integration of the Russian and Ukrainian
aircraft manufacturers are no less important.
First Fifth Generation Fighter
On 29 January 2010, Sukhoi conducted the first flight of its prototype of the PAK
FA fifth generation fighter from KnAAPOs
(Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association) site. The Sukhoi PAK FA
(or Promising Aircraft of Frontline Aviation)

12

will replace the operational fighters of previous generations resulting in achievement

of the strategic parity between the Russias
and US Air Forces in terms of fighter aviation technologies.
As reported in the official press release
by the Sukhoi Company, unlike the fight-

ers of previous generations the PAK FA

combines the features of both strike aircraft and fighter. The fifth generation aircraft is equipped with brand new avionics,
which integrates an electronic pilot function, as well as with phased-array antenna radar. As such, it significantly decreas-

Summing-up

of the new aircraft amounts to 0.5 square

sible to use AL-41 engine developed for
metres while the same characteristhe MiG 1.42 new generation fighter since
tics of the Su-30MKI fighter equals to
it has different dimensions which are not
20 square metres. Some Russian media
acceptable for the Sukhoi PAK FA. Howsources reported that this effective reflectever the technologies applied in the AL-41
ing area of 0.5 square metres in the forengine may be certainly used for the deward hemisphere was related to airframe.
velopment of a new engine, which has not
After application of anti-radar coating and acquire any name so far.
replacement of the cockpit canopy with
The Sukhoi PAK FA will be equipped with
the one with radio wave absorbing coatactive phased array radar developed by
ing, the effective reflecting area value may V. Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute
decrease up to 0.010.03 square metres.
of Instrument Design in Zhukovsky. The acAll weapons intended for the new fifth
tive phased array radar is expected to begeneration fighter are kept inside the fusecome the core of the multifunctional intelage bay. This crucial feature increases its
grated avionic system. In addition to the rastealth capability and ensures a supersondar the multifunctional integrated avionic
ic cruise speed at unboosted engine opersystem includes electronic warfare sysation. The view of the Sukhoi PAK FA from
tem, identification friend-or-foe (IFF) sysbelow clearly shows the half-doors of two
tem, and suspended millimetre-wave radio
weapon bays arranged longitudinally one
detector.
after another. Their size makes it possiThe second PAK FA fifth generation proble to room the advanced missiles develtotype (T-50) will join the flight test prooped by Tactical Missile Weapon Corpogramme at the beginning of this year. This
ration in accordance with the Comprehenwas declared by the president of the Unitsive Target Programme on Development
ed Aircraft Corporation Alexey Fyodorov
of New Air Weapons, which is being imin December 2010. According to Alexey
plemented along with the PAK FA develop- Fyodorov, this new aircraft is not an equivment programme. Some media sources realent of the developed prototype, but
port that the PAK FA developers managed rather a supplement to the performance
to solve the problem regarding opening
of the first fighters prototype.
the half-doors and launching missiles in suIn July 2010, the first deputy defence
personic mode.
minister of the Russian Federation VladiThe first fifth-generation fighter protomir Popovkin said that the new Russian fifth
type is equipped with engines, designated
generation fighter would be purchased toas product 117", developed by Saturn Re- gether with the weapons and ground sup-

es pilot load and allows concentrating

on fulfilment of tactical missions. New aircraft onboard equipment allows real-time
data exchange with ground control systems as well as within the air group. Application of composite materials and innovative technologies, aerodynamic configuration, and actions based on engine noise
reduction provide unprecedentedly low
level of radar, optical and infrared visibility.
This significantly enhances the combat effectiveness against air and ground targets
at any time of the day in both visual and
adverse weather conditions.
According to the Russian analytical reports, the effective reflecting area
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The second PAK FA fifth generation prototype

(T-50) will join the flight test programme at the
beginning of this year
search and Production Association in Rybinsk. In fact, this engine is a deep modernization of the well-known AL-31FP with
improved specific and long-term performance characteristics. Many experts agree
that the Sukhoi aircraft will require a new
engine in order to achieve the same flight
and technical characteristics as the American F-22A. In this respect, it is hardly pos-

port equipment. He did not mention the exact amount of funds to be allocated by
the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation for acquisition of the T-50, but he
noted that the Air Force needed at least
50100 aircrafts of this type.
During the next two years Sukhoi is planning to complete testing of the PAK-FA airframe and in 2013 the Ministry of Defence

13

Photo by Nikolai Solovjov

Summing-up

Tu-204SM

of the Russian Federation will conclude

a contract with Sukhoi Company for delivery of ten aircrafts for testing their weapons. The first stage of trials is to be completed by the end of 2013. According to
the preliminary data, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation will purchase a number of the Sukhoi PAK-FA fighters in 2016.

Tu-204SM: Deep Modernization

Eleven months later, on 29 December
2010, Aviastar SP (Ulyanovsk) witnessed
the first flight of the Tu-204SM prototype.
This new aircraft is a deeply modernized
version of the Tu-204-100 developed by
Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet times.
According to the developers, the Tu-204
has competitive performance, and therefore it can be compared with major foreign
competitors (the Tu-204 is considered to
be an equivalent to the Boeing 757 manufactured from 1982 till 2005). The cost-effectiveness analysis of medium-range jet
airlines, conducted by Tupolev, justified
the feasibility of modernizing the Tu-204 to
increase its competitiveness in the respective market.

14

This modernization resulted in development of the Tu-204SM airliner. The PS-90A2 engine was selected as
the power plant. PS-90A2 is a unified, turbofan, two-shaft engine with core and
secondary flows provided with a reverser
in the secondary flow and sound-attenuating system.
The engine was designed by Aviadvigatel JSC (located in the city of Perm) in cooperation with the US Pratt & Whitney Company. The PS-90A2 engine was certified
on 25 December 2009 (the related decision was made at the meeting of the Presidium of the Aviation Register of Interstate
Aviation Committee in Moscow).
As reported in Aviadvigatel official
press release, PS-90A2 was developed to
meet all international requirements, namely AP-33 (airworthiness) and AP-34 (environmental protection). In addition, this new
engine developed by Perm Design Bureau
will significantly reduce the life-cycle cost
(by 3537%) and increase the reliability of the product compared to the baseline PS-90A engine. Unlike the basic version, the PS-90A2 engine is equipped with
high-pressure turbine with single-crystal

rotor blades made of ZHS-36MONO alloy, and new automatic control system.
The developers applied sound-absorbing
structures of the second generation, new
digital electronic engine controller, and
implemented the advanced design and
technological solutions that ensure break
localization of the damaged rotor blades.
The document emphasized that certification of the PS-90A2 engine went hand
in hand with its commercial production by
Perm Motor Plant.
In addition, the Tu-204SM will be provided with a new auxiliary power unit
(APU) TA-18-200 with a 90 kW generator instead of TA-12-60. Apart from that
it has efficient fuel consumption, greater altitude performance, and lower life cycle costs. Initially, the TA-18-200 auxiliary power unit with a 60 kW generator was
designed for the AN-124 and AN-70 aircrafts. In August 2010, the deputy director
general and chief designer of Aerosila Research and Production Enterprise Leonid
Plakhov said that flight testing of the new
APU should be completed in the second or
third quarter of 2011. Another important
advantage of the modernized Tu-204SM

Summing-up

S-21

is crew reduction. The crew number will be

reduced from three to two people, namely the aircraft commander and co-pilot excluding flight engineer. The flight-navigation system will be replaced with a new

one developed by Aviapribor Company.

It will allow landing as per IIIA category.
In addition, the Tu-204SM is to be provided with new communication system, and
digital air conditioning system. At the same

The president of Irkut Corporation Oleg Demchenko: The MS-21 will become
the world leader in terms of application of composite materials among the narrow-body long-range aircrafts
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time, the plane continues to hold the same

position which lies between the Boeing
737/Airbus A320 families and twin-isle
Boeing 767/Airbus A330.
The completion of certification and first
deliveries of the new airliner are scheduled
for the end of this year.
Red Wings Airlines will be the first customer to purchase 44 aircrafts of Tu204SM type from Russias largest aircraft
lessor, Ilyushin Finance (IFC). The contract
concluded between IFC and Red Wings is
estimated at 1.5 billion dollars.
The aircraft assembly will continue till
20152020. After 2015, the Tu-204SM
production capacities will be refocused
on the production of promising Irkut MS-21
jet airliner. According to the developers,
the MS-21 will be by 30% cheaper than
its counterparts, by 2025% more efficient in terms of fuel consumption and by
1520% cheaper in terms of usage and
maintenance. Apart from that it will have
1020 more seats in the passenger compartment and the fuselage will be by 10
20 cm larger in diameter. Irkut Corporation president Oleg Demchenko said, The
MS-21 will become the world leader

15

Summing-up

Yak-130

in terms of application of composite materials among the narrow-body long-range

aircrafts.
The timeline for MS-21 development programme was specified last year. The first
operating model of the Russian-made
PD-14 engine, which is intended for this
particular jet along with the American
R1000G, will appear in 2012. The engine
will be certified two years later according to Aviadvigatel chief designer Alexander Inozemtsev. According to the president
of Aerokompozit JSC (subsidiary company
of the United Aircraft Corporation) Anatoly Gaydansky, the first wing for MS-21 will
be ready by 2013. The jet itself will perform its first flight in 2014 and will be introduced into the market in 2016.
As far as today goes, some foreign customers show an interest in procurement
of the Irkut MS-21 jet airliner. For instance,
Malaysia's Crecom Burj Bhd (investment
holding) signed an agreement with Russian Irkut Corporation for the procurement
of 50 MS-21.

the Air Force would start batch supplies

of the Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainers. At
the same time they will be supplied to Algeria. The Yak-130 jet trainer is intended
for training of cadets at the flying school,
training of pilots at the combat training
centres for specific type of combat aircraft in order to extend the operational service life of combat aircraft. Apart from that,
the trainees are taught such skills as tak-

ing-off, landing, piloting, navigating, performing sophisticated manoeuvres, acquiring the special skills to operate an aircraft
at the limiting flight operation modes or
in case of various failures of the system or
pilots errors, performing close combat formation flight operations during the daytime
and in clear weather conditions, learning weapon systems and its fundamentals
when being used to engage ground and

Yak-130: Batch Supplies

At the end of 2010, the deputy chief
of Russias Air Force, lieutenant general
Igor Sadofyev officially announced that

16

SSJ-100 & SaM-146

Summing-up

air targets, and training offensive and defensive manoeuvres. By the way, the aircrafts manoeuvring performance simulates
the flights of the fourth and fifth generation
combat aircrafts. The integrated control
system with the reprogramming function allows the pilot to be taught for any aircraft,
i.e. Su-30, MiG-29, F-16, F-15, Rafale, Typhoon, F-22, and F-35.
The new Yak-130 has a takeoff weight
of 9 tons, fuel capacity of 1.6 tons, and
operating ceiling of 12,000 metres. It attains a top speed of a thousand miles per
hour. The aerodynamic design enables
the controlled flight at an attack angle
of up to 35 degrees.
It can be also used as a light strike fighter. The Yakovlev Yak-130 is equipped with
six struts and can carry all kinds of modern
air weapons. The cockpit and power plant
are provided with light armour protection.

Engines: SaM-146 Certification

and Launching of Gas Generator for
PD-14
On 13 August 2010, the Interstate
Aviation Committee issued Certificate
No. 315-AMD for the SaM-146 power
plant developed by Saturn Research and
Production Association (Russia) and Snecma S.A. (France). The SaM-146 is an integrated power plant which consists of engine, engine nacelle and reversing thrust

device. The SaM146 engines are installed

on the Sukhoi Superjet-100 produced by
Sukhoi Civil Aircrafts (Russia) in cooperation with Alenia Aeronautica (Italy) supported by Boeing (US).
The SaM-146 has all necessary advantages to approach the world market in the face of fierce competition when
the customer demands low cost, on-call
mission high reliability, high level of maintainability and compliance with the up-todate environmental requirements, the developers note.
The batch supplies of power plant intended for the Sukhoi Superjet-100 began
in late August last year.
The certification testing of PD-14 engine
is still to take place. Meanwhile, Aviadvigatel launched the experimental gas generator for PD-14 on 26 November 2010.
As noted in the press release, its launching
was successful.
One might say that the advent of a new
unified gas generator has broken new
ground in Russian civil aircraft- and engine-building industry. Aviadvigatel director general Alexander Inozemtsev emphasized that such gas generator had no
equivalents in the world as of today. It is
known that many countries are implementing research and development works to
design the advanced engines. These works
are being at different stages today, though

all information regarding the market players is tracked.

According to the current business
plan, engine-demonstrator PD-14 based
on a new gas generator is to be constructed in April 2012.
Our analysis shows that the engine will
be competitive in the thrust range from 7 to
20 tons. If it is less than 7 tons, the engine is
considered too large and its performance
will not be competitive, and if it is over 20
tons, the gas generator will be overboosted
and it hardly be possible to ensure high engine life, Mr. Inozemtsev said.
The new engine is developed with application of the advanced technologies.
As such, it will be provided with lightweight fan hollow blades despite the fact
that the conventional blades are not used
in 2-metre engine in diameter due to their
heavy weight. Ufa plant will become
the fourth largest centre which applies this
kind of blades after Rolls-Royce, General
Electric, and Pratt & Whitney.
The latest technologies are also used
in production of low-pressure turbine (hightensile alloys based on intermetallic titanium compound allow obtaining the lowest
possible weight).
The engine structures as well as nacelles
should be made of glass and carbon fibre
reinforced plastics (the share of composite
materials amounts to about 65%).
According to experts, if all parameters
and characteristics are achieved, this engine
will be competitive in the next 2025 years.

Integration of UAC and Antonov

ASTC: Breaking the Ice

SaM-146
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It is worthy to note another event. It is not

associated with the production and marketing of new products, but it is of crucial
importance for the whole aviation industry of Russia. On 27 October 2010, United Aircraft Corporation JSC (UAC, Russia)
Antonov Aeronautical Scientist/Technical
Complex (Antonov ASTC, Ukraine) signed
an agreement on establishment of joint
venture UAC Civil Aircraft Ltd. Managing Company. This agreement was signed
in the presence of Russias prime minister
Vladimir Putin and Ukraines prime minister
Mykola Azarov making it a high-status

17

Summing-up

Producing of the An-148-100 aircraft in the assembly shop of the Voronezh Aircraft-Building Joint Stock Company

An-148-100 is the only aircraft which was jointly

developed and commercially produced by Russia
and Ukraine for the last 20 years
agreement. In addition, the document concerning the rights of participants was initialed by UAC president Alexey Fyodorov and chairman of the Board of Antonov
ASTC Dmitry Kiva.
Establishment of the joint venture is
the first step towards integration. It will take
one or two years until Antonov ASTC performs an independent evaluation, UAC
president Alexey Fyodorov comments. Afterwards, the parties will be offered various integration options and, in particular, the opportunity to define the amount of shares to
start an integration process. Mr. Fyodorov
clarified that each of the parties would have
the opportunity to abandon the offer and
put forward its options for discussion.
The joint venture, therefore, will be
aimed at coordination of interaction between two aircraft building companies. After completion of all the necessary preliminary unification processes, the joint venture will be liquidated and the Ukrainian
party will be able to participate in development of the Russian aircraft projects, such as MS-21 or Sukhoi Super JetNG (130). The UAC sources say that
Ukraine has always taken the strongest positions in the field of construction of com-

18

posite wings and other parts where such

advanced materials are used. Therefore,
the Ukrainian developers are sure to take
a significant place in this project.
Meanwhile, UAC president Alexey Fyodorov outlined four tasks to be solved by
the joint venture:
1) Coordination of sales and promotion
of jointly developed products (the Antonov
An-148 family).
2) Unification of conditions on delivery
of component parts (in terms of price) to
aircraft-building factories in Kiev and Voronezh.
3) Establishment of spare parts depot
for operators (Alexey Fyodorov added
here that the United Aircraft Corporation
could establish these warehouses by direct
procurements. However, the replacement
of parts and assemblies at the aircrafts is
usually accompanied by a broad range
of questions to the developers of aircraft.
Therefore, the participation of the Ukrainian party in this project is a must).
4) Preparation for integration and mutual assistance regarding this issue. For example, the Russian party could share its experience in evaluation and corporatization
of the state enterprises with Ukraine.

According to Mr. Fyodorov, Antonov

ASTC integration into UAC will bring
a much-needed technical and technological revolution in the Ukrainian aviation industry.
It should be mentioned that in December
2009 Russia began commercial operation
of the new short-range jet airliner Antonov
An-148-100, developed by the Antonov
Aeronautical Scientific/Technical Complex
and assembled in Russia. This is the only aircraft which was jointly developed
and commercially produced by Russia and
Ukraine for the last 20 years. The development of this aircraft involved more than
200 enterprises, 70% of which are located in Russia, 25% in Ukraine, and 5% overseas. Its final assembly was implemented
by VASO JSC (Voronezh Aircraft-Building
Joint Stock Company). The AN-148 was
developed on the principle risk-sharing
partnership. The total investment volume
exceeded 400 million dollars.
In February 2010, the first three
An-148-100 airliners were handed over
to Rossiya, the launch customer for the aircraft, which leased them according to financial leasing agreement with Ilyushin Finance Co. (IFC). VASO is going to produce
9 more jets of this type by the end of this
year. In future it will produce 36 aircrafts
per year. In general, the demand for this
aircraft on domestic and foreign markets is
estimated at 500 aircrafts.
Mikhail Nayden

Aircraft

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19

Engines

THE MOTOR SICH:

DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION AND SERVICES

The Motor Sich JSC in Zaporozhye is one of the biggest Enterprises which realizes the full cycle of
modern air engines creation from marketing research, development and production to maintenance
while operation and repair. During the years of its activity the Enterprise won respect and authority
among Customers and successfully cooperates with leading firms of the former Soviet Republics and
foreign countries.
Indian Republic with its one of the most
intensively developing economy
in the world is for Ukraine leading partner in the counties of the Asian-Pacific region. Ukraine is foreign trade partner
of India in CIS and two-sided turnover between our countries has steady growth
trend.
considerable part of turnover make up
aerotechnics deliveries and rendering services to ensure its operation.
The corporation between Ukraine and
India started in far 1961 and is successfully
developing at present time.
In 1984 more than one hundred militarytransport airplanes An-32 were supplied

Vyacheslav A. Boguslayev
Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Motor Sich JSC

The Quality and reliability of production, which is produced by Enterprise, confirmed by its successful exploitation in more
than 120 world countries.
Due to objective estimation the aircraft
industry of Ukraine is among the first ten
world countries if taking into consideration
its research-and-production potential and
airplanes produced by Antonov SE as
well as engines produced by Motor Sich
JSC and Ivchenko-Progress SE are its
visiting card at all aerospace saloons.

20

to Indian Republic, which were designed

in Ukraine in accordance with technical
requirements specified by Ministry of Defense in India.
High aircraft performance characteristics and reliability guaranteed by airplanes
An-32 and their engines AI-20 during exploitation in extreme conditions of mountainous regions and hot climate promoted
Ministry of Defense in India taking the decision about this airplane modernization
with the purpose of its further exploitation.

D-436-148

Engines

An-148

Corresponding Ukrainian-Indian contract was signed in 2009. It presupposes

sequential service life extension from 25 to
40 years as well as new navigation and radio equipment installation.
With the purpose of ensuring running extended service life for airplanes in the end
of 2009 the procurement contract was
signed with our Enterprise according to
which 100 new engines AI-20 will be purchased.
It should be mentioned that besides several hundred engines AI-20 another more
than thousand engines produced by Motor Sich JSC are successfully exploiting
in aeronautical engineering and rocket
technology of Indian armed forces such as
military and transport helicopters Mi and
Ka, anti-submarine patrol airplanes IL-38
as well as anti-ship system Uranium.
With the help of Motor Sich JSC the repairing process for engines operating in India AI-20, TV3-117 and AI-9V was implemented at 3 BRD IAF (Chadigarh)
With the purpose of its further presence
expansion in the aeronautical engineering market the Enterprise is involved in creation activities and new future-technology
engines production startup as well as commercial engine modification. They are creating by Motor Sich JSC designers and also together with traditional partner Ivchenko-Progress SE the company with
which Motor Sich JSC founded in 2007
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joint corporation: Scientific Production AsThe Enterprise pays the great attention
sociation A. Ivchenko. Here we mean ento engine production for helicopters used
gines D-436-148, AI-450-MS, AI-450M, with different purposes. Our engines are
TV3-117VMA-SBM1V, MS-500V and
mounted practically on 95% helicopters
AI-222-25.
Mi, Ka including those, which are exEngine D-436-148 is created on the baploiting in India the largest helicopters
sis of the best constructive decisions and
in the world Mi-26.
designed for passenger airplanes family
The smallest helicopter engine produced
An-148. It is produced by Motor Sich JSC
by Motor Sich JSC is AI-450, designed toin cooperation with Salute FSUE MPP
gether with Ivchenko-Progress SE.
(Moscow).
In its different modifications it can ensure
Base airplane An-148 can take on its
the take-off power form 370 to 600 hp.
board from 68 to 85 passengers. its comAt present time our Enterprises focused
mercial operation started in June, 2009.
their efforts on modification creation AIThe modification of this plane An-158 has
450M aimed for re-motorization of earlier
the seating capacity from 85 to 99 perproduced helicopters Mi-2 where it will resons. its regular operation in airlines should place engine GTD-350.
be started in 2011.
To increase aircraft performance charAlso we are working at creation of busiacteristics of middle-class helicopters
ness class airplane An-168 with the range
while exploiting them in mountainous reability up to 7 thousand kilometers and
gions and in countries with hot climate Motransport modification An-178 with paytor Sich JSC created new helicopter engine
load 13,515tons which can replace perTV3-117VMA-SBM1V with increased refectly well taken out of exploitation in India source values resource up to first overairplanes An-12.
haul 4000 hours/cycles and specified
For different modifications An-148 and
resource 12000 hours/cycles.
other passenger and transport airplanes
Engine was developed by Motor Sich
with main engine family: D-436 two-shaft
JSC designers on the basis of commercial
auxiliary gas turbine engine AI-450-MS
turbine engine TV3-117VMA-SBM1 using
was designed at Motor Sich JSC Enterits gas generator and free power turbine.
prise. It ensures main engine start as well
Engine automatic control system
as compressed air and power supply to
TV3-117VMA-SBM1V allows, dependplanes airborne system with running main
ing on helicopters type, take-off powengines.
er adjustment in the range from 2000 hp

21

Engines

Mi-24

(supported up to 51) to 2500 hp (supported up to 35).

Higher characteristics as for take-off power support depending on outside air temperature and engine critical altitude, specified
during engine creation TV3-117VMA-SBM1,
were confirmed by carrying out number
of tests in climatic test bench at the Enterprise
named by P.I. Baranov FSUE TsIAM where
engine ensured steady start when reaches the altitude up to 6000 meters and stable
operation when reaches the altitude of 9000
meters in the whole range of possible outside
air temperatures.
Engine TV3-117VMA-SBM1V has
the same weight and dimensioning specifications as engines mounted on helicopters
Mi and Ka and this allows its installation on all earlier produced helicopters
families: Mi-24, Mi-8MT/Mi-17 while only minimum helicopter and its system modification is needed.
Hence engine installation
TV3-117VMA-SBM1V gives the possibility to increase essentially the performance
of new and earlier produced helicopters
as well as to increase payload at minimal
costs.
Due to their high characteristics helicopters Mi and Ka with engines
TV3-117VMA-SBM1V will be invaluable
while exploiting in mountainous regions
of India.
For application in new helicopter projects engine modification

22

TV3-117VMA-SBM1V series 1 is developing with new electronic-numeral automatic control system with full accountability
(FADEC). The use of such automatic control
system will lead to further engine and helicopter performance uprating.
The airplane Mi-8MTV equipped by engines TV3-117VMA-SBM1V on the 19th
of May, 2010 took off from the airdrome
of aircraft repair plant in Konotop. While

testing helicopter reached the altitude

of 8100 meters for record 14 minutes.
Earlier during previous test the helicopter
Mi-24 with engines TV3-117VMA-SBM1V
also showed record climbing capacity it
reached the altitude of 5 kilometers only
for 9 minutes and this means that climbing
capacity was increased in 2.5.
Taking into consideration high engine
characteristics TV3-117VMA-SBM1V and
the fact that Motor Sich JSC is ready for cooperation with HAL and GTRE in the sphere
of creation of its modification adapted to
exploitation conditions on new multipurpose 10-tonned Indian helicopter which is
planned for development and therefore this
can become the weighty argument in favour of such Indian-Ukrainian engine.
Taking into consideration that helicopter world market conditions are constantly
changing our Enterprise is involved in creation activity: meaning new family engine
MS-500V, power class is 600...1000 hp,
designed for mounting on multipurpose helicopters with takeoff weight 3,5.. .6 tons.
The leader sample of different modifications MS-500V will become the engine
with takeoff power 630 hp., which is de-

V-117V-SB1V

Engines
signing in accordance with performance
specification specified by helicopter plant
in Kazan for helicopter type Ansat.
While engine designing MS-500V Motor Sich JSC uses the experience received
during the creation of auxiliary engine
AI-450-MS for airplane An-148 as well as
existing advanced and proven constructive
technological decisions.
While continue eight-year tradition of engine production for trainer airplanes Motor Sich JSC in corporation with Salute
FSUE MPP implemented engine commercial production AI-222-25 with maximum
thrust force 2500 kgf. For trainer-military
airplane Yak-130, the delivery of which to
pilot training centers Russian airforce has
already started and in the nearest future it
will be supplied to Algeria.
For mounting on next military airplane
modifications Yak-130 and on similar supersonic airplanes of other countries
on the basis of engine AI-222-25 the modification with afterburner was designed.
This is the engine AI-222-25F with takeoff
afterburning thrust 4200 kgf.
At present time engine modifications
AI-222-25 and AI-222-25F are mounted

AI-222-25

Yak-130

on Chinese experimental trainer-military

airplanes L-15.
In the end of October this airplane first
flew with engines operating in afterburning mode.
For more than 50 years Motor Sich JSC
has been producing engines for different
robot aircraft and cruise missiles including
strategic X-55 and those which are the armament of the Indian Ministry of Defense

anti-ship X-35 and rockets air-to-surface

class -59M. Today we can propose several new more modern engines for such
type aircraft.
At present time Motor Sich JSC actively and successively is looking for reliable
partners, extends the existing and discovers new segments of the air engine world
markets.
We hope that these efforts will be crystallized into quite obvious results of cooperation with aircraft industry in Indian Republic, to which Motor SICH JSC can propose a whole series of modern engines
for realization of Indian programs dealing
with new airplanes, helicopters and robot
aircraft creation.

Motor Sich JSC

15, Motorostroiteley Avenue,
Zaporozhye, 69068, Ukraine
Tel.: (+38061) 720-48-14
Fax: (+38061) 720-50-05
E-mail: motor@motorsich.com;
eo.vtf@motorsich.com
http//www.motorsich.com
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23

Avionics

RADIONIX (MICROWAVE SYSTEMS DESIGN COMPANY)

CRISIS SOLUTIONS TO UPGRADE FIGHTERS AVIONICS
Due to the current economic situation caused by the global financial crisis, most countries have
significantly adjusted their programmes for the Air Forces development in the direction of increasing
the amount of work on upgrading of existing aviation equipment in military service and waiving the
purchasing of new models, because of the high costs for their development and production.

UM45210, UM45212

UM45211, UM45213

Director of Radionics Ltd. Stanislav Zavyalov

Increasing the target detection range

and radars ECM immunity;
Creating the basis for further modernization of SUV27, SUV-29 by the expansion the types of armament being
used;
Increasing the unification degree
of N019 and N001 radars at the unit
and subsystem level;
significant increasing of reliability;
N001, N019 radars tactical and technical characteristics improvement by

24

an integrated approach to modernization of standard equipment and by introduction of a number of additional units
and functional constructive modules.
High technical and operational characteristics of the upgraded units and newly
developed blocks, would lead to a significant increase in performance characteristics of the entire radar.
By now, LLC Radionix together with
the state enterprise Novator have de-

UU52155A(B,G), UU52172A(B),
UU52158

signed and commercially produced for

the foreign customer a range of microwave devices (such as frequency synthesizer UU52155A (B, G); low-noise heterodynes UM45211 and UM45213; twochannel frequency converters UM45210
and UM45212). These products are fully
functional analogues of microwave modules designed in the USSR, but they are
made with the new technology solutions
and new components applying and as

Avionics
the result the significant technical characteristics improvement has been achieved.
Application of microwave modules, developed by LLC Radionix can considerably improve the quality characteristics
of the MiG -29, Su-27 and Su-30MKK
fighters weapon control systems radars.
One of the most important and difficult task is to implement a fundamentally
new operational modes for radars, such
as ground mapping by the lateral search
mode with the antenna aperture synthesis algorithm application , multi-position
operational modes, modes of long-distance detection that can provide a multifunctionality for the fighters under modernization.
In order to implement the ground (sea)
target search radar modes the following
units developed by Radionix company
should be installed:
N019-09R multi-channel microwave
receiver;
N001-22R multifunctional frequency
synthesizer (BZG);
BTSO-R digital signal processor unit
which includes:
the module of standard radar modes
(MSRR), the module for assessment of air
situation (ITI) and the module for radar
antenna aperture synthesizing (MTSRSA).
Installation of new microwave receivers
and applying the optimized algorithms for
digital Doppler filtering of BTSO-R unit allows to increase significantly the detection
range of aerial targets (up to 30...35%
of the existing system range), and also provides wideband signals implementation by generated microwave signals
phase modulation to realize the ground
targets search modes.

In contrast to the well-known concept

of the bypass channel, realized by Russian Avionics company, all the processing of analog signal, including linear amplification and quaternary processing, is
performed within a universal receiver
module which is included in N019-09R
receiving unit.
Installing a new 3-channel microwave
radar receiver N019-09R with the two
separated channels at the intermediate
frequencies of Fpr1=28MHz and
Fpr2=84MHz (narrowband and
broadband channels respectively )
allows to realize two different modes
of radar signals processing The mode
of narrowband Doppler filtering is used
to detect targets in a free space while

the broadband mode involves radar

working with high resolution to detect
small, stationary and low speed targets
against the backdrop of ground or sea
surface.
N001-22R-multifunctional frequency
synthesizer (BZG) is a complex, multifunctional product designed to generate
a full range of HF, microwave signals with
the desired characteristics in accordance
with the information being sent from
the onboard computer.
A new concept of frequency
synthesis, applied in the development
of the multifunctional frequency synthesizer
(BZG), provides a low frequency noise and
phase noise characteristics, the possibility
of simple programming adaptation

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF N001-22R UNIT

Frequency range
Frequency channels number
microwave signals output power, mW
synchronization signals power, mW
carrier isolation (between the pulses), dB
power density of the stray radiation
set up time, min
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band
52
20
20
60
10 7 mW/sm2
3

25

Avionics

to the national frequency spectrum

requirements, as well as to the radio-link
types to control air-to-air guided weapons.
The separate modules and subsystems
of BZG unit have a high degree
of unification with the regular devices,
which provides an opportunity to
repair the old units by using the newly
developed modules.
BTSO-R unit for digital processing
of radar signals equipped with
the module of standard radar modes
(MSRR) implements the narrowband
Doppler filtering optimized algorithms,
which allows to significantly improve
the selection of signals reflected
from moving targets on the backdrop
of ground noise in the air-to-air radar
modes, detection and close-in action
when working with high and medium
pulse repetition frequency.
The air surveillance module (MDO)
is an optional one, which implements

the algorithm
of the Doppler
signal processing
with longer period
for coherent
accumulation. It
became possible
due to the increase
in parameters
of long-term
frequency stability
for N001-22R unit
(BZG)
MTSRSA module
is designed
to implement
the ground targets
search modes for
the ground (sea)
surface, and implements the algorithms
for straight forward and lateral antenna
aperture synthesizing and Doppler beam
sharpening.

Thus the installation of a new BTSO-R

unit into airborne radar system will make
possible to:
significantly improve the detection
characteristics;
increase ECM immunity of airborne
radar;
improve reliability and maintainability
of the system without any significant
changes in the radar maintenance
schedule.
Technical solutions that were found and
implemented by the company specialists
in the process of creating the microwave
modules of coherent chain, as well
as the development of upgraded units
for the N001 and NO19 radars, have
brought the company to the level
of system developers. Currently,
the results obtained during the works
on modernization of airborne radar
systems for jet fighters are used to design
the microwave assembly for weather and

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF N019-09R UNIT

frequency band
noise figure ,dB
P-1 input signal level, dBm
input VSWR
bandwidth on f2=28 MHz at level 3 dB ,MHz
bandwidth on f2=84 MHz at level 3 dB,MHz

26

band
3,5
35
1,5
5
30

Avionics
navigation radar called Esmeralda,
which is currently being developed by
the company.
Apart from a standard set of weather
and navigation modes this radar will have
the modes for detection of wind shear,
and turbulence, for scanning the ground
surface with synthesizing of aperture (SA)
and Doppler beam narrowing (DOL).
In future, this system will provide
a platform for testing the design solutions
required for creation of multifunctional
airborne radar systems. It is assumed that
the expansion of the radar functionality
will be achieved through improvements
in software and optimization of algorithms
for digital processing of information
from the weapon control system.
The application of a programmable
signal processor (PSP) has allowed to
use one (or group) of the processors for
various tasks, including communications
and navigation, which significantly

extends the radar capabilities. First

of all the growth of PSP productivity
with fast Fourier transform algorithm
application would affect the ability
of radar to distinguish the signals from
the target in a wider spectrum in real
time. The practical outcome of such
feature could be automatic (without
request) detected target nationality
and type recognition. Information
signs of recognition in this case will
be the fluctuations of the reflected
signal in a broad band (wide range).
Measuring the spectrum and amplitude
characteristics of fluctuations would allow
compare the parameters of the reflected
signal with the available database and,
thus, it would be possible to identify with
high probability the type of the target.
The expanding of radar capabilities
in air-to-ground mode, such as higher
resolution in mapping mode and
recognition of moving targets (ground

ones with a relatively low speed) may

be considered as a second application
of the improvements in question.
Another direction of the company
activities is developing a aircraft
perspective radio-electronic protection
system, called Omut (Whirlpool), which
is intended to replace the outdated
L006LM and L203B(I) systems.
This radio-electronic protection
system includes radio-electronic
surveillance system, with programmed
database of threats and their priority,
and an electronic countermeasures
system, thus provides high probability
of suppression of the enemy target
acquisition radar systems.
Omut (Whirlpool) radio-electronic
protection complex provides real time
detection and identification
of enemy radars, evaluates the level
of threat and selects the optimal set
of electronic countermeasures for radars
of anti-aircraft missile systems, fighters, as
well as of missiles with active and semiactive homing devices.
Since the moment of its creation,
the company embarked on the creation
of competitive complex set of products
which are not inferior in their technical
characteristics the best world standards.
High scientific and technical potential,
the availability of material and test
facilities and technological capabilities
allow the company to implement a full
cycle of development, testing and serial
production of the most sophisticated
products of modern avionics.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF EW COMPLEX

Multiple radar suppression capability, radars
frequency band
output power at P-1, W, not less than
operating temperature range,
weight, kg, not more than
number of preprogrammed ECM systems, not less than
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20
, Ka
80
60+80
45
200

27

Navigation

COMPAS: PRIORITIES OF SPACE NAVIGATION

The Compas Moscow Design Bureau (Open Joint Stock Company) is an up-to-date research &
production enterprise majoring in development and manufacture of consumer professional equipment
for high-precision navigation operated by signals of GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO satellite navigation
systems.

Mikhail Pestrakov,
Commercial Director,
Director of special projects
and at large, Compas MDB

The company has a rich history starting from 1918, when the Soviet government issued a decree on establishing
a plant for manufacturing telegraph devices. The Compas MDB created a first ever powerful (for that time) transmit-receive
airborne radio station of up-to 5,000 km
operational range, which provided for
the Moscow North Pole -Vancouver
record flight by Valery Chkalovs crew
aboard ANT-25 on July 18 to 20, 1937.
In 1948, the Compas Design Bureau
was detached to become an independent
structure dealing with the development
of navigation and communication equipment. As an item of radio navigation equipment products, the Bureau developed a ra-

28

dio direction finder called Golden Arrow,

which was helpful in assisting the crew
in adverse weather conditions to find
the direction of required maneuver, so as
to reach the airfield and carry out landing.
The modern radio direction finder is an automatic portable device of relatively low
energy consumption, featuring the wide
use of digital signal processing techniques
and almost not requiring field maintenance.
When developing hardware, the staff
of Compas MDB relies on the most up-todate technologies, for the company mainly
specializes in delivering products for aviation and rocket-and-space facilities.
In the 1970s the digital signal processing
techniques were largely used in the companys innovative developments. Those techniques helped reduce the hardware weight,
size and power consumption and create:
For the Air Force A-723 radio navigation receiver-indicator which operated with Alpha and Omega ground radio navigation phase systems of global coverage, as well as with pulse phase
systems, including Chaika and Loran-S;
For the Navy Mars-75 multi-frequency phase radio navigation system designated for supporting ship navigation, executing hydrographic and operational works, as well as servicing
flights of aircraft at speeds not exceeding 1,000 km/h.
The GLONASS, GPS and GALILEO
global satellite navigation systems are
subject to active radio interference, due
to the low strength of signals emitted by
space vehicles. On the horizon of earth
surface, they are 40 decibels weaker than
natural radio noises. The signals of such
a low level are effectively suppressed by
radio electronic warfare facilities, where
a 1-watt strong noise interference transmit-

ter would disturb the operation capacity

of satellite radio navigation systems hardware within a radius of 32 km.
In order to level down the influence
of natural and artificial interference, we
have created satellite navigation equipment which features a higher level of interference immunity.
Taking into account the imperatives
of our era, the hardware is being worked
out for aviation and guided weapon systems, and the research and development
works are going on to enable the accomplishment of combat tasks in the environment polluted by enemy radio electronic countermeasures. To jam the new equipment, an enemy would need jamming
stations of such a high capacity that will
make them easily discoverable and vulnerable for destruction by appropriate means.
The enhancement of digital components
of navigation hardware allows minimizing the share of analogous devices. When
the hardware is mounted to different vehicles, their capabilities have to be modified in conformity with specific tasks and
parameters of a vehicle. In terms of analogous equipment, it would mean serious
problems of adaptation, to the extent of restarting the development cycle. For the digital equipment, in most cases it is enough to
update the software, and so to obtain new
qualities of a product.
In order to enable the efficient execution of all the above mentioned procedures before mounting a product in vehicles, the satellite navigation system simulator, modeling GLONASS/GPS/GALILEO,
has been developed. The development
of the satellite navigation system simulator
turned to be a complex task, with the use
of most modern techniques of digital signal processing. The functions fulfilled by

Navigation

GNSS IM-2 signal simulator

the simulator in the industrial and research

field are very broad. Those are, for example, definition of technical solutions
at the stage of consumer navigation equipment (CNE) development, adjustment and
settings, the assessment of work quality
during the production process at the manufacturing plant, issues of incoming inspection and periodical checks during the CNE
life cycle, training technical staff in operating it, conducting a complex of scientific and laboratorial researches, as well as
in-line simulation with the goal of defining a place for mounting the CNE in the vehicle, including highly dynamic systems,
working out scenarios of CNE-mounting
vehicle movement in the prescribed trajectories with the consideration of complex
impacts of atmosphere, ionosphere (radio wave propagation conditions), and
use of a priori and a posteriori information
on the location of satellites in the space
grouping at a certain time period.
The A-737 basic product (airborne
GLONASS/GPS satellite radio navigation
systems receiver-indicator) was developed
in the 1980s, primarily for the military aviation. Today, the products of this series are
mounted almost virtually in all the aircraft.
The purpose of our equipment is to define
the position vector of an aircraft, i.e. three
location constituents, three velocity constituents, and to receive the exact time reading, since the use of satellite navigation enables to tie to the unified time system.
The A-737 product provided a basis for
several modifications, which support addiA I R

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tional functions and enhance the product

capabilities in precision of position finding.
For instance, the A-737I product brings
together the capabilities of satellite navigation and navigation based on terrestrial pulse and phase radio systems. Such
a technological solution is due to the fact
that the interference resistance of receiver-indicators of satellite navigation systems is not very high, and as for the signals
of pulse-phase systems, it is much more difficult to jam them. In combat environment
the use of two-system equipment would
largely enhance the capabilities of combat operations when enemy uses electronic
countermeasures.
The next modification is A-737D, which
supports differential operation mode.
The results of navigational measurements
defined by the satellite navigation systems

receiver-indicators contain errors. One

of them is related to the inaccuracy of data about the space vehicle movement parameters (ephemeral information). Since
the distance is measured from the vehicle
to space vehicles, and such distances are
used for calculating the vehicles position,
the precision of the whole system depends
on the accuracy of definition of space vehicle position. The second error is related to the fact that the signal emitted by
the space vehicle goes through the ionosphere, troposphere, where it is refracted
and twisted, and, therefore, the measured
distance to the space vehicle proves to be
inaccurate. To get rid of these errors, especially when high precision in position finding is required, for example, in the guided
weapons operational employment, the differential error-corrections are used. These
corrections are formed by the terrestrial segment of the system, enabling to increase the precision to single meters, which
is essential for destroying pin-point targets.
In the same time we were given a task
of creating equipment for the guided highprecision weapons. This task primarily had
to be solved for the correction enabled
aviation weapons. We created the satellite navigation hardware specially for that
purpose. During the testing of the product
using the differential mode, we succeeded in achieving the circular probable error calculable in single meters. The hardware belonging to this class is mounted to
the correction-enabled aviation weapons.

29

Navigation

monitoring, security and centralized

control systems for rail transport;
dedicated navigation equipment for
the control systems of automobile transport.
One of the main lines of activities
in the Compas MDB is the development
Automatic
of navigation complex for helicopter ship
radio compass ARC-35-1
landing.
We were a success in creating such
a system. Its main difference from the same
The Compas MDB currently deals with is- standard systems is that it operates
sues of development and production of rain the mode of relative navigation. That
dio navigation systems in various lines:
is, when the system is activated, the air Small size automatic direction finders
craft ties itself to the center of landing
for all aircraft of military and civil aviapad of the ship. And wherever the ship was
tion (ARK-32, ARK-35, ARK-40);
going, and whatever was the helicopter
A series of A-737 aviation receivermovement, its position is always defined
indicators for the high precision porelating to the center of the helipad.
sition finding of different vehicles by
We expect that the successful test results
GLONASS/GPS satellite navigation
would open up new alternatives of using
system signals (GALILEO in future) and
the system in civil industries. Today there
terrestrial radio navigation pulse-phase
is a topical issue of providing the helicopand phase systems;
ter communication with shelf-based drilling
products for ground-supported trajecplates, ensuring flights of deck-based avitory measurements of boosters, upperation of the icebreaking fleet, scientific restage rockets and space vehicles (dissearch ships and other sea vessels.
posable load);
In 1996, the company created navi map-enabled navigation pads, providgation means providing ground-supporting the planning and execution of flights ed trajectory measurements for products
on air-routes and any prescribed routes
of rocket-and-space industry: boosters,
out of the air-routes, as well as the airrockets, upper-stage rockets and paycraft special employment tasks, operload. The equipment functions efficientates with signals of GLONASS/GPS
ly and reliably in rocket-and-space vehisatellite navigation systems;
cles and is demanded by rocket manufac equipment of navigational medium forturers. One of reasons of the demand for
mation: local system of differential ersuch an equipment is the need for highror-corrections, retransmitter of satellite
precision control of trajectory parameters.
signals;
There is no secret that the rocket when de instrument landing system for aircraft
viating from the trajectory beyond the ad(helicopters) onto air capable ships and
missible limits, has to be destroyed. Since
unequipped loading sites;
the creation and maintenance of terrestrial
portable receiver-indicator for the percomplexes of ground-supported trajectosonal use of signals of GLONASS/GPS
ry measurements is a very expensive activisatellite navigation systems (GALILEO
ty, the use of satellite navigation equipment
in future);
facilitates the task significantly.
a number of aerials of different destiAs our company gained a certain expenation;
rience, it succeeded in creating the equip dedicated jam resistant consumer navment of smaller size, less weight, with betigation equipment operating with
ter characteristics. Compared to the first
GLONASS/GPS satellite navigation
product installed to the booster which was
systems for aircraft of all kinds and pur4.5 kg heavy, the equipment now weighs
poses;
1.5 kg, and there is a trend of further re-

30

duction of weight and size characteristics. There are examples of building these
products into the telemetric complexes
of minor space vehicles. About ten of such
minor space vehicles have been launched,
and the first Zeya vehicle equipped with
our receiver-indicator was set into orbit
in 2007. By that we reconfirmed the possibility of using satellite navigation hardware at very high vehicle movement
speeds.
The obtained high results in the use
of satellite navigation in the precision
weapons, namely aviation weapons, primarily, the correction-enabled aviation
bombs, lead to the fire accuracy enhancement, in the context of cannon artillery.
A new trend in the context of diversification of companys product mix is the development of search and rescue system with
the use of GLONASS/GPS equipment, as
well as the Gonets satellite communication segment. The above-mentioned system will help significantly reduce time for
search and rescue of the those in distress
as well as boost the search operations efficiency. It is notable that the existing systems do not allow appropriately performing the set tasks.
The search and rescue operation begins with the reception of distress message,
which can appear as a signal of distress
received or vehicles fallout from the radars screen or missing scheduled radio
contact. After establishing the fact of distress, it is necessary to find the location
of those suffering distress with the sufficient
accuracy for rescue groups to contact directly those in distress.
For the sake of accomplishment
of search and rescue tasks, fast and effective coordination of actions of search and
rescue forces, the two-way information exchange between them and those in distress,
thus decreasing the detection time and reducing the duration of search and rescue
operations. The missing possibility of such
an information exchange should be considered as one of the main drawbacks
of the existing systems.
In order to remove the mentioned shortcomings of the system, the space system
of search and rescue is now under devel-

Navigation

opment. It envisages the two-way data exchange between the distressed and rescue
services. The systems is comprised of three
segments:
The space segment is represented by navigation space vehicles
of GLONASS/GPS satellite navigation
systems, as well as satellites of global
communication systems;
The user segment includes emergency
radio buoys designed both for being
mounted to mobile vehicles (ARB) and
for the personal use (ARB-N). There is
also a tendency for using radio beacons in certain fixed installations, with
the purpose of sending warning signals in critical conditions (for example,
in case of ecological or other emergencies);
The control system consists of the Unified
Coordination Center (UCC), which collects information about arisen emergencies, and a network of regional command and control posts. The UCC functions include the monitoring of the whole
system.

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The emergency radio buoys define

their positions through the GLONASS/
GPS navigation signals. When using both
the two global satellite positioning systems, the probability of exact position finding for ARB increases a lot. The emergency message made in the ARB is delivered
to the UCC through the radio channel
of global satellite communication systems. The emergency messages contains
the ARBs identifier, the exact position
of the ARB at the time of emergency signal
or message sending, the accident time and
accident characteristic. The UCC makes
the response (acknowledgment) to the received emergency message, which goes
to the distressed ARB through the channel
of global communication systems.
This system does not require the development of communication system, since
there is a possibility of using the formerly
developed and currently operating global satellite communication systems, which
allow not only organizing the two-way
communication channel, but the all-weather and round-the-clock radio communi-

cation. The main advantage is that there

are no interruptions in communication sessions. Therefore, the information about
the distressed will be delivered to the UCC
in the minimum time.
The use of the two-way data exchange
will enable the fast and effective coordination of actions of search and rescue teams
and those in distress, and at that the distressed will be informed that their distress
signal has been discovered and the search
and rescue services have initiated the rescue operation.
The companys future plans are related with the improvement of radio navigation equipment, increase of interference resistance, integration with other navigation
systems, precise control of air-dropped
loads, logistics navigation systems and
complexes of transport communications,
navigation products of general usage.
Mikhail Pestrakov,
Commercial Director,
Director of special projects
and at large, Compas MDB

31

View of analyst

INDIA
AND
RUSSIA:
NEW JOINT PROJECTS IN THE FIELD

OF MILITARY AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGIES

32

View of analyst
Russia and India are going to implement a number of scale projects in the Field of Military Aircraft
Technologies. A wide representation of Russia at the AERO INDIA-2011 Air Show testifies to
the fact that the Indian weapon market is of crucial importance for Moscow. The exhibition will
coincide with another round of negotiations between Russia and India regarding a number of
projects to be implemented in the field of aircraft technology in the near future.
The related future programs may be divided into two types, namely the agreed
projects on direct procurement of the Russian aircrafts (or on their joint development
and production) and tenders which invite
the largest global manufacturers of aircraft
technology including Russia.
Today India is the only country Russia is
going to cooperate with regarding the tenyear military-technical cooperation (from
2011 till 2020).
Under this cooperation program two nations are collaborating on a number of projects in the field of aircraft, helicopter, marine, and land technologies. However, most
large-scale programs are being implemented in the field of aircraft technologies.
The tender for the supply of mediumlift multi-role fighters for Indian Air Force,
which cost is estimated at $10-12 billion, is
crucially important to determine the trend
in military-technical cooperation between
India and Russia.

MiG-35

CURRENTLY RUSSIA PARTICIPATES IN FOUR

TENDERS OFFERED BY INDIAN AIR FORCE
AND NAVY FOR THE SUPPLY OF MILITARY
AND DEFENCE AIRCRAFTS
Tender for Supply of 126 MediumLift Multi-Role Fighters
The contract on procurement of 126 medium multi-role combat aircrafts (MMRCA)
is expected to be signed by mid 2011.
In December 2010, the Indian Air Force
completed the assessment of requests for
proposal, and forwarded tender documentation to the Ministry of Defence of India
for approval.
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The aircrafts submitted to tender were

tested in India in 20092010 under
the corresponding operational environment. Their flight testing was attended
by the specialists of Bangalore Aircraft
and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE)
in Bangalore, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
(HAL), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Indias Ministry of Defence and Air Force.

The aircrafts were tested under humid

weather conditions at the airfield in Bangalore, hot desert conditions in Jaisalmer,
and cold mountain condition in Leh.
The Indian Air Force expects that
the contract will be signed by July 2011.
Yet, six other aircrafts lay claim to
the victory in tender as well. These are
the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet,
the Lockheed Martin F-16IN, the Mikoyan
MiG-35, the Saab JAS 39 Gripen (Sweden), the Dassault Aviacion Rafale (France),
and the Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon.

33

View of analyst
According to the tender requirements,
the winner will supply 18 aircrafts to the Indian Air Force in 2012. Other 108 aircrafts will be manufactured at the facilities
of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) which
shall commission the first aircraft in 54
months after signing the contract. It is expected that all aircrafts will be delivered to
the customer by 2020.
New MMRCA fighters will remain in service for 40 years. The future contractor will
have to reinvest 50% of the contract value
into the Indian defence industry.
According to the request for proposal
announced by the Indian Ministry of Defence, the number of purchased aircrafts
may increase by 50%, that is to say 189
aircrafts.
The Russian Mikoyan MiG-35 fighter is
in the running to win the tender.

Tender for Supply of CarrierBased Fighters for Indian Navy

Aircraft Carrier
In November 2009, the Indian Navy announced the tender for procurement
of the carrier-based fighters for future aircraft carriers. The Navy has forwarded the requests for information to Boeing, Dassault Aviacion, and MiG companies. It is expected that India will purchase
16 carrier-based fighters and will probably increase the order up to 40 aircrafts
to be based on three Indian aircraft carriers. The first aircraft carrier was laid at Cochin Shipyard in February 2009. According to the schedule, it will be handed over
to the Indian Navy in 2015.

Be-200

34

MiG-29 KUB

Tender for Procurement of Aerial

Refuelling Military Aircrafts
In September 2010, the Indian Ministry of Defence announced a new tender
on procurement of aerial refuelling military aircrafts after cancellation of the results of the previous tender nine months
ago.
The Government of India decided to
resume tender for procurement of six
aerial refuelling military aircrafts after the Ministry of Finance refused to approve a $1.5 billion contract on acquisition of the Airbus A330 aerial tankers with
EADS in September 2009.
The updated requests for proposals
(RFP) have been forwarded to the companies in the USA, Europe, and Russia.
The procurement contract cost is estimated
at $2 billion.
As compared to the previous tender, the requirements have remained unchanged except for an issue regarding
statement of costs for the whole service life
of the aircrafts.

It is expected that apart from Airbus Military and Rosoboronexport the new tender
participant list will include Boeing as well.
It will take at least 2 years for the Ministry of Defence of India to evaluate the RFPs
and determine a winner.
Earlier in 20032004, the Indian Air
Force acquired six Ilyushin Il-78 aerial refuelling aircrafts which can carry 75 tons
of fuel and refuel the Dassault Mirage
2000, Jaguar and Su-30MKI aircrafts being in service of the Indian Air Force.

Tender for Procurement of Medium

Range Maritime Reconnaissance
Aircrafts
The Indian Navy made a decision to acquire six to eight new medium range maritime reconnaissance aircrafts (MRMR)
again.
In early October 2010 the Ministry
of Defence sent the request for information to the interested companies regarding
the MRMR procurement tender. New medium range maritime reconnaissance aircrafts have the cruising range of more than
350 nautical miles.
Like the Boeing P-8A Poseidon long
range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR)
aircrafts purchased by India earlier,
the MRMR aircrafts should be equipped
with multi-mission surface search radar and
armed with anti-submarine warfare, including torpedoes. The potential participants
of a $247 million tender (approximately 11
billion rupees) are the Russian Be-200 and
Canadian Bombardier Q-400.
The new aircrafts will join a three-tier system to guard the countrys coastline
5.4 thousand km long.

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READY-TO-IMPLEMENT PROMISING INDIA-RUSSIA

COOPERATION PROGRAMS
Program 1
Modernization of forty Sukhoi Su-30MKI
fighters being in service of the Indian Air
Force can be called the first program of this
type. The upgraded aircrafts should be
equipped with BrahMos cruise missiles.
In May 2010 the Safety Committee
of the Government of India approved
the program on modernization of forty
Sukhoi Su-30MKI aircrafts to be equipped
with BrahMos cruise missiles.
Apart from BrahMos cruise missiles
the aircrafts will be provided with a number of other advanced technologies. As
such, they are to be equipped with new radars, onboard computers, and electronic
fly combat systems.
The project will be implemented by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Irkut
Research and Production Corporation.
The program will start in 2012. The modernization program will likely provide for
installation of Zhuk-AE active phased array
radars manufactured by Fazotron on new
aircrafts.
The Zhuk-AE radars is capable of tracking up to 30 air targets and firing eight targets simultaneously.
Currently, the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters are equipped with the N011M pas-

sive radar which can track up to 15 targets and fire four air targets simultaneously. The N011M radar has some limitations
in background noise processing and requires more time for maintenance.
Two Indian Sukhoi Su-30MKI aircrafts
will be modernized in Russia in 2011
2012. Since 2015 the modernization will
be implemented by Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd (HAL).
According to this program India will
upgrade forty Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters manufactured by HAL under the Russian license. In future the Indian Air Force
is going to equip two to three squadrons
of fighters with BrahMos cruise missiles.
The first testing of BrahMos cruise missiles is scheduled for 2011, while the first
test flight of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI
equipped with new cruise missiles is to be
carried out in late 2012.
At present, the Indian and Russian experts are working on integration of BrahMos cruise missiles on the Sukhoi Su30MKI aircraft. For this purpose BrahMos Aerospace Company has reduced
the weight of the aerial missile version to
facilitate its onboard installation. The missile weight is 2 550 kg, length 8.3 m, and
body diameter 0.67 m.

Program 2
The second project is the program on licensed production of additional 42 Sukhoi
Su-30MKI fighters.
In June 2010, the Safety Committee
of the Government of India approved
the funds to be allocated for implementation of this program in the volume
of 150 billion rupees (or $3.4 billion).
According to other data, the total contract cost amounts to 201.074 billion rupees (or $4.34 billion). In August 2010,
the program was approved by the Defence
Acquisition Council of the Ministry of Defence of India.
This licensed program is likely to be
implemented by HAL as late as 2014.
The contract will be signed in 2011.
Additional Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters
will join the present Indian fighter fleet
which is likely to consist of 230 combat
vehicles by 2015 according to previous
estimation in case of successful deals with
Russia which are worth a total of $8.5 billion.
As soon as the licensed production
of a new batch of aircrafts is completed,
the total number of the Russian Sukhoi Su30MKI fighters, which will join the Indian
Air Force, will reach 270 aircrafts.

Su-30

36

View of analyst
The aircrafts are expected to be delivered by 2018, whereupon the Sukhoi Su30MKI will become the major combat aircraft being in service of the Indian Air
Force. Therefore, India will finally replace
the MiG-21 fighters, which until recently have formed the core of the Indian Air
Force, with the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters.
It is expected that production of 42 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters will start in 2014
at the HAL facilities.
The procurement of the Sukhoi Su30MKI fighters will go in parallel with
the tender for supply of 126 new mediumlift multi-role fighters under the MMRCA
program which estimated cost is $10
12 billion. By the time the medium-lift multirole fighters are to be delivered, the Sukhoi Su-30MKI will be the general fighter in service of the Indian Air Force, and
their total cost will be twice as large as
the MMRCA program cost.

Program 3
The third program is modernization of fifty Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters delivered to
India in previous years.
In summer 2010, the Indian Air Force declared its intention to upgrade fifty Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters delivered to India
in previous years in the coming three to
four years.
With the assistance of Russia, India will
install new avionics, upgrade the aircraft
design and enlarge the range of aircraft
weapons.
It is expected that Russia will upgrade
the first five fighters of the Indian Air Force.
The rest 45 aircrafts are to be modernized
in India.

Falcon

Program 4
The forth promising project is the program on acquisition of two additional Phalcon AEW&C aircrafts.
As soon as India receives the last
AEW&C aircraft in 2011, it is going to order two more Phalcon aircrafts with airborne early warning and control system
(AEW&C) based on the Ilyushin IL-76.
The Indian Air Force has already initiated the process of acquiring two additional AEW&C aircrafts. They will join the aircraft fleet consisting of three Phalcon systems acquired according to the trilateral
$1.1 billion contract concluded between
India, Russia and Israel in March 2004.
Pursuant to the contract, India had an option to acquire other three to five aircrafts
of this type.
The aircrafts are equipped with four engines of PS-90A-76 type, active phased
array radars, Belgium 20-inch LCD indicators, electronic countermeasure systems manufactured by Israeli Company Albit Systems, and other systems developed
in India and France. The aircrew consists
of eighteen people. The EL/M-2075 airborne radar can detect the targets at a dis-

tance of 400 km and track nearly 60 targets simultaneously in 360-degree range.

Two such aircrafts have been already inducted into the Indian Air Force. The first one
was delivered on 25 May 2009. The second Ilyushin Il-76 with AEW&C system was
supplied to India on 25 March 2010. Delivery of the third aircraft to India was initially scheduled for 2010. However, based
on the experience gained during operation of the first two aircrafts, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) requested Israel Aerospace Industries
(IAI) to provide the last aircraft with additional equipment. The platform was supplied to
Israel by the Russian manufacturers in October 2010. According to the preliminary data, the last aircraft will be delivered to the Indian Air Force in mid 2011. All aircrafts will
be stationed at the air base in Agra, where
the Il-76 military transport aircrafts and Il-78
aerial refuelling military aircrafts are kept.
The $1.1 billion contract on procurement
of three Phalcon EL/M-2075 radars developed by Elta Company and installation
on the Russian IL-76 aircrafts was signed by
the Ministry of Defence of India in March
2004.

MAJOR CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS CONCLUDED BETWEEN

INDIA AND RUSSIA IN 2010
Fifth Generation Fighter
Development Program
During the official visit of the Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev to India on 21
December 2010, the nations signed
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a deal for design and development of advanced fifth generation fighter aircraft
(FGFA).
The estimated cost of the contract
on draft design of the Indian FGFA ver-

sion is $ 295 million. These works are to be

completed within 18 months.
In general, the development and testing of these prototypes require from
eight to ten years. The estimated cost

37

View of analyst
crafts are intended for various missions.
In future, the Indian fifth generation fighter
will replace the three types of combat aircrafts being in service today.
The single-seat fighters will be serially produced in 20172018. The dualseat aircrafts will be inducted into service
in 20192020. It is planned to produce
around 200 dual-seat aircrafts for the Indian Air Force.

Joint-Venture Agreement on CoDevelopment of Multi-Role

Transport Aircraft

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and president of Russian Federation

Dmitry Medvedev during the official visit of Mr. Medvedev to India

of the development program is $12 billion.

Russia and India will have equal shares
in this program.
The first time Russia offered India to develop a new fighter was eight years ago, but
the parties failed to agree on business interests in the project. In October 2007, two
nations signed a preliminary intergovernmental agreement on FGFA joint development on the basis of the Russian Sukhoi PAK
FA (promising aircraft of frontline aviation).
This is the first project in the modern history of Russia when it develops the state-ofthe-art weapon systems together with other
country. Therefore, the allocation of duties
in the project was an issue of crucial importance and required a thorough elaboration.
As a result, it took three years to finalize the general contract and nondisclosure
agreement after long-term intergovernmental negotiations. In March 2010, the parties signed a preliminary technical agreement which outlines the participation interests as well.
The Indian Air Force plans to acquire
from 250 to 300 fifth generation fighters.
According to the HAL data, the share
of the Indian defence industry in the joint

38

project will be nearly 30%. In particular,

the Indian company will develop software
for onboard computer, navigation systems,
multifunction cockpit displays, components
made of composite materials and self-protection system. Additionally, India will redesign the single-seat PAK FA into dualseat fighter since according to the strategy,
adopted by the Indian Air Force, the air-

On 9 September in New Deli Russia and

India entered into an agreement on foundation of a Joint Venture Company (JVC) to design and develop a new generation medium-lift jet multi-role transport aircraft (MTA).
The shareholders of a new company
are Indias Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(50%), and Russias United Aircraft Corporation (25%) and Rosoboronexport State
Corporation (25%). The JVC headquarters
will be located at Bangalore. The aircraft
will be assembled both in Russia and India.
The formal intergovernmental agreement
on implementation of the MTA project was
signed by Russia and India on 12 November 2007 when the prime minister of India
Manmohan Singh visited Moscow. The estimated cost of the project is $600 million.
The project will be bankrolled equally by
Russia and India. Each party will allocate

The official signing of the contract between Rosoboronexport and HAL

for creating a draft technical design of Indias version of the FGFA

View of analyst
craft for the Indian Air Force to transport
troops, materiel and cargoes. India will
have an option to acquire additional 100
MTAs. The Russian Air Force confirmed
the intention to acquire 100 MTAs.
Essential competitive advantage
of the MTA is its comparatively low cost.
The aircraft may compete against Antonov An-12, An-26 and An-32 as well as
against C-130J Super Hercules.

Contract for Delivery of 29

Mikoyan Mikoyan MiG-29K
Carrier-Based Fighter Jets

MTA

$300.35 million towards the MTA development. This amount includes the expenditures prior to proceeding to the MTA fullrate production.
The new MTA is designed to replace
the aging fleet of Soviet Antonov An-12,
An-26 and An-32 transport aircrafts. As
of now Indian Air Force has around one
hundred of Antonov An-32 transports.
The twin-jet powered MTA will be 33 m
long with wingspan of around 30 m. Maximum payload capacity of the MTA will
be 18 to 20 tons. The MTA will feature
a takeoff weight of 65 tons, cruise speed
of 800 km/h, and flight range of 2 500
to 2 700 km. The service ceiling will be
12 km. The aircraft will have a glass cockpit, modern avionics, fly-by-wire system,

and full authority digital engine control

(FADEC). The engine type is still not specified and will be chosen by tender.
The Russian and Indian MTA models will
be developed on maximally unified technologic basis. The airframe will be assembled on a 50-50 basis. Individual subsystems will be designed with allowance for
potential export to third countries.
The MTA can be operated at day and
night in any world region, under any climatic and weather conditions. The MTA
will function like a military aircraft capable of short landings and takeoffs on poorly maintained runways, including those
in high-altitude air facilities in the Himalayas.
India and Russia plan to produce 205
aircraft. Off take has been put at 40 air-

Russia and India signed the contract on delivery of 29 Mikoyan Mikoyan MiG-29K fighters on 12 March 2010
when the prime minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin visited India. The first
delivery is scheduled for 2012. The contract is worth a total of $1.5 billion. Sixteen out of twenty-nine Mikoyan Mikoyan
MiG-29K fighters will be based on the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier.
An important part of the Indian Navy
Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB fighter acquisition program is the creation of the shorebased test facility for maintenance of aircraft and training of pilots which was
constructed in April 2009 at INS Hansa, Goa.
The fighters will be operated from
the INS Hansa (Goa) till commissioning
of the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier.

MAJOR AIR FORCE PROGRAMS UNDER IMPLEMENTATION

Sixteen Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB
Fighter Supply Program
The first four Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB
carrier-based fighters were formally inducted into the Navy by Defence Minister AK Antony at a ceremony which took
place on 19 February 2010 at INS Hansa.
The ceremony was also attended by Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian
Federation V.Khristenko.
The Indian Ministry of Defence signed
a contract stipulating the supply of sixteen
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Mikoyan MiG-29K fighters, including four

dual-seat Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB trainers, to India in January 2004. The contract
is part of a $1.5 billion deal to refit and deliver the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier.
The first four Mikoyan MiG-29K fighters,
in a knocked down condition, were delivered to India in December 2009. In September 2009 these Mikoyan MiG-29Ks
passed their test flights from the deck
of the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft
carrying cruiser in the Barents Sea. These

trials were the part of the pilot training and

test program.
The remainder twelve Mikoyan
MiG-29Ks are awaited to be supplied
in four-unit batches in 20102011. Before
delivery of the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier which was rescheduled for late 2012,
the fighters will be based on INS Hansa
equipped with a simulator for deck landing and takeoff training. The Mikoyan
MiG-29Ks will be a part of the 303 squadron, nicknamed Black Panther.

39

View of analyst
The ship-based Mikoyan MiG-29K is
The Mikoyan MiG-29K fighter features
the 4++ generation aircraft which is caimproved performances and reliability.
pable of day/night, all-weather, yearThe aircraft avionics is based on the open
round operation in any climate. The aircraft architecture. The general-purpose multiwill be able to control the air, to provide
mode onboard Zhuk-ME radar is capable
air defence of the ship and to engage surof tracking up to ten targets and simultaneface and ground targets. Despite of formal
ous firing against four targets.
resemblance the new aircraft weighs by
The aircraft features an improved air30% more as against the Indian Air Force
frame made of composite materials, low
Mikoyan MiG-29B. The Mikoyan MiGradar signature, high payload, high-ca29K fighter will be equipped with missiles
pacity fuel tanks and air-to-air refuelling
capable of engaging non-LOS targets,
(AAR) system, modified wing bending, and
guided anti-ship missiles, unguided missiles, quad-redundant full authority digital engine control.
aerial bombs and 30-mm caliber gun.

To land on the aircraft carriers deck,

the carrier-based Mikoyan MiG-29K fighters are equipped with retaining gear and
reinforced landing gear, flexible wings and
special coat preventing sea water corrosion.

Indian Navy Ilyushin Il-38

Improvement Program
In mid-February 2010 Russia completed refit of five Indian Navy Ilyushin Il-38
ASW patrol aircrafts. The last (fifth) refitted
Ilyushin Il-38S/D landed in the naval air
base in Goa.
Five Indian Navy Ilyushin Il-38 aircrafts
were refitted in Russia under a $200 million contract dated 2002. The major improvement was the installation of Morskoy
Zmey search and target system.
The improvement program made it possible to extend the Indian Navy Ilyushin
Il-38 aircraft service life for 15 years and
to release the Indian Navy from urgency
to procure state-of-the-art aircrafts for reconnaissance and antisubmarine warfare.
The refitted Ilyushin Il-38S/D aircrafts will
be further used by Indian Naval Air Command, communication intelligence and
control systems group, and reconnaissance
air force.

Tupolev Tu-142ME Repair

and Refit Program

BrahMos missile (air version)

40

In August 2010, on completion

of the scheduled repair and refit by
TAVIA JSC, the long-range ASW Tupolev
Tu-142ME aircraft was handed over to
the Indian Navy. The overhaul and refit of one more Indian Navy Tupolev
Tu-142ME aircraft was to be completed by
late 2010.
In 1986 Russia supplied 8 ASW Tupolev
Tu-142MK aircrafts designated as Tupolev
Tu-142ME.
The improved Tupolev Tu-142ME may be
used for day/night all-weather surveillance
and protection of national waters, electronic reconnaissance, searching, tracking and firing of advanced low-noise submarines running up-top or snorkeling at full
or slow speed or lying still on sea ground.
The Tupolev Tu-142ME aircraft equipped
with missiles is capable of attacking surface ships, ground and coastal targets.

View of analyst
Maximum flight range of the Tupolev
Tu-142ME aircraft is 12000 km, maximum flying speed at weight of 138 tons
at 7000 m altitude is 855 km/h, cruise
speed is 735 km/h, inflight endurance
is 9 hours. Maximum payload capacity
of the aircraft carrying six BrahMos cruise
missiles is 9.6 tons (the BrahMos missile
erection option is proposed by Indian Navy). Standard payload with eight X-35
ASMs is 4.4 tons. The standard ASW model aircraft accommodates up to 140 radio
sonobuoys.

Su-30

Indian Air Force Mikoyan MiG-29

Fleet Improvement Program
In February 2009 Mikoyan MiG
initiated the project for improvement
of the Indian Air Force Mikoyan MiG-29
fleet. The total number of Indian Air Force
Mikoyan MiG-29 aircrafts to be refitted
is 62. These aircrafts were supplied to India in three batches at different time and
their technical condition differs a lot. Russia will bring all the aircrafts into equal operating state.
Mikoyan MiG plans to refit the first
six aircrafts, i.e. four single-seat and two
dual-seat aircrafts, at its facilities. The refit
is to be completed in 2011.
The remainder aircrafts will be refitted
in India at the 11th aircraft repair plant.
Mikoyan MiG will forward all the required technical documents to the plant.
Some avionics for improvement will be delivered from Russia, and some assemblies
will be supplied by Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL).
The Indian government and Mikoyan
MiG entered into a contract for refit of sixty two Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters
on 7 March 2008. The contract is worth
a total of $964 million.

Sukhoi Su-30MKI Fighter Licensed

Production Program
In the last few years Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) reduced the timeline
of Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter licensed production. In 2009 HAL delivered 23 fighter to the Indian Air Force. In 2010 HAL
planned to supply 28 Sukhoi Su-30MKI
fighters.
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AL-55I Engine Licensed Production

By summer 2010 the Indian Air Force acProgram
quired 74 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters from
The HAL Company plans to launch a fullHAL.
rate production of AL-55I engines under
Today the Indian Air Force has five Sukhoi Su-30MKI squadrons, three of them be- Russian license in the coming two-three
years.
ing based in Buna and two in Bareili. InThe present-day problem is to sedia plans to deploy other two squadrons
in Punjab and in the northeast of the country. lect a site in Koraputa (Orissa) to deploy
the engine production facilities in two to
The importance of Sukhoi Su-30MKI
fighters for India is justified by the fact that
three years. The AL-55I engine was deHAL was advised to complete the licensed
signed by Saturn Research and Develproduction of one hundred forty Sukhoi
opment Company for India special benSu-30MKI fighters by 2015 at all hazards
efit. The engine was certified after successful endurance testing in Russia and is
(i.e. ahead of schedule).
An initial $1462 billion contract for deto be mounted on the advanced Indian
livery of forty Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters for HJT-36 . Six engines have been dethe Indian Air Force was signed on 30 No- livered, and other ten have been ordered
vember 1996. Pursuant to this contract
and are awaited. The Indian Air Force
eight Sukhoi Su-30K version aircrafts
plans to acquire total 85 HJT-36 .
were manufactured and handed over to
Summary
the customer in 1997. The other contracted aircrafts were manufactured and delivPursuant to the statement by the Defence
ered in Sukhoi Su-30MKI version. In 1996
Minister AK Antony, the Indian Air Force
the Indian Ministry of Defence placed
will consist of 42 squadrons by the end
an order for additional ten Sukhoi Su-30K
of the 13th schedule period (by 2022),
fighters which were purchased for $277
which is more than it was previously apmillion. In 2000 India signed a $3.5 billion proved by the Indian government.
agreement for licensed production of 140
According to the Defence Ministers
Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters at HAL facilities
comments on the question from depuusing vehicle sets delivered by Russia.
ties of the Upper Chamber of Indian ParIn 2007 India contracted additionliament, in 20072022 by the end of 11th,
al 40 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters at a cost
12th and 13th schedule periods the Indiof $1.6 billion for the Indian Air Force.
an Air Force will have 35.5, 35 and 42
Besides, India effected a trade-in deal
squadrons respectively.
for 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters instead
AK Antony stated that at the beginning
of earlier delivered Sukhoi Su-30K fighters. of the 11th schedule period the Indian Air
41

View of analyst

Is India Going to Achieve a Record?

Russias Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) forecasts
that arms import contracts India will conclude in 2011 will have the
largest worth in its history.
India has been one of the three worlds largest arms importers in the
last four years.
According to CAWATs preliminary information, India ranked third in
the world by the worth of arms import contracts it concluded ($3.756 billion) in 2010 giving way only to the UAE ($6.71 billion) and Taiwan
($4.131 billion).
There was a slight decrease in this figure in 2010 as India postponed
taking final decisions on some projects including those carried out with
Russia to 2011. It is expected to choose the winners in a number of major
tenders in 2011. If India keeps to the schedule, the worth of contracts it
will make this year will reach the largest figure in all its history.
For comparison: In 2007, the total cost of Indias arms import contracts
equaled $4.783 billion, in 2008 $4.256 billion and in 2009
$6.933 billion. In the last four years (20072010), India concluded
$19.729 billion worth of arms imports contracts ranking the second in the
world behind only the UAE with $21.508 billion.
As for the actual volume of arms imports, India was the third with the
amount of $4.556 billion in 2010 with only Australia and the US ahead
($6.134 billion and $4.886, respectively). In the above-mentioned fouryear period, India imported $12.815 billion worth of armaments thus
ranking the second after the US with its $17.122 billion.
In 2007, the actual volume of Indias arms imports reached $2.5 billion,
in 2008 $2.5 billion and in 2009 3.255 billion. Considering the
figure for 2010, we can say that India has been significantly increasing
its arms imports under priorly-concluded contracts year by year.

Force consisted of 32 squadrons only. Today the Indian government authorized deployment of 39.5 fighter squadrons.
The Indian Air Force will be in crash air
alert as soon as Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters,
Jaguar, medium multi-role combat aircraft
(MMRCA), fifth generation fighter aircraft
(FGFA) and light combat aircraft (LCA) are
inducted into service.
Over recent years India headed the list
of worldwide leaders in the total weapon
imports through implementation of military
refit programs. India holds the top position
as per the scheduled total imports of products for military purposes for the coming
years.

42

Russias peers in Indian weapon market

are Israel, United Kingdom, USA, France,
Ukraine, Italy, Sweden and some other
countries.
Russia is able to reserve at least a half
of the Indian weapon market.
Once the quantity of the Russian-manufactured end products for military purposes to be delivered is reduced, the military technical cooperation will be focused on transfer of licenses for production
of Russian products for military purposes
in India, for joint and special-order R&D,
and for foundation of joint venture companies to develop, produce, refit and repair
the products for military purposes.

The major projects associated with

transfer of license for production of Russian products for military purposes include the licensed production of multipurpose Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters, T-90S
MBT, and AL-55I aircraft engines for Indian HJT-36 as well as HJT-39 and series 3 RD-33 for Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters.
Due to large-scale transfer of technologies,
India and Russia signed an agreement for
mutual protection of intellectual property rights.
One of the most successful projects is
the co-production of BrahMos cruise missiles by BrahMos Aerospace JVC.
Russia participates in several tenders to
deliver helicopters for the Indian Air Force.
This year Russia will lease out the Type
971 Schuka-B nuclear-powered submarine
to the Indian Navy for a term of ten years.
The rental cost is $650 million.
All contract issues pertaining to refit
of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier into Vikramaditya aircraft carrier have been
finalized with India. The contracts for supply of 45 Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB fighters have been signed. Now India and
Russia negotiate the acquisition of other
42 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters and implement the program of refitting 62 MiG-29
fighters belonging to the Indian Air Force.
The joint program for delivery of Phalcon
AEW&C aircrafts to the Indian Air Force is
under implementation.
Russia and India implement several
large-scale projects for Air Force, Navy
and Armed Force.
In late December 2010 on the eve of visit to India the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev stated that India like Russia conducts the external policy and maintains communication with other countries
in the field of military technical cooperation. It is reasonable that western manufacturers of weapon and other products
for military purposes are much interested
in cooperation with India.
We do not hesitate and are ready to
compete. The most important thins is to be
honest and to play according to the rules,
Dmitry Medvedev emphasized.
Igor Ilyin

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RUSSIAN
ARMS TRADE
Russia has two things that sell well in the global marketplace: natural resources (oil, gas, timber,
metals) and weapons. While the former represents a much larger volume in terms of volumes and
amounts, the export of weapons carries strategic importance. It helps the Kremlin build good relations
with governments of other countries, and brings these nations into the Russian sphere of commercial
relations, cooperation and other key areas. Another important aspect is that such activity helps
domestic manufacturers stay in the business and develop critical technologies.
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View of analyst
Natural resources and weapons
both grew in export volume since Russia emerged as a sovereign country after the Soviet Unions break-up. And while
the worldwide economic crisis has an impact on arms sales, the overall business
volume continues to grow despite the adverse economic environment.
In 2009, Russian arms exports (in executed deliveries) totaled $8.5 billion
which was $150 million above the 2008
level, according to estimations by the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST). According
to Russian government officials, the 2009
order book volume reached $40 billion
up $7 billion up from the 2008 level.
These figures are big, but they fade
in comparison with Russias oil income. According to official statistics from the Federal Customs Service, in the first half of 2010,
Moscow sold fossil fuels for about $130
billion. Meantime, statistics from the state
arms vendor Rosoboronexport say Russias
weapons trade amounted to $6.46 billion
in 2006; it rose to $7.55 billion in 2007
and stabilized at $8.358.5 billion
in 20082009.
Military export from Russia is centralized. All sales of ready-to-use weapons
(not counting some minor items) go through

Rosoboronexport, a government-run comade was caused by modifications in Ruspany responsible for military technical
sian law following establishment of Russian
cooperation with foreigners. SeparateTechnologies, and also was a measure to
ly, 21 different Russian companies (all beboost sales of high-tech civilian products
ing original equipment makers or licenseabroad (which is one of the tasks set by
holders) have governmental permission to
the Kremlin).
work directly with foreign customers, but
In published statistics, Rosoboronextheir scope of activities is limited to spare
port states that its 2009 exports amountparts, repair and overhaul, training and lo- ed to $7.4 billion, which is 10% more
gistics and none holds the right to supply than the previous year. For new successes
weapons systems independently of Rosoin the field of arms sales, Russian Technoloboronexport.
gies head Sergei Chemezov (the man who
Two years ago, Rosoboronexport and
headed Rosoboronexport before receiving
more than 200 other companies were
his new appointment) was decorated earmoved under control of the Russian Techlier this year with the Order of Friendship.
nologies state corporation a huge
This is a testimony of the fact that the arms
structure established by the Kremlin to con- trade developed well so far, commented
trol state assets in the Russian military-inRosoboronexport general director Anatoly
dustrial complex. On the surface, the shift
Isaikin. We anticipate that arms trade volof Rosoboronexport produced little effect.
ume this year will not be less than the prePerhaps the most evident change was that
vious one. During the 20012009 timeall Rosoboronexport representative officframe, the volume of arms sales made
es outside Russia have been re-branded,
through Rosoboronexport rose by 2.4
becoming those of the Russian Technolotimes, he added. Russia has military trade
gies. This, however, does not bring much
partners in 70 countries around the world.
change to the everyday work. EmployToday, we offer not only ready-to-use
ees continue to focus on sales and interacsystems, but also technologies, joint protion with customers and end-users on techduction of subcomponents and somenical support, modernization and uptimes even sell licenses for local producgrades, spare parts, training of personnel
tion of ready-to-use weapons. At a press
and logistics. The need to change the faconference in February, Rosoboronexport

Su-27UB

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officials said new contracts signed in 2009
exceed $34 billion, bringing the backlog
to $21.5 billion. It is believed that the first
figure is for deals signed and already approved by responsible governmental bodies (such as the Federal Agency for Military-Technical Cooperation) and put into
force. The second is a total sum for upcoming deliveries of Russian-made weapons,
not counting sales of property rights, licenses, documentation etc.
These figure make us look to the future
with optimism, as the order book promises
high workloads for enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex, Isaikin
commented. In addition, he said that
in 2009, the sum of newly-signed contracts
amounted to $15 billion. It doesnt mean
that all of this money will actually flow into
Russia during the short termas many contracts span several years.
In the past two years, the structure
of Russian arms sales by types of weapons
systems seems to have settled out. Once
again, aviation is the undisputable leader, representing half of the grand total. Tactical jet fighters (Sukhoi Su-27/30 Flankers and Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrums), Mil
helicopter gunships (Mi-24/35s) utility rotary-wing aircraft (Mi-17s) and Kamov naval helicopters (Ka-28/31s) are the bestselling items. These are widely considered
world-class and expect to be in demand
during the next 20 years before being superseded by a new generation of systems
from the same makers.
The next three hardware types form
a second category: items for anti-aircraft
defense, land forces and naval applications. These types continue to compete
against each other for the second and third
places in Russian arms exports by the volume of annual sales. In 2009, equipment
for land forces was in second place at 19
percent, and navy-related hardware was
third at 13.9 percent, leaving anti-aircraft
defenses one step lower at 13.3 percent.
While these numbers provide some perspective on the situation, the reality is more
clouded. In 2008, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies reported that in recent years, it has become
increasingly difficult to collect and analyze

46

Mi-17

In the past two years, the structure of Russian

arms sales by types of weapons systems seems
to have settled out. Aviation is the undisputable
leader, with share of 50%
meaningful data on Russias Federal Budget, and particularly the finances of Russian national defense, owing to a number
of presentational changes. Today, these
words seem even more meaningful, as governmental financial statistics have only become less understandable. Independent
analysts say that, as time goes on, they
tend to experience more and more difficulty when assessing the flow of information from Russian sources. The regime of secrecy has tended to tighten, while the independent news media badly hit by
the economic slump has largely lost interest in covering military subjects and
have suffered a loss of skilled staff writers. One of the outcomes is the growing
number of undiscovered arms deals and
larger amounts of unidentified content
in such deals. Equipment for navies and air
defense units appears to be most difficult to
identify in recent Russian export sales.
This is reflected in the differences between official figures and those from independent analytics, such CAST in Moscow. For instance, CASTs own calculations

found that the share of aviation equipment in new sales represented a 61 percent share (compared to 50 percent in official statistics), army equipment was at 21
percent (government figures place it at 19
percent), naval hardware was rated at 9
percent (compared to 14 percent in official statistics) and air defense at 8 percent
(the governments number is 13 percent).
Such differences are expected to grow.
This means that in the future, there probably will more surprises when it comes to deliveries which are harder to keep hidden than the content of sales agreements.
This also provides evidence that more and
more of Russian arms exports go to countries that tend to have less transparency
in military affairs including China, Arabic nations and certain territories in Latin America. It is understood that the role
of such customers in Rosoboronexports client base is growing.
About 1 percent of Russian arms exports is equipment for special forces, such
as non-recoil or noiseless rifles, rapid-fire
guns, noiseless pistols, underwater shoot-

View of analyst
ing devices, grenade launchers, personal
self-protection suites etc. While it is a small
business money-wise compared to aviation, the importance of this type of equipment should not be underestimated. There
are a number of customers who buy such
hardware from Russia, often without publicity. It helps in building commercial ties,
as the seller and customer probably would
never come together at a negotiating table otherwise. One factor in drawing this
business is the unique technologies created by Russias military-industrial complex. Another plus for Russia is its extensive
experience gained in counteracting terrorists and stopping nationalist resistance
in the North Caucasus, leading to battleproven hardware that is well suited to realistic scenarios of special forces needs. In
some cases, the sales of equipment to special forces have led to strong personal relations between seller and buyer facilitating deals in other areas. This is particularly
true in case of some Arab buyers. The current head of Rosoboronexport was previ-

ously responsible for sales of special forces

equipment. Anatoly Isaikin managed to establish good personal relations with certain
buyers, thus opening new export perspectives for Rosoboronexport. This is a relatively small, but a stable business, Isaikin
explained. Many of the items we sell are
unique; they are being produced in very
small quantities. It is always a trade between techniques of series production and
needs of special forces. Certain types are
under the strictest of controls, imposed to
ensure the terrorists never get them.
The United Nations register of conventional weapons can serve as a good
source for understanding the structure
of Russian arms sales. Effectively, the register is a list of military equipment that every member country fills out under good
will terms, along with the desire to promote
transparency. Russia has been cooperative.
In its report for 2008, Moscow acknowledged deliveries of 77 main battle tanks
(the T-90 MBT series to Algeria and India),
46 armored vehicles (BPM-94 Vystrel and

BTR-80 armored personnel carriers to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Algeria) and

12 artillery systems (Smerch multiple rocket launcher systems to India). There were
34 combat aircraft for Algeria, Malaysia
and India, Venezuela including the last
in a batch of 24 Su-30MK2V fighters, although this number does not take into account Su-30MKI kits for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The figures also included
32 combat helicopters (including Mi-17s to
Indonesia), 921 guided missiles, and 138
portable SAM launchers with 624 missiles.
These numbers demonstrate that the United Nations register does provide a good
snapshot of what Russian arms export is
like these days. On the other hand, there
are weaknesses in this data: for example,
Russia did not include China in list of recipients for its missiles in 2008, while previous
year, the given figure received by the country was 984 missiles.
It also is important to keep in mind that
dozens of smaller countries produce Russian weapons. Some of them are in fact

Smerch multiple rocket

launcher systems

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continuing to develop the Russian (Soviet)
school of defense equipment design, manufacturing and after-sales support. Ukraine
and Belarus are perhaps the best examples.
In addition, Belarus sometimes is used as
a vehicle to sell equipment to certain customers that cannot buy directly from Russia or do not want to. This applies both
to new and used equipment, and can be illustrated by the fact that Belarus exported 33 MiG-23s to Syria (without indentifying exact type of the Flogger, which
may lead to some interesting findings in future). According to ex-president Victor Yushenko, Ukraine last year signed arms export contracts for $1.5 billion. Since most
of the Ukrainian contracts are short term
and executed quickly, they add to the grant
total of Russian arms sales worldwide. In
addition, despite 15 years of separation
following the Soviet Unions breakup, Russia still uses a lot of Ukrainian components
in its weapons. This is a Soviet legacy, coming from the fact that Ukraine was home
to many design houses and manufacturing plants involved in the defense programs
of the Soviet Unions military industrial complex. There is no area in our military-industrial complex where Ukrainian components
would not be used, Isaikin commented.
With the election earlier this year of proRussian president Victor Yanukovich, ties

Anatoly Isaikin: Airlifters are in demand

all around the world. The An-70 has
good chances in the market, provided its
development is completed soon

An-148

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View of analyst

An-70

between the Ukrainian and Russian defense industries are expected to grow even
stronger. In particular, this brings about
more hope to the long-going development of Antonovs An-70, which effectively is the only truly next-generation airlifter currently flying in the Eastern world. On
the wave of warming relations with Kiev,
Russian Defense Ministry leaders including Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov began to speak about the need to finalize a contract on delivery of 40 An-70s
to the Russian air force. If this happens,
such a contract may finally get this development project off the ground and open
export opportunities for the aircraft. Until
recently, both the Russian military and Rosoboronexport remained cautious about
the An-70s sales opportunities. But this
seems to have changed. Isaikin told reporters recently: In the todays situation, airlifters are in demand all around the world; every air force needs or wants to have an efficient fleet of aircraft. Therefore, the An-70
has good chances in the market, provided
its development is completed soon.
Furthermore, the Russian air force made
a positive assessment of Antonovs idea to
create a 15 metric ton airlifter, the An-178,
which is based on the An-148 75-seat commercial passenger jetliner which is in production within Russia (at the VASO plant

An-70

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in Voronezh) and in Ukraine (at Antonovs
plant in Kiev). Today, the An-148 is most
modern Eastern-built airliner, and it is in service with Rossiya Russian Airlines (operating six An-148-100Bs as of January 2011)
and Ukraines Aerosvit airlines (two An148-100Bs in service). Russias United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has secured preliminary orders from five Indian airlines. This
enabled UAC and Antonov to launch an An148 type validation campaign with Indias
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in May 2010. First deliveries to Indian
airlines are planned for 2011. In addition,
two aircraft were contracted by the government of Myanmar in November 2009 for
delivery in 2011; the deal is a part of a bigger one also involving delivery of 20 MiG29 fighters. So, the An-148 is on its way

Russia also is considering re-starting

production of the Il-76 50-ton airlifter as
a modernized Il-476 airlifter, as well as
the super-heavy Antonov An-124 Ruslan
cargo aircraft. The Kremlin has approached
China, the U.S., India and certain European
nations with the idea to join forces on these
programs. Isaikin confirms this by saying
that the Russian air force and undisclosed
foreign customers have placed preliminary
orders for Il-476. China is being urged to
renegotiate the stalled deal on some 40 Il76-series aircraft in favor of the more advanced Il-476. India is likely to be offered
either Il-476 or An-124 if it initiates a new
strategic airlifter tender. Such a tender may
be launched if India does not buy the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III under a government-to-government arrangement.

a positive reception, and now Russia and

India are working together on opportunities for both the FGFA fighter and MTA airlifter, he added.
In the area of anti-aircraft weapons, Russias S-400 Triumph draws most interest
from overseas customers. It is a brandnew system being developed for Russias
Air-Defense Forces. Once the Russian customers needs are fulfilled, the system will
be available for export, Isaikin told reporters. We are in consultations with Russian Defense Ministry in order to have
an understanding of when we can start
S-400 deliveries abroad. We are talking
to our customers, but deliveries are some
time off in the future.
In the meantime, Russia will continue to sell the previous-generation S-300,

Su-30MKI

of becoming the first Russian-built airliner

in the Indian inventory (not counting a handful of Tu-154Ms and Il-62Ms that were operated for a short period of time in late
1980s/early 1990s). UAC is talking to several Indian companies on the possibility of licensed production which would start as
screwdriver assembly and then move to
a high degree of Indianization. Should
the An-148 become a success story, it may
prove a basis for the creation of many specialized military versions, including the An178, and even serve as the starting point for
development of the Indo-Russian Multirole
Transport Aircraft (MTA).

50

Advanced airlifters add a new dimension which sometimes has become an issue
to the sales of aviation equipment, which
for politicians because of its capabilities.
currently are dominated by tactical jetThe S-300 is a defensive system; therefighters. In the next five years, the evolving
fore, it poses no harm offensive to neighFlanker and Fulcrum series of fourth-gener- boring countries, Isaikin stated. Howevation fighters will be succeeded by the Fifth er, long-expected deliveries to Iran are unGeneration Fighter Aircraft (FGFA).
likely to start until newly-imposed United
The FGFA effectively is an exportable verNations sanctions are lifted. This means
sion of the Russian air force PAK FA comRussia will have to find another custombat aircraft, which has been in flight test
er for the already-produced systems that
since January 2010. Isaikin says that Rusnow are in storage following the Russia currently has received a proposal to co- sian governments June decision to join
operate on joint development of fifth-gencountries upholding sanctions for Iran. It
eration weapons systems from one counmay happen that these systems will find
try India. The Indian initiative was given
their way to China, which already oper-

View of analyst

Ka-31

ates the S-300PMU2 Favorit the latest

in the evolving S-300 series of weapons.
Isaikin also sees a new opportunity for expanding Russian sales with the introduction
of a new type of armored vehicle for the army referred to as the Machine for
the support of tanks in the battlefield. He described it as a highly protected and heavily
armed vehicle that can survive threats from
mines and anti-tank missiles. It would interact with main battle tanks to clear the way
for mainstay forces in the battlefield, he said.
Russia has developed prototypes of such
a vehicle. The use of such systems will allow a reduction in loses of personnel, and
thats the most important factor for any army. During recent conflicts in Afghanistan,
Iran and Lebanon, classic tanks even
the heavily-protected Abrams and Merkava fell prey to anti-tank systems, and not
even necessarily the most advanced missiles
available. If the new vehicle finds customers, it will help UralVagodZavod the largest Russian manufacturer of tanks to survive the current business crisis that has badly hit this huge enterprise. UVZ has orders,
and talks with foreign customers are ongoing on further contracts for the plant, Isaikin
explained.
Among other weapons worth mentioning
as offering export possibilities including
to customers in Asia-Pacific is the PanA I R

F L E E T

12

0 1 1 ( 8 6 )

tsir S1 short-range missile/gun air defense

system. Reportedly, deliveries of this weapon are underway to Syria and the United
Arab Emirates. The export success of Russias Project 636 diesel submarines could
be repeated with the Project 677 Lada.
The lead vessel in this series was commissioned by the Russian Navy in May 2010
after several years of sea trials. As another
example, the 300-mm Smerch rocket system is now being offered in a new version
on a lighter wheeled chassis that carries
four containerized rockets. India is a likely launch customer for this version. Also,
the Ka-31 radar picket helicopter that al-

ready is in service with the Indian navy has

won additional orders from this country,
along with other customers in the region.
In terms geographic, Asia-Pacific continues to serve the main selling point for Rosoboronexport. By contractual volume,
Vietnam was the largest buyer of Russian
weapons in 2009. It signed a contract valued at roughly $4 billion for six Project
636M diesel submarines (to be built at Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg) together with infrastructure. This contract is a real
breakthrough, since the purchasing nation
does not operate submarines today. Another large sale there was for eight Su-30MK2
multirole aircraft (deliveries to be completed in 2011), in addition to four such aircraft purchased earlier. Hanoi has funded
development of the Bastion shore-protection system using Yakhont supersonic missiles (similar to BrahMos PJ-10 co-developed by Russia and India) with deliveries of these systems to began in 2009.
With these deals, Vietnam is now among
the largest Russian customers, together with
India, China, Algeria, Venezuela and Syria.
Russia will continue to use foreign components in its weapon systems both for
export and internal use. Night vision systems from Thales for use on armored vehicles, along with avionics for aircraft applications already are incorporated in the latest products from Russian manufacturers.
Russias electronics producers are not as
advanced as the French in these fields, but
they are catching up. We have started

Il-76

51

View of analyst
producing thermal imagers quite good
ones, in fact which is something we
could only have dreamed of a few years
ago, Isaikin commented. However, Russia
will continue purchasing advanced components and technologies from France and
other European nations, as well as develop
other means of industrial cooperation and
co-development in high-tech areas.
At the same time, Russia has been renegotiating older agreements with other nations on licensed production of Russian weapons. This process is related
with the protection of intellectual property rights. Isaikin says that some breakthroughs have been made in this area: for
instance, China has been licensed to produce the Kalashnikov assault rifle, which
has been in production there for decades
without permission from its developer.

52

The fall of military trade with China is easy to

explain: the local manufacturers have improved
Despite this success, Chinas share
in Russian military export is likely to continue on a downward trend. The fall
of military trade with China is easy to explain: the local military production there
develops quickly and well, according to
Isaikin. In the past, China needed modern weapons systems because its domestic manufacturers could not fulfill the requirements of the Chinese armed forces.
Today, Chinese manufacturers have improved, and they can produce more competitive systems in greater numbers for
the Chinese customers. The share of Russian exports to China has gone down to

18 percent. I anticipate this may decrease

further.
In the foreseeable future weapons sales
will continue to serve a major political tool
in the Kremlins hands as an instrument
of keeping its allies interested in their Russian connection. Meantime, with domestic orders rising, the Russian military industrial complex, once almost totally dependent on foreign sales to keep conventional
weapons production going, will increasingly see the Defense ministry of its home
country as its major customer.
Vladimir Karnozov