Centre signs ₹26,000-crore contract with HAL for 240 Sukhoi-30MKI jet engines
Context:
Recently, the Defence Ministry signed a contract worth Rs 26,000 crore with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 240 AL-31FP aero-engines to be used in Su-30MKI aircraft. The deal was also approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security.
Relevance:
GS-03 (Defence)
Highlights:
- The license to assemble the Russian 240 AL-31FP aero-engines are held by HAL in India.
- India plans to indigenise up to 63% of the engine components and by approving this contract.
- With a scheduled delivery of 30 engines per year, the complete delivery of 240 engines is expected to complete over the next 8 years.
- The engines will be manufactured at HAL’s Koraput Division.
- Additionally, these engines are intended to sustain the operational capability of the IAF’s Su-30MKI fleet.
About Sukhoi Su-30MKI:
- The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a two-seater, twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and built under licence by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
- Characteristics:
- Su-30MKI’s aerodynamic configuration ensures relaxed stability.
- The wing coordination (canard) is such that, it increases the aircraft’s lift ability.
- And it deflects automatically to allow high angle of attack (AoA) flights allowing it to perform Pugachev’s Cobra (the cobra maneuver).
- The development of this variant started after India signed a deal with Russia in 2000 and the first Russian-made Su-30MKI was accepted for Indian Air force in 2002. However, first Su-30MKI assembled in India entered service in 2004.
What is Super Sukhoi?
- In November 2023, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for a Rs 60,000 crore upgrade programme of IAF’s Su-30MKI fleet.
- The upgrade will be carried out by HAL with the support of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and several private companies.
- Under this upgrade many older Russian subsystems will be replaced by more modern Indian subsystems.
