WORLD DEFENCE: Su-30 Flanker-C

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Air-launch BrahMos Cruise Missile Ready for Tests

A modified version of the supersonic BrahMos missile for use by aircraft is ready for tests.
Once the tests are completed, the missile will be inducted in the Indian Air Force. The missile has been already inducted in the Army and Navy.

Speaking to reporters at Kalasalingam University here, BrahMos Aerospace CEO and MD A. Sivathanu Pillai said the missile has been successfully modified for launch from fighter aircraft and fighter-bombers.

"The weight of the missile has been reduced by 500 kg to 2,500 kg for the air-launch variant," he said.

The land and sea launch versions weigh 3,000 kg.

Though the weight has been reduced, the air-launch version remains as deadly as its land- and sea-launched counterparts, Mr Pillai said, adding that trials for the air launch version of BrahMos would be conducted in 2012 and it is expected to be inducted in the Indian Air Force by 2013.

Noting that Sukhoi-30 is currently India’s main strike fighter and the ideal platform for the air-launched missile, he said this version of the BrahMos had been made to be fitted on the aircraft.

Mr Pillai said modifications will have to be made to be made to the Sukhoi-30s too to integrate the air launch version of BrahMos on the fighter.

"The Sukhoi-30 is currently being modified in Russia to allow it to carry the BrahMos,” he said.

Mr Pillai exuded confidence that like the air-launch version of BrahMos, modifications in the Sukhoi-30, the interface and firing controls will also be developed successfully. If all goes well, the missile will be inducted in the IAF by 2013.

On the trials, which are scheduled in 2012, Mr Pillai said that first the missile would be fired without any explosives and then with a bomb load.

Asked about the unique 90º manoeuvrability of the BrahMos after takeoff, he said much effort had been taken to achieve the technique so the missile’s trajectory would be unpredictable.

The Indian Air Force's south west air command (SWAC) will have a Su-30MKI squadron permanently based at Jodhpur sometime in the next two years, according to air marshal AK Gogoi, AOC-in-C of SWAC. Speaking here on Wednesday, air marshal Gogoi said the air force was strengthening itself and would be able to deal with any sort of threat especially from Pakistan and China.

Air marshal Gogoi was on a three-day visit to the Jodhpur air base, the headquarters of SWAC, his first after assuming command.

Talking about the deployment of the DRDO-developed medium range, surface-to-air, Akash missile, air marshal Gogoi, two squadrons of these missiles were soon be deployed, of which one will be at Pune, which falls under SWAC's command. The other deployment would be at Gwalior.

"Besides this, six more squadrons will be deployed in the region to check any threat from China," he added.

The air marshal also said the IAF was expecting an increase in the number of fighter squadrons after 2012. The force has been facing shortage of aircraft for a considerable period of time.

"The number of aircraft squadrons is going down so some bases do not have the required squadrons. Only after 2012, when we start to increase the number of squadrons, we can expect permanent basing," Gogoi said

The Russian aerobatics groups known as ‘The Swifts’ and ‘The Russian Knights’ have marked 20 years since the establishment of the ‘Swifts’ team by performing a series of spectacular stunts above the heads of international spectators at a military airfield near Kubinka west of Moscow.

‘The Swifts’ fly MiG-29, and ‘The Russian Knights’, Sukhoi-27 jets. ‘The Swifts’ are the world’s only aerobatics group flying fully armed combat aircraft.

Russian Arms Exporter has supplied the first batch of four Su-30MK2 fighters to Vietnam, head of the company's delegation at Paris Air Show 2011 said.

Speaking about the share of aircraft equipment in overall exports of Russian armaments, Sergei Kornev noted yesterday that it made up 43 percent in 2010.

Normally, this indicator ranges between 45 and 50 percent, and this trend will keep in the near future, Kornev said.

The largest buyers of Russian aircraft are India, Algeria and Vietnam.

According to the Rosoboronexport official, the first four Su-30MK2 fighters had been recently sent to Vietnam.

"By our return to Moscow (i.e. by June 25) they will have been assembled and tested in flight. Rosoboronexport also offers Vietnam the Yak-130 trainer, but it is up to the customer to make the decision," he noted.

Earlier reports said Vietnam had concluded two contracts with Russia to buy 20 Su-30MK2 fighters.

Souece: http://www.brahmand.com/news/Russia-supplies-1st-batch-of-Su-30MK2-fighters-to-Vietnam/7354/1/13.html

The Irkutsk Aircraft Plant (IAZ) is assembling two Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighters for the Russian air force, Alexey Fedorov, president of the controlling Irkut corporation, said. The pair will be completed and subjected to flight trials by the end of this year.

The new version of the twin-seat Su-30 represents the baseline Su-30MKI with thrust vectoring developed for the Indian air force, but with modifications to meet Russian air force specifications, Fedorov said.

The service is seeking to procure 30 such aircraft, with a contract still being finalised.

"Hopefully, in 2012 we will be able to finalise a contract for 18 Su-30SMs for the Russian air force, with an option for a further 18 for the Russian navy air arm," Fedorov said.
The delivery of the Su-30SM to the Russian armed forces will end a long pause in their acquisition of IAZ-built fighters, after its last Su-30K interceptors and Su-27UB twin-seat operational trainers were handed over in the early 1990s.

It is understood that the decision to procure the Su-30SM was inspired by the successful use of industry-owned Su-30MKI/MKM operational-standard prototypes during Russia's August 2008 conflict with Georgia.

Russia, the world's second largest arms exporter, may seal three new orders worth more than $3 billion for fighter aircraft over the next year, the top Russian defence think tank CAST said on Thursday.

The new orders would be a boon to an industry which has watched its export market shrink after the Arab Spring revolutions and been criticised at home by President Dmitry Medvedev over the quality of its weapons systems.
India is looking to sign a new $2 billion contract for 40 Sukhoi-30MKIs, according to CAST data, and the Russian Defence Ministry itself may soon sign a deal for 24 Mikoyan-29Ks to renew the ageing fleet on its sole aircraft carrier.
"There is a very strong chance that the Indian air force may sign a contract to buy up to 40 Su-30MKI fighters, even by the end of this year," CAST Director Ruslan Pukhov said.

The Su-30MKI was developed by both Russia and Hindustan Aeronautics, and travels at 1,300 miles per hour at altitude.

"They can't get enough of Russian arms," Pukhov said of India.

India, cautiously watching regional rival China's growing military might, has been the top importer of Russian arms, and the two countries are working on a fifth-generation fighter in a deal reported to be worth around $35 billion.

Delivery of the supersonic jet is expected to begin in 2017.

A Russian fighter was cut from the shortlist in an $11 billion fighter tender in April in favour of two European variants.

"There was a political component to their decision. They knew that they were buying too many arms from the Russians and they knew for diplomatic reasons they had to start balancing out their suppliers," said Pukhov.

The $960 million contract for 24 Mi-29Ks, expected to be signed next year, is for Russia's aircraft carrier, which currently relies on outdated Su-33 planes.

Another deal will be for six Yak-130 light attack aircraft originally intended for Libya before the United Nations imposed an arms embargo on Tripoli, cutting Moscow off from $2 billion in signed deals and another $2 billion in potential contracts.

The top customer for the light attack aircraft is Kazakhstan which is trying to boost its regional clout, Pukhov said, citing defence industry sources.

Russia's arms exports rose to a near-record $10 billion last year and are expected to stay around there for the next few years -- though Middle East violence has since threatened those forecasts.

WORLD DEFENCE

Air-launch BrahMos Cruise Missile Ready for Tests

Indian SWAC Gets Su-30MKI Squadrons, Akash SAM and Advanced Radar System

Russian Aerobatics The Swifts And Knights Turns 20

Russia Supplies 4 Su-30MK2 Fighters To Vietnam

Russian Air Force Orders Thrust Vectoring Su-30SM Fighter Jets

Russia Eyeing $3 bln in New Arms Contracts

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