India to enhance Su-30MKI

India is boosting negotiations with Russia on the upgrade of its Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) multirole fighter jets, according to a source in the Russian defense industry.

“Due to the postponement of the FGFA (Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft) joint program, the Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has apparently revealed its intention to upgrade Su-30MKI combat aircraft in order to turn the planes into the fifth-generation fighter jets. A Russian military-industrial delegation visited New Delhi in early July to forge the upgrade strategy and to discuss it with the Indian colleagues. We suppose that the draft of the new program will have been hammered out by the year-end.

“The preliminary name of the enhanced fighter is ‘Super Sukhoi’. The Indian MoD is planning to upgrade almost all 272 ordered Su-30MKI aircraft to the ‘Super Sukhoi’ level in efforts to increase the combat capabilities of the fighters. I should note that the new program will [not] cancel the FGFA project. At present, India intends to get both FGFA and ‘Super Sukhoi’ fighter jets. If the relevant projects have been implemented to full extent, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be one of the strongest in the world,” the source said.

He added that the proposed cost of the ‘Super Sukhoi’ program is significantly less than the one of the FGFA. “Russia and India are going to spend about USD25 billion to deliver the FGFA fighter jets to the IAF, while the rebuilding of all 272 Su-30MKI fighters is supposed to cost about USD8 billion”, the source said.

However, the reallocation of funds may slightly harm the FGFA program, he added. “Such drastic modernization of the Su-30MKI aircraft may slow down the development of the FGFA fighter. Both sides should consider the financial limitations. Nevertheless, one can describe FGFA as an aircraft being designed from scratch, while the basic Su-30MKI planes have been almost delivered to the IAF. The upgrade of the Sukhoi fighters will allow sustaining the combat readiness of the service in several decades to come. Hence, the implications of the decision to earmark funds to both program are not as apparent as the economic pundits suppose,” the source emphasized.

He added that the Indian intention to upgrade Su-30MKIs in a drastic manner is a rational one. “The Flanker-H multirole fighter has a great potential in the modernization. It has an advanced airframe and a modular structure of the main components. I would not suppose ‘Super Sukhoi’ to be a genuine fifth-generation aircraft, but its combat performance can be radically increased. The upgraded plane is going to leave behind almost all modern aircraft in terms of cost-effectiveness ratio. It would offer a great capability for a relatively small chunk of money,” the source said.

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