Russia Gets Su-35S by Year-end, Libya to Follow
Jul 23, 2010
By Maxim Pyadushkin, Michael A. Taverna
mike_taverna@aviationweek.com
The Russian air force will take delivery of its first Su-35S fighter by the end of 2010, with a Libyan deal for the aircraft also anticipated to be concluded in the same time-frame
Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan, speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow, confirms that the air force would begin to receive the latest upgrade of the Su-27 Flanker before the year is out. The Su-35S, sometime also known as the Su-27M2, matches the Flanker airframe with more powerful 117S engines, thrust vector control and new avionics and systems.
Sukhoi executives say the aircraft’s radar signature has been reduced through the use of radar absorbent coatings as well as reducing the number of protruding sensors.
Preliminary testing of Su-35 has now been concluded according to the company. The initial flight test program was completed using two rather than the planned three aircraft after the third was lost as a result of a fire following a problem during taxi trials. So far 270 flights have been made totaling 350 flight-hours.
A further focus during the initial trials was at the fighter’s onboard equipment. The Su-35 is equipped with the NIIP Tikhomirov Irbis passive phased-array radar. The radar is intended to be able to track 30 airborne targets and engage 8 of them while at the same time tracking 4 and engaging 2 ground targets. According to Pogosyan, during the trials the radar showed a maximum detection range against the airborne targets of 400 km.
The Su-35’s infra-red search and track was able to detect and simultaneously track several targets at ranges in excess of more than 80 km.
The reported service life of the new aircraft is 6,000 flight hours, with a planned operational life of 30 years. The intended service life of NPO Saturn 117S engines is 4,000 hours, say the designers.
Suhkoi is now moving into joint evaluation trials with the Russian Air Force, pilots from the latter are already participating in the test program.
The Russian air force presently has an order for 48 Su-35S aircraft to be delivered by 2015. The aircraft was initially promoted to the Russian military as an interim platform until the fifth generation fighter being developed by the Sukhoi enters in service in 2016. Now Pogosyan is sure the air force will continue the procurement of Su-35 beyond this date – a second batch for the same number is anticipated in the latter half of the decade. The T-50 fifth-generation prototype is now in the early stages of flight testing.
Tripoli will likely be the launch export customer. Alexander Mikheev, deputy head of Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-owned arms export agency, confirmed at Farnborough that the contract for delivery of undisclosed number of aircraft to Libya, one of the traditional recipients of Soviet armaments, is expected to be signed this year. The first export production slots are available from 2012.
Pogosyan says he has “no knowledge” of a purported 40-60 aircraft government-to-government Indian deal for the Su-35 that could be proposed if the aircraft does not make the short list for India’s medium fighter competition, expected to be decided at year’s end. In addition to the Su-35, the Su-30 also has “good export prospects,” he says, mainly from existing customers.
Pogosyan says the T-50 will make its public debut at the upcoming Moscow Air Show in August. He expects that ultimately the PAK FA will be available to export customers at a price that is higher than fourth-generation models but still “affordable” compared to competing Western fighters. “Russian fighters have always been competitive on the global market,” he notes, “and the PAK FA will not be an exception.”
The absence of Russian combat aircraft here, he says, was dictated by a pure business decision to display the aircraft only at shows that have a reasonable chance of generating sales, rather than for reasons of prestige. Legal issues involving a Swiss creditor, which have kept fighters away from Farnborough in past years, played “absolutely no role this year,” he says.
However, a broad palette of combat aircraft will be shown at the upcoming Moscow Air Show, including the T-50. Pogosyan admits that Russia will be faced with an increasing challenge from China, which practices even lower pricing.
He agrees that China’s Shenyang J-15 is a “copy” of the Su-33 and that this raises intellectual property issues. However, he insists that lower pricing will be offset by poorer performance. “We’re not afraid of competition, even when it’s unfair. Learning how to integrate complex advanced fighter technology takes time.”
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