to15

Recent aerospace news from Russia & CIS [p.2,14, 20, 26, 32]

december 2009 • Special edition for LIMA 2009

MiG-29K back on deck

[p.16]

MMRCA trials [p.10]

Tikhomirov’s

AESA [p.30]

MC-21 programme

[p.24]

SSuu-30MKM -30MKM in RMAF service [p.4]

Moscow Machine-Building EnterpriseCHERNYSHEV jsc

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• TV7-117SM (IL-114 regional airplane)

Overhaul, spare parts delievery• R27F2M-300 (MiG-23UB fighter)

• R29-300 (MiG-23M, MiG-23MS, MiG-23MF fighters)• R-35 (MiG-23ML, MiG-23MLD, MiG-23P fighters)

TBO and TTL expansion of the overhaul engines

SU 30MKONLY THE BEST

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IRKUTCorporation

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UNITED INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION “OBORONPROM”27 Stromynka st., 107076 Moscow, Russia e-mail: [email protected]

Moscow

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“Russian Helicopters” Company, a whole subsidiary of OBORONPROM Corporation, is the leading Russian designer and manufacturer of rotary-wing aircraft equipment

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Rostov-Don

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Kumertau

Dear reader,

You are holding the latest issue of the Take-off magazine, special

English-language supplement to VZLET Russia’s national aerospace

magazine, dedicated this time to LIMA 2009 airshow.

LIMA aerospace exhibition on Malaysian island Langkawi is one of the

most respectable international airshows in South East Asia, so it gathers

potential customers not only from Malaysia but from all over the region.

Russian participants’ interest in it is owing to the country and South East

Asia returning as the leaders in importing Russian-made aircraft and

cooperating with Russia in the aerospace field. For example, this year

the Royal Malaysian Air Force has received its last Sukhoi Su-30MKM

supermanoeuvrable multirole fighters under the contract for 18 aircraft

of the type signed in 2003. The inaugural demonstration of the first

Su-30MKMs delivered to RMAF by Russia’s Irkut Corporation in 2007

took place at previous LIMA 2007 and had a great success. This time

Malaysian Su-30MKMs are going to become the main participants of

the LIMA airshow again. No doubt, unique supermanoeuvrability of the

Sukhoi fighters and excellent skills of RMAF pilots will together produce a

great show within LIMA 2009 flight demonstration programme.

Although earlier this year Irkut Corp. successfully fulfilled the whole

contract on 18 Su-30MKMs delivery to RMAF, more fighters of the

type could be in demand in Malaysia soon as it decided to withdraw in

the future its MiG-29N aircraft fleet delivered by Russia’s MiG Corp. in

1990s. In such case Su-30MKM, possibly in further upgraded version, for

example armed by BrahMos super-long range air-to-surface missiles or

fitted with a brand-new AESA radar, could become the best choice for

Malaysia in terms of RMAF fighter fleet combat efficiency and operational

logistics.

Apart from Su-30MKM topic in this issue we have focused on the

other most important novelties and recent events in Russian aerospace

industry, with preference given to those of them that could be of special

interest to the current and potential customers of Russian aircraft in

Malaysia and South East Asia in a whole.

I wish you fruitful work at the LIMA 2009 air show, useful contacts and

lucrative contracts!

Sincerely,

Andrey Fomin,

Editor-in-Chief,

Take-off magazine

News items for “In Brief” columns are prepared by editorial

staff based on reports of our special correspondents, press

releases of production companies as well as by using information

distributed by ITAR-TASS, ARMS-TASS, Interfax-AVN, RIA Novosti,

RBC news agencies and published at www.aviaport.ru, www.avia.ru,

www.gazeta.ru, www.cosmoworld.ru web sites

The magazine is registered by the Federal Service for supervision of

observation of legislation in the sphere of mass media and protection

of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. Registration certificate

PI FS77-19017 dated 29 November 2004

© Aeromedia, 2009

P.O. Box 7, Moscow, 125475, RussiaTel. +7 (495) 644-17-33, 798-81-19Fax +7 (495) 644-17-33E-mail: [email protected]://www.take-off.ru

december 2009

Editor-in-Chief Andrey Fomin

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Vladimir Shcherbakov

EditorYevgeny Yerokhin

Columnist Alexander Velovich Special correspondents Alexey Mikheyev, Vladimir Karnozov, Victor Drushlyakov, Andrey Zinchuk, Valery Ageyev,Alina Chernoivanova, Natalya Pechorina, Marina Lystseva, Dmirty Pichugin, Sergey Krivchikov,Sergey Popsuyevich, Piotr Butowski, Alexander Mladenov, Miroslav Gyurosi

Design and pre-press Grigory Butrin

Web support Georgy Fedoseyev

Translation Yevgeny Ozhogin

Cover picture Sergey Kuznetsov

Publisher

Director General Andrey Fomin

Deputy Director GeneralNadezhda Kashirina

Marketing DirectorGeorge Smirnov

Director for international projects Alexander Velovich

Items in the magazine placed on this colour background or supplied

with a note “Commercial” are published on a commercial basis.

Editorial staff does not bear responsibility for the contents of such items.

c o n t e n t s

CONTRACTS AND DELIVERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Mi-35M gearing up for shipping to Brazil

This summer, the last two Sukhoi Su-30MKM twinseat supermanoeuvrable multirole fighters from the batch of 18 aircraft ordered in 2003 entered service with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). With this delivery which took place on 17 August 2009, Irkut Corporation fulfilled completely the contract signed six years before providing RMAF with the most modern and combat effective multirole fighters. Now all of 18 superagile Su-30MKMs are in service with the 11th squadron of the Royal Malaysian Air Force stationed at Gong Kedak air base in the Kelantan province, on the coast of the South China Sea, 300 km north of the national capital, Kuala Lumpur. The international debut of the advanced Malaysian fighters took place two years ago, at LIMA 2007 airshow at the island of Langkawi. This time, three Su-30MKMs are also the participants of the international aerospace and marine exhibition at Langkawi and, no doubt, will become the main stars of the demonstration flight programme at LIMA 2009.

MILITARY AVIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

December 2009An-74TK-300D delivered to Laotian government

Su-30MKMIn service with RMAF

Two advanced MiG-35 multirole fighters made by the MiG corporation this year were headed for India on 7 October to take part in the trials as part of the MMRCA (Medium MultiRole Combat Aircraft) tender. Starting from mid-August, US fighters F/A-18E/F and F-16E/F and French Rafale had completed their trials in India as contenders under the MMRCA tender providing for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to buy 126 multirole fighters worth upwards of $10 billion. Swedish Gripen and European Typhoon will be last to join the flight evaluation by the tender’s organisers. Although the rivalling planes’ developers and IAF keep mum on how the current flight trials unfold, the Indian media and Internet forums keep tabs on what is going on at Bangalore airbase and other Indian airfields where MMRCA contenders are flown under the conditions set by the organisers. Based on the media and Internet reports, let us try and look into how the flight evaluation of the contenders is going on.

MMRCA tenderTrials kick off in India

Phazotron-NIIR ready for Indian tender

Sukhoi to deliver 64 brand-new fighters to RusAF

The first Irkut-built Yak-130 has flown

In later September, the MiG Corporation conducted successful flight trials of the advanced MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB multirole carrierborne fighters ordered by the Indian Navy (IN). The trials took place on board the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft-carrying cruiser of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy. The first deck landing on the Admiral Kuznetsov in the Barents Sea was conducted on 28 September by MiG Corp. chief test pilot Pavel Vlasov flying the MiG-29K prototype serialled 941. MiG Corp. test pilots Nikolay Diorditsa and Mikhail Belyayev followed him on the production MiG-29KUB twinseater painted in the customer’s colour scheme. In the course of two days, both aircraft performed several takeoffs and deck landings that proved the feasibility of safe operation of advanced fighters from aircraft carriers. Interestingly, the MiG-29K/KUB’s flight tests on board the Admiral Kuznetsov had taken place on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the first deck landings of Russia’s fourth-generation supersonic fighters and had become a kind of MiGs’ comeback to the deck. On 1 November 1989, a prototype MiG-29K of the previous model touched down on and then took off from this ship that was designated as Tbilisi at the time. Several more series of tests were conducted over several years afterwards, but for a number of reasons a decision was taken to have the Sukhoi Su-33 (Su-27K) shipborne fighter enter inventory of the Russian Navy’s air arm. History has made another twist, and now advanced MiG-29K/KUB being in full-rate production for a foreign customer could be used by the Russian Navy in the near future.

MiG-29KBack on deck!

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CIVIL AVIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Russian-built An-148 delivered

Sukhoi SuperJet seeking type certificate

IFC sells 26 more Tu-204s

Polyot receives new Il-96-400Ts

Transaero flies three Tu-214s

Yakutia started operating its third An-140

Once the programme on developing the advanced Sukhoi SuperJet 100 airliner came into the straight, and the aircraft made its debut at home and abroad, designers turned to another promising Russian civil aviation project – the development of a family of MC-21 short- and medium-haul airliners. According to the developer, the airliners will have a wide range of operation capabilities, tailored to the Russian and foreign markets and capable of facilitating airlines’ reaching a radically new level of economic efficiency, including doing so by slashing the direct operating costs by 15% compared the current aircraft in the same class. The MC-21 programme is at the pre-design and key systems supplier selection stage. The results of several tenders on selecting first-tier suppliers for the MC-21 were announced on 20 August, but the final competitions on the powerplant, avionics and control systems have been put off until year-end.

MC-21 programmeEngine makers go around

INDUSTRY . . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ka-32 certificated in EU

Turbomeca to supply engines to fit Mi-34

Ansat-U expected by the military

Ka-226T gearing up for certification

Ka-62 on Russian Helicopters priority list

Russia and Ukraine agreed to pursue An-70 programme together

PS-90A2 enters flight trials

Large order for engines to power Su-35

The active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar being developed by the Tikhomirov-NIIP joint stock company to fit a new-generation fighter was among the head-turners of the MAKS 2009 air show. At the show, Tikhomirov-NIIP unveiled a full-scale X-band AESA radar that had logged many bench tests in laboratories. The AESA radar is expected to begin its flight tests next year. Owing to its design commonality and technical solutions selected, it could spawn active electronically-scanned arrays to upgrade various radars equipping the fighters of the Su-27/Su-30 and MiG-29 families also. The Take-off editor met with Tikhomirov-NIIP Director General Yuri Bely and asked him to tell about the AESA radar development programme.

Tikhomirov’s AESA in trials

Debut of advanced air-to-air missiles

WEAPONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

c o n t e n t s

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c o n t r a c t s a n d d e l i v e r i e s | i n b r i e f

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In mid-October, Brazilian Air

Force pilots started the practi-

cal stage of converting to a new

type of aircraft, the upgraded Mil

Mi-35M attack helicopter made by

Rostvertol JSC. The contract for 12

Mi-35Ms was signed in November

last year during Russian President

Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Brazil,

paving the way for Russian combat

aircraft to the country.

The upgraded Mi-35M is far

superior to the Mi-24V and Mi-35

previously built by Rostvertol in that

it has day/night surveillance and tar-

geting systems, cutting-edge navi-

gation aids, composite-blade rotor

system and is powered by more

powerful VK-2500 engines. The

upgrade enhanced the machine’s

flight performance considerably,

especially its high-and-hot char-

acteristics. The first 10 produc-

tion-standard Mi-35Ms were export-

ed to Venezuela in 2006–08, with

the company now fulfilling the sec-

ond export order. Mention should

be made that the Venezuelan and

Brazilian orders enabled Rostvertol

to resume the production of the

Mi-35 helicopter family suspended

as far back as 1989 when the last

production-standard Mi-24P and

Mi-35P helicopters were completed

(in the following decade and a half,

the plant had only overhauled and

upgraded the aircraft of the type).

Rostvertol launched the manufac-

ture of the first Mi-35M batch for the

Brazilian Air Force late last year. As

many as four aircraft had sat in the

assembly shop by the time the plant

celebrated its 70th anniversary in

early July this year. The first Brazilian

Mi-35M took to the sky on its maiden

flight on 15 August and several days

later was inspected by a delegation

of the customer, led by Brazilian

Air Force Commander-in-Chief Juniti

Saito, with 27 August seeing the

machine’s first night-time demon-

stration flight. With the factory trials

complete, the first Brazil-destined

Mi-35M was painted in the custom-

er’s colour scheme that it sported

on its 8 October flight. A week later,

Brazil pilots started flying it under

their conversion programme. The

second production machine had

been flying by then.

The first Mi-35M batch is to be

delivered to Brazil before year-end,

once the first team of the custom-

er’s pilots has completed the con-

version. The whole of the contract

could be fulfilled in 2010. However,

the Brazilian media have reported

that in addition to the Brazilian Air

Force with its 12 Mi-35Ms, the

Brazilian Army Aviation has shown

interest in the helicopter as well,

indicating its willingness to order

four Mi-35Ms.

Mi-35M gearing up for shipping to Brazil

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3 take-off december 2009w w w . t a ke - o f f . r u

c o n t r a c t s a n d d e l i v e r i e s | i n b r i e f

The Russian Helicopters joint

stock company, a subsidiary of

Oboronprom JSC, made an offi-

cial statement on 9 October that

its subsidiary Kumertau Aircraft

Production Plant (KumAPP) had

built and been completing the

tests of the first three Kamov

Ka-28 antisubmarine warfare

(ASW) helicopters under a new

Rosoboronexport contract on nine

aircraft of the type for the People’s

Republic of China.

“The shipping of the first batch

of Ka-28 helicopters is a confi-

dent, albeit small, step towards

intensifying the cooperation with

our Chinese partners”, said Andrey

Shibitov, Director General of the

Russian Helicopters. “Today and

in the future, Russian Helicopters

manufacturers are ready to make

any up-to-date helicopters for the

air forces and navies of most of the

countries, including for our part-

ners in China”. KumAPP Managing

Director Sergey Mikryukov, in turn,

said, “The global market is showing

an obvious tendency towards the

growth of demand for Russian heli-

copters. KumAPP is ready to fully

meet the requirement of our Asian,

Middle Eastern, South American

and other partners for both medium

(Ka-28, Ka-32) and light (Ka-226T)

helicopters”.

The new Ka-28s designed for

delivery to the PLANAF are an

export version of the Ka-27 in serv-

ice with the Russian Navy. They

are powered by TV3-117VMAR

high-altitude engines featuring

enhanced power in the maximum

continuous power and cruising

modes. The ASW machine is fit-

ted with RF sonobuoys and, while

in the seek-and-destroy variant,

with antisubmarine bombs and tor-

pedo-missiles, including APR-2E

Orlan high-speed homing air-to-un-

derwater missiles.

The Ka-28 is known well in

China. The first order for eight

aircraft of the type was placed as

far back as 1997, and the Chinese

Navy started operating its first

coaxial-rotor Kamov machines a

year later. The service took deliv-

ery of five ASW machines that it

serialled 9144, 9154, 9164, 9174

and 9184, and three SAR aircraft

serialled 9114, 9124 and 9134.

The Ka-28s are in service with the

Chinese Navy on board the Project

956 Sovremenny-class destroyers

procured from Russia and indige-

nous Luhai destroyers as well as at

land-based airfields. In addition to

China, the Ka-28 had been exported

to India, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Syria

and Cuba since the mid-1980s.

33 aircraft had been built by the

early 2000s, after which only Ka-31

airborne early warning (AEW) heli-

copters and civilian versions of

the Ka-32 helicopters have been

exported. With the signature of the

new Chinese contract, KumAPP has

resumed production of the Ka-28

baseline military export variant.

On 15 October, the airfield

of the Kharkov State Aircraft

Manufacturing Company (KSAMC)

hosted the handover ceremony of

the new Antonov An-74TK-300D

aircraft in the VIP configuration to

representatives of the customer,

the government of Laos. The air-

craft, serialled RDPL-34020 by the

customer, made its maiden flight on

17 September 2009. It is the sec-

ond KSAMC-built plane delivered

this year, with the An-74TK-300D

delivered to Libya on 23 April being

the first one.

Thus, the return of Anatoly Myalitsa

into the office of KSAMC’s Director

General has resulted in a hope for

progress. As is known, for several

years the plant was unable to make

and deliver a single new plane, though

it had firm orders for at least 10 aircraft

of the An-74 family and its assembly

shop was crammed with unfinished

airframes and assemblies. Now, the

work has picked up. According to

Anatoly Myalitsa speaking at the

Laotian An-74TK-300D’s handover

ceremony, three more aircraft are to

be completed this year. “There are

three planes undergoing final assem-

bly in shops. We are working on them.

We will complete the aircraft intended

for Egypt in November and then the

one for Libya’s air medical service,”

he told the media.

KSAMC spokesman Andrey

Platonov told the Take-off corre-

spondent that in the near future,

the Kharkov-based company was to

deliver two An-74TK-200S air ambu-

lances to Libya and two upgraded

An-74T-200A transports to Egypt

(the first of the three ordered aircraft

of the type was delivered to Egypt

as far back as four years ago, in

September 2005). As far as the rest

of the signed but unfulfilled contracts

are concerned, “talks are underway”,

and any concrete information will

be unveiled later, as “the clinched

deals are taken off ice, current con-

tracts are extended and new ones

are awarded”.

An-74TK-300D delivered to Laotian government

New Ka-28 deliveries to China begin

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Worth about $900 million, the contract

for 18 Russian-made Su-30MKM aircraft to

be delivered to RMAF was signed on the top

governmental level in August 2003, with the

Rosoboronexport state corporation to fulfil

it. The aircraft were to be developed by the

Sukhoi company and built by the Irkut Corp.

Under the deal, in addition to delivering the

fighters, Russia was to train RMAF flying and

ground crews and provide weapons and other

This summer, the last two Sukhoi Su-30MKM twinseat supermanoeuvrable multirole fighters from the batch of 18 aircraft

ordered in 2003 entered service with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). With this delivery which took place on 17 August

2009, Irkut Corporation fulfilled completely the contract signed six years before providing RMAF with the most modern

and combat effective multirole fighters. Now all of 18 superagile Su-30MKMs are in service with the 11th squadron of the

Royal Malaysian Air Force stationed at Gong Kedak air base in the Kelantan province, on the coast of the South China Sea,

300 km north of the national capital, Kuala Lumpur. The international debut of the advanced Malaysian fighters took place

two years ago, at LIMA 2007 airshow at the island of Langkawi. This time, three Su-30MKMs are also the participants of the

international aerospace and marine exhibition at Langkawi and, no doubt, will become the main stars of the demonstration

flight programme at LIMA 2009.

Su-30MKM IN SERVICE WITH RMAFIN SERVICE WITH RMAF Andrey FOMIN

Malaysian leaders examine the RMAF

Su-30MKM’s cockpit after its inaugural demo

flight at LIMA 2007. The then PM of Malaysia

Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (in the center), the

then Deputy PM – Minister of Defence, now –

the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Seri Mohd.

Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak (right), and

the then RMAF Chief (now – Chief of Defence

Forces) Gen Tan Sri Azizan Ariffin (left)

4 w w w . t a ke - o f f . r utake-off december 2009

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equipment relevant to the effective operation

of the fighters. A decision was taken to have

Malaysia’s personnel trained in their country.

RMAF had taken delivery of the first two

aircraft in June 2007 and four more by the

year-end, with the next six in March 2008.

The remaining six Su-30MKMs were deliv-

ered this summer.

The Su-30MKM fighter is a derivative

of the proven Su-30MKI that has been in

service with the Indian Air Force (IAF) since

2002. Under the contracts fulfilled or still

under way, IAF is to take delivery of as many

as 230 Su-30MKI fighters by the middle of

next decade, of which 90 are to be built by

Russia’s Irkut Corporation and 140 are to be

licence-produced by Indian aircraft manu-

facturer HAL under a licence programme.

To date, Irkut has shipped more than 50

fighters of the type to India, continuing

to make and deliver both ready-for-service

aircraft and licence production kits. The

first Indian-assembled Su-30MKIs have

been check-flown and handed over to IAF

in November 2004. Since then, the number

of Indian-produced Su-30MKIs in IAF’s

inventory has been on the rise. As for today,

more than hundred Su-30MKIs – both

delivered from Russia and assembled by

HAL – are in service with IAF. One more

derivative of the fighter, the Su-30MKI(A),

is developed by Sukhoi and now being deliv-

ered by Irkut Corp. The customer is Algerian

Air Force wich ordered 28 fighters of the type

in 2006. Deliveries began in late 2007 and

by August 2009 a total of 22 Su-30MKI(A)

fighters have been built by Irkut according

to the statement of Irkut’s president Oleg

Demchenko made at MAKS 2009 airshow.

Algerian contract is planned to be fulfilled by

the end of this year.

“The Su-30MKM is another step in

developing the Su-30 platform further,” the

Sukhoi design bureau’s First Deputy Designer

General Alexander Barkovsky told Take-off.

The Malaysian version is wrapped around the

Su-30MKI design, differing mostly in avi-

onics but retaining its airframe, AL-31FP

thrust vector-controlled (TVC) engines and

fly-by-wire control system. Still, “there have

been a number of radical modifications to

the Malaysian aircraft”, Alexander Barkovsky

said.

They included, first and foremost, modifi-

cations to the IFF transponder, self-defence

suite, display system and podded optron-

ic systems. For instance, the Su-30MKM

mounts an advanced French-made IFF sys-

tem, with its ‘plates’ situated on top the nose

section fore of the cockpit.


take-off december 2009 5 w w w . t a ke - o f f . r u

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However, the main difference featured

by the Malaysian variant is its laser warning

systems and missile approach sensors. They

were developed and in production by South

African company Avitronics, a member of

the SAAB group, and are placed in various

parts of the airframe. Two front-hemisphere

laser-illumination sensor sets are under the

nose section and the other two, which keep

an eye on the rear hemisphere, sit on the

sides of the air intakes. Between the former,

there is a UV three-sensor set to spot incom-

ing missiles in the lookdown mode. The

second such set of UV sensors is on top the

spine fairing aft of the air brake. It operates

in the lookup mode.

In addition to the South African systems,

the Su-30MKM’s self-defence suite comprises

an upgraded Russian radar-warning receiver,

Russian electronic countermeasures (ECM)

system in two pods mounted on wingtips, and

Russian passive IR dispensers in the tail sec-

tion (98 cartridges with flares and chaff).

Actually, the share of Russian-made com-

ponents is larger than that on the Indian

variant due to Russian components replac-

ing some of the Indian and Israeli ones.

Particularly, the Su-30MKI has two different

digital computers (the main one is Russian

and the backup is Indian), while both of the

Su-30MKM’s computers are Russian-made.

In addition, the Su-30MKM has more

French-made systems. The Thales wide-an-

gle HUD has ousted the Israeli ElOp

HUD mounted by the Su-30MKI. The

Su-30MKM’s colour multifunction LCDs are

French-made as well. Like the Indian fighter,

its Malaysian counterpart houses three 5x5”

MFD55 displays at each combat station in the

cockpit, with the rear station also fitted with

the fourth, larger display – the 6x6” MFD66.

Another novelty implemented in the Malaysian

version is the Thales podded optronic systems

(the Su-30MKI can carry the Israeli-made

Litening electro-optical pod). There are two

such systems: the LDP Damocles pod ensures

round-the-clock air-to-surface attack while day

and night flight and navigation is ensured by the

NAVFLIR system housed by the pylon being

the hardpoint for the Damocles.

According to the official data at the Thales

web site, the Damocles podded optronic sys-

tem (the pod weighs 265 kg and is 2.5 m long)

handles the surface search, target acquisi-

tion, identification and tracking, laser spot

detection and target ranging and designation

for laser-guided weapons, including smart

bombs. To this end, it has the thermal imaging

capability with the 3–5 micron wavelength

as well as two laser channels: a 1.5 micron

eye-safe ranging laser and a target illumina-

tion laser. The thermal imager’s extra-wide

field of vision in the navigation mode meas-

ures 24x18°, wide one – 4x3° and narrow

one – 1x0.75°. The twofold electronic magni-

fication (zoom) is possible.

The 3–5 micron infrared NAVFLIR navi-

gation system has the front-hemisphere look-

down/lookup capability with the 24x18° opti-

cal field of view (the electronic zoom with

12x9° angle of view) and shows the result-

ant imagery on the HUD and/or MFDs.

The acquisition and identification range for

objects measuring 20x20 m is 10–12 km and

those for 100x100m objects is 22.5–50 km.

The system, except the pod and cooling sys-

tem, weighs mere 20 kg.

The rest of the Su-30MKM’s search and

targeting systems are Russian-made and most-


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ly similar to those on the Su-30MKI. They

include, first and foremost, the Tikhomirov

NIIP Bars phased-array radar capable of simul-

taneously tracking at least 15 aerial threats at a

high spatial angle and engaging four of them at

a time, effectively attacking ground targets and

operating in the air-to-air and air-to-surface

modes concurrently. The passive phased array

of the Bars radar is fitted with the addition-

al hydraulic horizontal turn mechanism and

offers ±70° total scan in azimuth and ±40°

in elevation. The assured acquisition range

for aerial threats with a radar cross-section of

3 sq.m equals at least 140 km.

In addition, the Su-30MKM’s surveillance

and targeting gear includes the OLS-30I IRST

from the Ural Optical & Mechanical Plant

named after E.S. Yalamov (UOMZ) and the

Sura helmet-mounted target designator from

the Arsenal plant in Kiev. The infrared segment

of the IRST tracks aerial targets out at 90 km

in the rear hemisphere and 50 km in the front

hemisphere. The airspace scan zone measures

±60° in azimuth and -15/+60° in elevation.

The OLS-30I’s wide field of view account for

60x10° and the narrow one is 20x5°, with the

field of view being 3x3° in the lock-on mode.

The laser rangefinder ranges ground targets out

at 5 km at the least and aerial ones out at 3 km

at the least.

The Su-30MKI’s navigation aids include

the TACAN short-range radio navigation

system, LINS-GPS inertial/satnav system

and VOR/ILS/MRK landing equipment. To

ensure safe formation manoeuvring, the air-

craft also is fitted with formation flight lights

on the sides of the fuselage nose section and

air intakes, fins and wingtips. The avionics

was integrated with the use of multiplex data-

bus meeting the MIL-STD-1553B standard.

As far as its weapons suite is concerned,

the Su-30MKM is close enough to IAF’s

Su-30MKI. The types of weapons used remain

virtually unchanged and include up to ten

RVV-AE medium-range active radar homing

air-to-air missiles, up to eight R-27ER1 (R1)

semiactive radar homing and R-27ET1

(T1) heat-seeking AAMs (including up

to two R-27ET1/T1 AAMs), up to six

R-73E dogfight missiles, Kh-59ME air-to-sur-

face missiles (two missiles with TV command

guidance), Kh-31A or Kh-31P (six ASMs

with active or passive radar homing heads),

six TV-guided Kh-29TE missiles and five

Kh-29L semiactive laser beam-riding ASMs.

Guided bombs include KAB-500Kr (OD) and

KAB-1500Kr TV-guided bombs and advanced

KAB-1500LG laser-guided bombs. The use of

Kh-59ME missiles is supported by means of the

APK-9E pod carried on the hardpoint under

the port air intake and that of Kh-29L missiles

and KAB-1500LG bombs by the Damocles pod

mounted on the hardpoint under the starboard

air intake. Advanced French missile MICA

may make its way on board the Su-30MKM, if

the feasibility of integrating it with the fighter’s

weapons suite, being looked into at the request

of RMAF, is confirmed.

The non-guided weapons carried by the

Su-30MKM are virtually the same as those

hauled by other aircraft of the Flanker fam-

ily. The Su-30MKM carries up to eight HE

gravity bombs or 500 kg disposable cluster

bomb units, up to thirty-two 250 kg or 100

kg blast/fragmentation bombs and 80, 122

and 266/340 mm (420 mm) folding-fin aerial

rockets (80 S-8, 20 S-13 or four S-25 FFARs

in various versions) in four rocket pods or

launchers. The maximum payload mounted

on 12 hardpoints totals 8,000 kg. To cap it all,

the fighter packs a 30 mm GSh-301 automatic

cannon with the 150-round ammo load.

In conclusion, a few words about one other

feature of the Su-30MKM. The aircraft is fit-

ted with the integral oxygen generator from

the Zvezda company in the town of Tomilino,

Moscow Region. Zvezda is known as the

developer of the unique K-36D-3,5E ejection

seat the Su-30MKM is fitted with.

The Su-30MKM has a long flying life –

6,000 flight hours or 25 years of operation as

far as the airframe is concerned. Heavy main-

tenance is required after the aircraft logs 1,500

flight hours or 10 years of operation. The

AL-31FP engines from UMPO in Ufa have

an assigned life of 2,000 flight hours and a

time before first overhaul of 1,000 flight hours,

with their TVC nozzles have an assigned life of

500 flight hours.

In 2006 the Sukhoi design bureau furnished

two prototype aircraft to test the Su-30MKM’s

advanced electronic systems and integrate it

with the avionics suite. Two preproduction

Su-30MKIs serialled 05 and 04 were con-

verted to this end, becoming the prototypes

of the Su-30MKM. One of them was first

flown by Sukhoi’s test pilots Sergey Kostin

and Vyacheslav Averyanov in Zhukovsky on

23 May 2006. The other prototype completed

its maiden flight in Irkutsk on 9 June 2006

with Vyacheslav and Yevgeny Averyanovs at

the controls. The bulk of the tests conducted

at LII’s airfield in Zhukovsky and at the

Defence Ministry’s State Flight Test Centre

(GLITs) in Akhtubinsk were complete in

late spring 2007, with the assembly of the

first several production Su-30MKMs being in

full swing at the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant. Both

Su-30MKM prototypes will remain in Russia

for use under various test programmes to keep

on refining the Su-30MKM and other aircraft

of the family.

The ceremony of acceptance of two first

production-standard Su-30MKMs took place

at the airfield of the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant, a

subsidiary of the Irkut Corp., on 24 May

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2007. The Malaysian delegation attending

the acceptance ceremony was led by the then

RMAF commander, Gen. Dato’ Sri Azizan

bin Ariffin. Less than a month later, on 18

June, an Antonov An-124 Ruslan airlifter

flew both aircraft to RMAF’s Gong Kedak

air base in the Kelantan province, on the

coast of the South China Sea, 300 km north

of the national capital, Kuala Lumpur. Two

more Su-30MKMs joined them in August.

The Subang air base vic. Kuala Lumpur

hosted the ceremony of the Su-30MKM’s

RMAF service entry on 10 August 2007. The

importance of the event was highlighted by

the presence of Malaysian Deputy Prime

Minister and Defence Minister (now –

Prime Minister of Malaysia) Dato’ Sri Mohd

Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak and Malaysian

Chief of Defence Forces General (Army)

Tan Sri Dato Paduka Seri Abdul Aziz Hj

Zainal. Rosoboronexport Deputy Director

General Victor Komardin, who represented

Russia during the ceremony, handed the

documentation on the delivered aircraft over

to RMAF Commander.

By then, the fighters delivered had been used

by the first group of RMAF pilots for conver-

sion to the aircraft of a type new to them, with

Russian test pilots Yevgeny Frolov, Sergey

Bogdan and Sergey Kostin of the Sukhoi

design bureau acting as instructor pilots.

Already on 31 August, three Su-30MKMs

flown by Malaysian pilots participated in the

air parade dedicated to the 50th anniversary of

Malaysia’s independence.

The international debut of the advanced

Malaysian fighters took place at LIMA 2007

airshow at the island of Langkawi in December

2007. Lt. Col. Norazlan Aris and Maj. Azman

Jantan from RMAF’s 11th squadron became

the heroes of the show due to their fantastic

Su-30MKM flight display over Langkawi.

By then two more RMAF pilots were fly-

ing the new type of Malaysian fighter, Maj.

Fadzli Sabirin and Maj. Choy Swee On. All

of them previously flew RMAF’s MiG-29N

or F/A-18D fighters or Hawk trainers and

were high-skill military pilots with a flight

backlog of 2,000–3,000 hours. Later on more

and more Malaysian pilots passed conversion

for flying Su-30MKM and attended the 11th

squadron headed by Col. Suri Daud.

With introducing the Su-30MKM into

service, RMAF became the second air force

in the world to operate supersonic multirole

supermanoeuvrable fighters capable of thrust

vector control and the world’s second air force

flying Russian fighters fitted with phased-array

radars. Mention should be made that all neigh-

bouring nations in the region have to put up

with less sophisticated aircraft carrying ordi-

nary mechanically-scanned array radars. The

Bars radar enables the Su-30MKM’s crew to

fire missiles on four targets at a time within a

wide solid angle. With air crews given relevant

training, they will be able to use dogfight

missiles in the supermanoeuvrability mode as

well. As a result, the combat capabilities of the

Malaysian Su-30MKMs could far exceed those

of the fighters operated by other air forces in

the region.



Lt. Col. Norazlan Aris (left) and Maj. Azman

Jantan (right) from RMAF’s 11th squadron, the first

Malaysian pilots to fly Su-30MKM, after their

fantastic flight display over Langkawi at LIMA 2007

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9 w w w . t a ke - o f f . r u take-off december 2009

Length, m .......................................................................................................... 21.9

Wing span, m ..................................................................................................... 14.7

Height, m ............................................................................................................. 6.4

Wing area, sq.m ................................................................................................. 62.0

Maximum takeoff weight, kg .......................................................................... 34,000

Limit takeoff weight, kg .................................................................................. 38,800

Full fuel capacity, kg ........................................................................................ 9,600

Combat load, kg ............................................................................................... 8,000

Maximum speed, km/h:

- at high altitude ............................................................................................... 2,000

- at sea level .................................................................................................... 1,400

Maximum Mach number ...................................................................................... 1.9

Service ceiling, m .......................................................................................... 17,300

Maximum g-load ..................................................................................................... 9

Take-off run (normal take-off weight), m ............................................................ 550

Landing roll length (normal landing weight), m ................................................. 750

Max range on full tanks with missiles attached, km:

- without refuelling ........................................................................................... 3,000

- with one refuelling ......................................................................................... 5,200

- with two refuellings ........................................................................................ 8,000

Maximum combat radius, km:

- in maritime AO, with 4xR-73E & 4xKh-31A ...................................................... 980

- in land AO, with 2xR-73E, 2xKh-29TE & 2xKh-31P ....................................... 1,010

Time on station without refuelling, hr:

- 200 km away from base..................................................................................... 2.6

- 400 km away from base..................................................................................... 2.1

- 600 km away from base..................................................................................... 1.7

Maximum endurance (limited by crew’s physical abilities), hr ........................... 10

Engines ........................................................................................................AL-31FP

Thrust, kgf:

- full afterburner ..........................................................................................2x12,500

- full power ....................................................................................................2x7,670

Su-30MKM basic specifications

Su-30MKMDrawing by Andrey Zhirnov

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c o n t r a c t s a n d d e l i v e r i e s | t e n d e r

The stage of in-country demonstration

flights and flight tests of the MMRCA

contenders began on 17 August, i.e. two years

after the requests for proposals (RfP) had

been sent officially on 28 August 2007. At the

time, the first three-month flight evaluation

phase in India was supposed to kick off as

early as June 2008 (the rival companies were

given until late February 2008 to submit their

technical and commercial proposals) to be

followed by the evaluation of the weapons

suites of the fighters by IAF personnel, with

two or three aircraft to be shortlisted in early

2009. As it often happens, however, the

flight evaluation of first contenders in India

slipped for late summer 2009 by mutual

agreement.

Two advanced MiG-35 multirole

fighters made by the MiG corporation

this year were headed for India on

7 October to take part in the trials

as part of the MMRCA (Medium

MultiRole Combat Aircraft) tender.

Starting from mid-August, US

fighters F/A-18E/F and F-16E/F and

French Rafale had completed their

trials in India as contenders under

the MMRCA tender providing for the

Indian Air Force (IAF) to buy 126

multirole fighters worth upwards

of $10 billion. Swedish Gripen and

European Typhoon will be last to join

the flight evaluation by the tender’s

organisers. Although the rivalling

planes’ developers and IAF keep

mum on how the current flight trials

unfold, the Indian media and Internet

forums keep tabs on what is going on

at Bangalore airbase and other Indian

airfields where MMRCA contenders

are flown under the conditions set by

the organisers. Based on the media

and Internet reports, let us try and

look into how the flight evaluation of

the contenders is going on.

MMRCA tenderMMRCA tendertrials kick off in India




This had been preceded, however, by the

flight demonstration of some of the rivals at

the Aero India 2009 air show in Bangalore in

February, which involved Russian demonstrator

MiG-35D (side number 154), as many as five

F-16s, including two UAE Air Force F-16F

Block 60s that might become the prototype

of the future Indian F-16IN Super Viper, two

production F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and

three Typhoons furnished by the Luftwaffe.

Mention should be made that although the

MiG-35 technology demonstrator was derived

in early 2007 from the MiG-29M prototype

built as far back as 1990 and then converted

to the MiG-29M2 twinseater following a long

downtime, it was equipped with a complete

cutting-edge avionics suite in line with the

MMRCA tender requirements, including an

active electronically-scanned array (AESA)

radar. Apart from it, only the F-16F could

boast an active phased array radar in Bangalore,

while the rest of the demonstrators, the

F/A-18E/F and Typhoon, were ordinary

production aircraft with more modest weapons

suites, with AESA radars for their future

Indian versions being only in the form of

mock-ups displayed in exhibition pavilions.

In line with the tender’s terms, the single-

and two-seat variants of each fighter are

to be used in the evaluation tests in India.

For this reason, as well as owing to the

different designs of the MiG-35 technology

demonstrator (No. 154), on the one

hand, and the current and future MiG-29

versions (MiG-29K/KUB, MiG-29M/M2,

MiG-35), on the other, MiG Corp. decided

to make two new aircraft – a singleseater

and a twinseater – at its production plant in

Lukhovitsy for the MMRCA test programme.

In terms of design, both are very similar to

the carrierborne MiG-29K/KUB that are in

production for the Indian Navy, and differ

only in the lack of the arrestor hook (even

the shipborne variant’s wing panel design

and high-lift devices have been retained).

At the same time, the MiG-35 prototypes

are fit to mount the advanced avionics,

including the AESA radar, tested or being

tested on board technology demonstrator

No.154 and other flying testbeds under the

MiG-35 programme.

The developer regards the extremely high

degree of commonality between the current

MiG-29K/KUB and future MiG-35 as both

a means to speed up the development and

productionising and an important advantage

of the Russian bid, because India will fly

MiG-29K/KUB in full swing by the time the

MiG-35’s deliveries commence, if it comes

on top in the tender. The MiG-35 single-seat

prototype was completed this summer and

given side number 961. Concurrently,

the MiG-29KUB prototype serialled 947

was converted to the MiG-35D two-seat

prototype serialled 967. Both went to India

early in October following a series of flights

under the factory test programme.

The flight evaluation phase involving all

of the six pairs of contenders, which began

in India in August, is to take about eight

months, according to IAF representative

P.R. Singh, with the estimated deadline being

March or April 2010. The phase is broken

down into three following parts:

- familiarisation, during which IAF

flying and ground crews are learning the

fighters’ characteristics, individual systems

and weapons; according to Indian sources,

special attention is being paid to the avionics

suite and radars (as is known, all completing

fighters must be equipped with AESA

radar);

- demonstration, i.e. demonstration flights

performed by test pilots of the companies

participating in the tender and by pilots with

line units of the air forces of the competing

countries, as well as familiarisation flights

for IAF pilots as backseaters in the two-seat

versions; this part of the evaluation is taking

place at HAL’s air base in Bangalore;

- field trials, i.e. two-day flights under an

approved programme at Jaisalmer in the Thar

desert (state of Rajasthan) at high ambient

temperature, and flights at Leh air base in the

Himalayas (state Jammu and Kashmir) where

Vladimir SHCHERBAKOV

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w w w . t a ke - o f f . r u

the rivals will have to prove their fully-laden

performance in mountainous terrain (about

3,500 m above sea level). According to the

Indian media, the ability to operate with the

design ordnance load and full tanks from

a high-elevation airfield equipped with a

3,300-m runway is a key IAF requirement to

all of the contenders.

At this stage of the tender, Indian pilots,

who graduated from the special courses in

the countries of the developers, join the

flights. To this end, IAF has stood up two

groups of pilots two men each. At first, they

will act as backseaters and fly the fighters

from time to time and then will fly and use

weapons on their own. Eight to 10 technical

specialists from the Indian Defence Ministry,

HAL, DRDO, etc., are attached to each

group to evaluate the systems.

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was the first

to enter the arena: two fighters accompanied

by a tanker plane came to Bangalore on 14

August. Following a series of demonstration

w w w . t a ke - o f f . r u

In August this year, the Russian, U.S.

and West European contenders entered the

comparative test stage of the MMRCA tender

providing for the selection and subsequent

acquisition of 126 medium multirole fighters by

the Indian Air Force (IAF). A key requirement to

all of the contenders is that the aircraft should

carry active phased-array radar, also known as

AESA radar. The MiG-35 prototypes furnished

for comparative tests under the MMRCA

programme are equipped with AESA radar from

the Phazotron-NIIR corporation. A Take-off

correspondent had visited Phazotron-NIIR on

the eve of the kickoff of the tests to inquire about

the status of the Zhuk-AE radar development

programme.

According to Phazotron-NIIR Director General

Vyacheslav Tishchenko, the AESA radar

engineering development phase has been

nearing the end, with Phazotron-NIIR ready for

the comparative tests of the rival fighters.

According to Yuri Guskov, Deputy Director for

research and chief designer, Phazotron-NIIR

launched development of AESA radar in 2000,

paying for it out of its own pocket. To design

the radar, its subsystems and elements, several

companies pooled their efforts, including

Phazotron-NIIR itself, the Mikran scientific and

production company and Research Institute

for Semiconductor Instruments (NIIPP),

both situated in Tomsk. Phazotron-NIIR

handled the overall design work on the radar,

transmit-receive (T-R) modules’ power supply

system and power sources, low-frequency and

microwave distribution systems, beam steering

unit and the T-R modules cooling system.

Mikran, assisted by NIIPP, developed and

manufactured group four-channel T-R modules

and monolithic integrated circuits for them.

The first Zhuk-AE radar variant with a 700-mm

AESA tilted 20° up was complete in 2005 but

proved to be too heavy and its weight had to be

slashed drastically. To boot, the limitations on

mounting the radar on the demonstrator aircraft

caused a drop in the AESA diameter down

to 500 mm, with the number of T-R modules

diminishing down to 680 (170 four-channel

group T-Rs) and a number of key characteristics

deteriorating accordingly. The weight of the

second AESA radar made in 2006 was 220 kg.

The T-R module design has altered several

times: Mikran developed the current version

of four-channel T-R modules in 2008, with the

modules used in the first flying AESA prototype

last year.

Since 2006, all AESA work by Phazotron-NIIR

has been done in line with the performance

specification of the MiG corporation, when

Phazotron-NIIR launched development of the

Zhuak-AE radar for the MiG-35 demonstrator with

the subsequent installation of the experimental

AESA radar on board the MiG-29M2 serialled

Phazotron-NIIR ready for Indian tender

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154 and made an agreement for two Zhuk-AE

sets to be mounted on MiG-35 prototypes.

The trials kicked off in 2007 when a series of

ground tests was conducted and the radar was

mated with the power supply, cooling, data display

and control systems on board the demonstrator.

This complete, summer 2008 saw the start of tests

on board the MiG-35 technology demonstrator

(No. 154) from the ground against an airborne

target at first and then from the airborne aircraft

against aerial targets. About 20 tests had been

conducted by September this year, including 15 test

sorties that had proved a reliable target acquisition

range of 148 km. In addition, two sorties had been

dedicated to dogfighting and several missions

had been flown in the terrain mapping mode with

the 5x5-m resolution. Thus, the aircraft No. 154

had demonstrated the basic characteristics of the

Zhuk-AE radar with the 500-mm AESA, including

a 130-plus-km range against targets with the

5-m2 radar cross-section (RCS). A more superior

performance is expected further down the road,

in particular, the 200-km range, after the switch to

an AESA with an organic diameter of 688 mm and

1,016 T-R modules. In this case, the radar’s weight

should not exceed 280 kg.

According to Yuri Guskov, the principal result

of the MiG-35’s AESA radar development has

been Phazotron-NIIR’s preparedness for the

Indian tender. The development programme has

passed the electronic componentry and overall

radar technical risk stage, the radar has been

mated with all onboard systems of the aircraft,

including the power supply system, liquid

cooling system, avionics, navigation/targeting

system and cockpit management environment

of the MIG-35, and T-R modules have been

productionised.

To bid in the Indian tender, three stages of

work have been provided for. According to Chief

Designer Yuri Guskov, Stage I began at the LII

facility in Zhukovsky on 28 September 2009.

Stage II took place this autumn at a testing range

in India. Stage III is slated for March or April next

year to include missile launches in Akhtubinsk.

According to Phazotron-NIIR Director

General Vyacheslav Tishchenko, the

indisputable success of the programme

consists in the fact that the company has

managed for the first time in Russia to resolve

all fundamental problems of developing a

fighter phased array as part of the Zhuk-AE

radar. In the first place, the developer has

dealt with the problems of developing the

key functional elements with the parameters

required – group T-R modules, monolithic

integral circuits, power supply system,

T-R module cooling system, beam steering

system and associated software.

Yevgeny Yerokhin

sorties in the “aviation capital” of India,

they went to hot Jaisalmer and then to the

Leh high-elevation air base. The Super

Hornets wrapped up their trials in India

on 27 August and were succeeded by other

US-made contenders, F-16IN fighters in

the form of the F-16E/F Block 60s that

have been supplied to the UAE Air Force

since May 2005.

Three aircraft of the type arrived in

Bangalore from Dubai on 2 September,

launched training flights on the next day

and switched to the familiarisation part

of the programme on 7 September. In

Bangalore, they flew two hour-long sorties

a day and then flew to Jaisalmer and then

to Leh. The F-16s completed their field

trials on 18 September. Their aircrews

included Lockheed Martin test pilots

and USAF combat crews. According to

Lockheed Martin representative Michael R.

Griswold, the Emirates version of the F-16

will be modified in line with the customer’s

requirements and designated as F-16IN

Super Viper.

French Rafales picked up the baton from

the US fighters in the Indian skies. According

to the Indian press, two Rafales performed

a nonstop flight to Bangalore right from

the Istres flight test centre, having topped

up in midair twice. They started flying in

Bangalore on 22 September and completed

a series of tests at Jaisalmer and Leh air

bases in the following two weeks.

After the Russian MiG-35s have

completed their flight evaluation in India in

November, the two remaining contenders,

European Typhoon and Swedish Gripen,

will have to fly there. They are expected in

India next year – in February and March

respectively.

The next phase of the tender provides for

the evaluation of the contenders’ weapons

suites and air-launched weapons. The

evaluation will involve Indian pilots and

take place in the home countries of the

developers. It may begin before year-end.

Then, under India’s defence procurement

policy, a short list will be compiled to include

two or three aircraft fully meeting IAF’s

requirements to the future fighter. Then

the price negotiations will follow, based on

which outcome the cheapest variant meeting

IAF’s requirements will be selected. As is

known, the then-IAF commander, Air Chief

Marshal F.H. Major, said earlier this year,

“If all goes to plan, the first MMRCA will fly

in the Indian colours approximately in four

years”, i.e. some time in 2013.

As is known, the winning company will

deliver 18 finished aircraft of 126 fighters

ordered (86 singleseaters and 40 twinseaters),

with the remaining 108 to be assembled in

India. Under the terms of the tender, the

deliveries should start within 36 months

since the signature of the contract and be

completed within 48 months. Thus, the

whole full-rate and licence production

programme will take four years.

take-off december 2009 13

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m i l i t a r y a v i a t i o n | i n b r i e f

14

Russia’s major combat aircraft

acquisition deal was clinched on

the first day of the MAKS 2009 air

show this summer. In the presence of

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,

the Russian Defence Ministry and

Sukhoi company signed on 18 August

three governmental contracts for

Sukhoi aircraft to be built by Sukhoi’s

subsidiary Komsomolsk-on-Amour

Aircraft Production Association

(KnAAPO). The manufacturer will sup-

ply the Russian Air Force with 64 war-

planes during 2010–15, specifically

48 Su-35S multirole supermanoeuvra-

ble fighters in 2010–15, 12 upgraded

Su-27SM fighters in 2009–11 and

four Su-30M2 two-seat multirole

fighters to be delivered before the end

of 2011. The contracts were signed

by Armed Forces Armament Chief/

Deputy Defence Minister Vladimir

Popovkin and Sukhoi Director General

Mikhail Pogosyan.

As is known, late in 2008, the

Defence Ministry and Sukhoi

made a governmental contract for

32 new Su-34 tactical fighters to

be delivered to the Air Force within

five years. The Novosibirsk Aircraft

Production Association named

after Valery Chkalov (NAPO) has

launched production of the air-

craft, with the deliveries to kick

off next year.

According to Sukhoi Director

General Mikhail Pogosyan, the

long-term agreements for manufac-

turing advanced aircraft will keep the

holding company’s production plants

busy with military aircraft production

and shift the emphasis from upgrad-

ing the Air Force’s in-service aircraft

fleets to production of brand-new

advanced warplanes. The delivery

of advanced fighters will both bol-

ster the nation’s defensive capabili-

ties and allow a smooth transition to

drastically innovative next-generation

fighter technologies. “The company

is prepared to fulfil the contracts in

full and on schedule”, emphasised

Mikhail Pogosyan.

KnAAPO has launched produc-

tion of the aircraft under the con-

tracts signed. At the same time,

it is completing a Su-27 upgrade

under a previous contract. A Sukhoi

spokesman said on 23 September

that KnAAPO had completed the

overhaul and upgrade of four more

Su-27 in service with the Russian

Air Force. As is known, 24 upgraded

Su-27SM fighters were fielded with

the fighter air regiment at Dzyomgi

AFB in 2004–06, and in 2007 the

second air regiment, garrisoned

in the Russia’s Far East, began to

convert to Su-27SMs. In addition,

five Su-27SMs were delivered to

the Lipetsk-based Combat and

Conversion Training Centre in 2003.

Mention should be made that the

12 Su-27SM fighters under the new

contract will be brand-new aircraft,

rather than upgraded ones.

Sukhoi to deliver 64 brand-new fighters to RusAF

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m i l i t a r y a v i a t i o n | i n b r i e f

On 21 August, the airfield of the

Irkutsk Aircraft Plant of the Irkut cor-

poration saw the maiden flight of the

first Yakovlev Yak-130 combat trainer

made under the 2006 contract for 16

aircraft of the type for the Algerian Air

Force. During the 40-min. flight, the

planes’ handling performance at vari-

ous speeds and altitudes, manoeuvra-

bility, stability, controllability, power-

plant and key avionics were checked

out. Test pilots Roman Taskayev and

Sergey Mikhailyuk praised the first

Yak-130 built in Irkutsk, having noted,

“All systems performed well during

the flight”.

Digital technologies were used

throughout the development and

productionising of the Yak-130 made

by the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant (its

developer Yakovlev design bureau is

part of Irkut Corp. too). This allowed

a drop in labour intensiveness and

production cycle, a rise in quality

and the development of up-to-date

facilities for large-scale production

of the aircraft that is new to the

plant.

At a news conference during the

MAKS 2009 air show, Irkut President

Oleg Demchenko said that eight

more Yak-130s were slated for pro-

duction and preparation for delivery

by the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant. He also

said that the Yak-130 had completed

the first stage of its official trials

with the baseline weapons fit in April

this year, and its expanded weapons

fit trials were expected to wrap up

before year-end.

As was reported by Take-off,

the first production-standard

Yak-130 ordered by the Russian Air

Force flew its first flight in Nizhny

Novgorod on 19 May this year. In

August, it was delivered, and the

Air Force displayed it, serialled 90,

at its static exposition at MAKS

2009 in Zhukovsky, while the first

preproduction Yak-130 performed

in the flight programme of the show,

having been furnished the so-called

‘English cockpit’, the export variant

of the information display system.

According to Sokol plant

Director General Alexander

Karezin, the company this year is

to manufacture four Yak-130s for

RusAF. As of August, the second

production aircraft was rolled out,

the third one was being assem-

bled and the fourth one was to

be brought to the assembly shop

by early September. The remain-

ing eight aircraft awarded by the

Defence Ministry under the current

12-plane contract are to be made

and delivered prior to the end of

2010.

Thus, this year has been a mile-

stone for the Yak-130 programme.

The fisrt production-standard air-

craft for the domestic and foreign

customers have flown, with the two

manufacturers to make about 10

production aircraft before year-end.

As is known, RusAF plans to order

an additional batch of Yak-130s, but

it remains to be seen so far where

they are to be made – in Nizhny

Novgorod or in Irkutsk. According

to Alexander Karezin, a tender

could be issued to decide on that.

As for the feasibility of more for-

eign orders now being negotiated,

Irkut will handle them.

The first Irkut-built Yak-130 has flown

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MiG-29K back on deck!

In later September, the MiG Corporation conducted successful flight trials of the advanced MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB multirole

carrierborne fighters ordered by the Indian Navy (IN). The trials took place on board the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft-carrying

cruiser of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy. The first deck landing on the Admiral Kuznetsov in the Barents Sea was

conducted on 28 September by MiG Corp. chief test pilot Pavel Vlasov flying the MiG-29K prototype serialled 941. MiG Corp. test

pilots Nikolay Diorditsa and Mikhail Belyayev followed him on the production MiG-29KUB twinseater painted in the customer’s

colour scheme. In the course of two days, both aircraft performed several takeoffs and deck landings that proved the feasibility

of safe operation of advanced fighters from aircraft carriers. Interestingly, the MiG-29K/KUB’s flight tests on board the Admiral

Kuznetsov had taken place on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the first deck landings of Russia’s fourth-generation supersonic

fighters and had become a kind of MiGs’ comeback to the deck. On 1 November 1989, a prototype MiG-29K of the previous

model touched down on and then took off from this ship that was designated as Tbilisi at the time. Several more series of tests

were conducted over several years afterwards, but for a number of reasons a decision was taken to have the Sukhoi Su-33

(Su-27K) shipborne fighter enter inventory of the Russian Navy’s air arm. History has made another twist, and now advanced

MiG-29K/KUB being in full-rate production for a foreign customer could be used by the Russian Navy in the near future.




That the advanced MiG-29K/KUB carri-

erborne fighters were to perform a series of

test flights on board the Admiral Kuznetsov

became known soon after the carrier returned

from its Mediterranean cruise in March and

commenced long-term maintenance. To test

advanced MiGs on deck and train the pilots of

the 279th shipborne fighter air regiment of the

Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, who have

not flown their Su-33s and Su-25UTGs from

the carrier in 2009 and unable to hone their

flying skills at the Nitka training facility in the

Crimea, a decision was taken to suspend the

Admiral Kuznetsov’s maintenance for a while,

so she sailed to the Barents Sea in September.

In later September, two brand-new carri-

erborne MiGs flew to Severomorsk from the

Moscow Region – these were the MiG-29K

single-seat prototype serialled 941 and the

production-standard MiG-29KUB twinseater

serialled 672 already painted in the Indian Navy

colour scheme. The two were crewed by MiG

Corp.’s test pilots Pavel Vlasov (MiG Corp. dep-

uty Director General for flight operations, chief

Traditional throwing a pilot into the air after

his first deck landing, 28 September 2009.

Five minutes ago, Pavel Vlasov landed his

MiG-29K on deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov

for the first time…

…and only two hours later, he is taxiing to the

launching position for the first take-off from

the ship

Andrey FOMIN

Photos by Eduard Chalenko

w w w . t a ke - o f f . r u18 take-off december 2009

of the Fedotov Flight Test Centre, chief test pilot

of MiG Corp.), Nikolay Diorditsa and Mikhail

Belyayev. The former two had had an experi-

ence in operating from deck: Merited Test Pilot,

Hero of Russia Pavel Vlasov participated in the

tests of the MiG-29K prototypes in the early

‘90s, and Merited Test Pilot, Hero of Russia

Nikolay Diorditsa as a military test pilot with

the Defence Ministry’s Flight Test Centre was

heavily involved in the official and special trials

of the Su-33 and Su-25UTG on the Admiral

Kuznetsov. Having gotten out of uniform as

colonel, he has been working as test pilot for

MiG Corp.’s Fedotov Flight Test Centre since

2003. Test Pilot 1st Class Mikhail Belyayev is a

leading Fedotov Flight Test Centre test pilot on

the MiG-29K/KUB and MiG-35 programmes.

He also learnt supermanoeuvrable piloting on

the MiG-29M OVT No. 156.

In addition to the three MiG Corp. pilots,

the MiG-29K/KUB test flight programme on

board the Admiral Kuznetsov involved Defence

Ministry’s Chkalov Flight Test Centre mili-

tary test pilot Col. Oleg Spichka, who used to

fly Su-33s and Su-25UTGs from the Admiral

Kuznetsov and Nitka.

Late in September, the advanced MiGs start-

ed taking off from the Severomorsk-3 air base

and flying around the Admiral Kuznetsov in the

Barents Sea, gradually reducing the altitude of

their flypasts over her deck and finally starting

doing touch-and-go. The trial flights demon-

strated the preparedness of the planes and pilots

to land on deck.

The first deck landing in the trials was per-

formed by MiG Corp. chief test pilot Pavel

Vlasov on his MiG-29K side number 941 at

11.47 on 28 September. He was followed by

Nikolay Diorditsa and Mikhail Belyayev on

their MiG-29KUB (No. 672) twinseater less

than half an hour later. The fighters taxied to the

prelaunch area at the stern of the carrier to gear

up for another sortie, and Vlasov launched his

MiG-29K off deck for the second time less than

two hours later, at 13.57. Then, Diorditsa and

Belyayev took off on their MiG-29KUB. The

crews remained overnight at the Severomorsk-3

air base, resuming operations from the carrier on

the next day. Vlasov again brought his MiG-29K

on deck at about 13.00 on 29 September. The

hook of Diorditsa and Belyayev’s twinseater

snagged the arrestor line about half an hour later.

Soon, both fighters left the Admiral Kuznetsov

again, with the singleseater taking off at about

14.00 followed by the twinseater an hour later.

The advanced MiG fighters’ flight-test pro-

gramme on board the Admiral Kuznetsov

through-deck cruiser, observed on deck by MiG

Corp. Director General Mikhail Pogosyan and

representatives of the Indian Navy and Russian

Defence Ministry, was pronounced a success.

According to Mikhail Pogosyan, the flight tri-

als of the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB on board

the Admiral Kuznetsov have crowned Russia’s

endeavour to develop a sophisticated carrierborne

fighter. He thanked the pilots for the great job

done and emphasised that carrier operations

required top-notch flying skills. The MiG Corp.

leader said he was certain that the successful

carrier trials would facilitate the progress of the

MiG-29K/KUB programme in India and a

keener interest of other foreign customers in

advanced aircraft from MiG Corp. He also was

certain that the MiG-29K/KUB would come in

handy to the Russian Armed Forces as well.

MiG Corp.’s aircraft plant in the town

of Lukhovitsy is completing several produc-

tion-standard MiG-29K/KUBs as part of the

first 16-ship batch ordered by the Indian Navy

in January 2004. The first group of Indian naval

pilots started their conversion training, using the

first four of the fighters as far back as last year,

with the first MiG-29K/KUBs expected to be

headed for India before year-end. MiG Corp.

is intent on delivering the last of the 16 aircraft

(12 singleseaters and four twinseaters) in 2010.

However, this, most probably, will not be the end

of it. The Times of India reported on 4 October

While the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB fighters, which have just

landed on deck, are being maintained at the maintenance area, the

military pilots form Severomorsk are using the lull in the test flights:

the final approach of the Su-25UTG, on which pilots with the 279th

shipborne fighter air regiment are training

Capt. 1st Rank Vyacheslav Rodionov, commanding officer of the

Admiral Kuznetsov through-deck cruiser, is giving MiG Corp. test

pilots Nikolay Diorditsa, Pavel Vlasov and Mikhail Belyayev (left

to right) diplomas for their first deck landings




that the Indian Defence Ministry was about

to submit a proposal to the government for

buying a second batch of 29 MiG-29K/KUBs

that are options under the 2004 contract.

The daily estimates the value of the deal at

$1.12 billion. The Indian Defence Ministry

was prompted to take the decision by the

successful MiG-29K/KUB trials on board the

Admiral Kuznetsov, which proved the advanced

fighters to be fit for operating from ski-jump

ramp-equipped aircraft carriers. It is this kind

of the carrier that the Admiral Gorshkov

through-deck cruiser will become after its

Indian Navy-ordered upgrade and modification

in Severomorsk has been complete.

A pending decision by the Russian

Defence Ministry on buying over two dozen

MiG-29K/KUB aircraft for the Admiral

Kuznetsov’s air regiment now operating only

Su-33s as part of its fighter component is to

be just as important to the MiG corporation.

The RIA Novosti news agency reported on 30

September, citing its sources in the Defence

Ministry and defence industry, “The Russian

Defence Ministry is going to buy 26 MiG-29K

carrierborne fighters for the Russian Navy until

year-end 2011”. Developed on order from the

Indian Navy and produced by MiG Corp., the

MiG-29K/KUB are superior to the current

Su-33 operated by the 279th shipborne fighter

air regiment in terms of the weapon system and

carry a far wider range of precision guided muni-

tions. At the same time, for entering service with

the Russian Navy, the shipborne MiGs will

have, probably, to undergo some modifications

due to a number of foreign-made systems on

board the current MiG-29K/KUB. Apparently,

some of them will have to be replaced with

domestic analogues so that the Russian military

buy the planes.

The possibility of fielding the

MiG-29K/KUB with the Russian Navy’s air

arm does not mean, however, that they will

oust the current Su-33 carrierborne fighters

completely. During 1992–96, KnAAPO built

and delivered to the Navy a total of 26 produc-

tion aircraft of the type, most of which remains

in service by means of regular maintenance

and repair. The intent of the Russian Defence

Ministry to retain the Su-33 in its inventory for

years to come is proven, among other things,

by the requests for overhaul and upgrade of six

Su-33s and 12 engines for them in 2009–10.

The requests were published on the Russian

government’s Web site (www.zakupki.gov.ru)

in October. They provide for “extending the

assigned characteristics of the service life of

the Su-33 aircraft and their components to 700

flying hours or 1,500 landings, the time before

the first overhaul – to 16 years and the assigned

life – to 26 years”. This means that the Su-33s

will be able to remain in service until 2018–22.

Hence, in the medium term, the shipborne

fighter fleet of the Russian Navy, probably, will

consist of two aircraft types – the Su-33 and

MiG-29K/KUB.

MiG Corp. Director General Mikhail Pogosyan

(centre) and test pilots Nikolay Diorditsa

and Mikhail Belyayev following another deck

landing of the MiG-29KUB on the Admiral

Kuznetsov on 29 September 2009

The MiG-29K is unfolding its wing at the

launching area. Two minutes later, Pavel

Vlasov will take off from the Admiral

Kuznetsov’s deck for the first time.

28 September 2009

Nikolay Diorditsa and Mikhail Belyayev are

taking off on their MiG-29KUB on another test

flight from the ski-jump ramp

of the Admiral Kuznetsov


c i v i l a v i a t i o n | i n b r i e f

20

The first production-standard

Antonov An-148-100B regional air-

liner built by Voronezh-based VASO

plant was handed over to the cus-

tomer in a ceremony at the factory

airfield on 1 October. VASO had made

the airliner ordered by the Ilyushin

Finance Co. (IFC) leasing company for

the Rossiya air company.

Aircraft RA-61701 (c/n 40-03) com-

pleted its maiden flight in Voronezh on

19 July this year and was demon-

strated at the MAKS 2009 air show in

August. Its handover to the customer

had been preceded by its certification

and acceptance tests completed in

September.

The acceptance report was signed by

VASO Director General Vitaly Zubarev,

IFC Director General Alexander Rubtsov

and Rossiya Director General Roman

Pakhomov. The ceremony was attend-

ed by Deputy Prime Minister Sergey

Ivanov, Voronezh Region Governor

Alexey Gordeyev and UAC President

Alexey Fyodorov.

Addressing the crowd, Vice-Premier

Sergey Ivanov called the delivery of

the first production An-148 “a mile-

stone for the Russian aircraft indus-

try”, stressing that the airliner was the

first production regional passenger

aircraft delivered over the past decade

and a half. “Come to think of it”,

Ivanov told the attendees, “We have

not built aircraft like that in series for

as many as 15 years! Finally, the situ-

ation has changed. The first aircraft

like that goes to a major Russian

airline, Rossiya”.

He also called the An-148 pro-

gramme a good example of the

Russian-Ukrainian cooperation, “The

aircraft is assembled here, in Russia,

but individual units and components,

including engines and the wing box,

are made by Ukrainian suppliers. As

you can see, the Ukrainian-Russian

cooperation works despite the known

tension in our bilateral relations. When

there is much to gain, when every-

thing is well substantiated, everything

turns out right. It is this way that

everything has turned out this time”,

the vice-premier concluded.

According to Rossiya Director

General Roman Pakhomov, the car-

rier will be able to start operating the

An-148 soon. “The first commercial

flight is slated for year-end”, the

Rossiya Director General said, not-

ing that the aircraft would, probably,

start flying on the St. Petersburg –

Moscow service and then would

begin to explore other operations

served by the airline. The first group

of Rossiya aircrews has converted

to the new aircraft type in Ukraine,

at the facilities of the Aerosvit airline

that was the first CIS carrier to launch

scheduled commercial operations of

the An-148. Rossiya’s ground crews

are being trained both in Ukraine and

in the Russian city of Voronezh. The

IFC-Technic company will provide

operational support of the An-148

for Rossiya.

As of the handover of the first

Russian-built An-148, there were

two more airliners in various degrees

of completeness, sitting in VASO’s

assembly shop. The second pro-

duction An-148, already painted in

the customer’s colour scheme and

given registration number RA-61702,

is slated for delivery in November.

The third production An-148 is to be

completed by the end of the year.

Further down the road, VASO is going

to keep on increasing the An-148’s

output to churn out 36 units per

annum starting from 2013. To date,

the manufacturer has landed 56 firm

orders for Russian-made An-148s,

with 54 options.

First Russian-built An-148 delivered

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No doubt, the advanced Sukhoi

SuperJet 100 regional airliner was

the key attention grabber at the

MAKS 2009 air show in August. Its

second flying prototype (c/n 95003),

which has been undergoing tests

since last December, flew daily as

part of the flight demonstration pro-

gramme, while the third flying pro-

totype (c/n 95004), which first flew

in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on 25 July

2009 and had its passenger cabin

fitted after its arrival to Zhukovsky in

the run-up to MAKS 2009, had been

shown as a static display for the first

three days of the show.

According to Sukhoi Director

General Mikhail Pogosyan, the com-

pany’s civil aviation priority is the

speedy completion of the bulk of

the SSJ100’s certification tests and

preparation of the early produc-

tion-standard aircraft for delivery to

the launch customers. The customers’

air and ground crews began to train

for operation of the advanced aircraft

in October. By late this year, Sukhoi

Civil Aircraft (SCAC) plans to land 150

firm orders for the airliner. Next year,

the company is to have an output of

15–20 aircraft a year, 30–40 units

a year in 2011 and as many as 50

aircraft in 2012. According to Mikhail

Pogosyan, Sukhoi’s production facili-

ties allow an output of up to 70 units

per annum in the future.

During the show, Sukhoi and

VEB-Leasing signed an agreement on

financing the delivery of the first ten

Sukhoi SuperJet 100s to Aeroflot. An

agreement for two aircraft also was

made among Sukhoi Civil Aircraft,

the FLC leasing company (it became

the SuperJet’s launch customer but

would not name the end users for a

long time) and Yakutia airline.

The certification trials of the

SuperJet are in full swing. Soon after

MAKS 2009, on 10 September, the

aircraft c/n 95003 was headed for

Armenia for its takeoff/landing tests

and in mountainous terrain. It was

to be based at Shirak airport in the

city of Gyumri (over 1,500 m above

sea level). The tests are especially

important because Armenian airline

Armavia is to become one of the

two SuperJet launch customers in the

near future. Situated in mountainous

terrain, Shirak international airport

operates in support of Armenia’s sec-

ond-largest city, Gyumri. Built in 1961,

it was upgraded in 2007 and issued an

ICAO 1st Class Certificate. Its feature

is that it is virtually surrounded by

mountains; hence, takeoff and landing

approach are possible from the south

only. The runway measures 3,200 m

long and 45 m wide.

The certification trials in Armenia,

which were wrapped up on 21

September when SSJ100 c/n 95003

got back to Zhukovsky, comprised

long flights and go-arounds on a

single engine, with most of the

takeoffs including simulated failure

of an engine, including doing so

with the maximum takeoff weight.

During the flight trials at Shirak

airport, the SuperJet proved the

manufacturer’s performance ratings

and displayed the compliance of

all systems subject to high-altitude

certification. The certification pro-

gramme in Armenia was flown by

SCAC’s senior test pilot Alexander

Yablontsev and test pilot Vadim

Shirokikh and IAC Aircraft Registry’s

test pilot Mikhail Torokhov.

Sukhoi SuperJet seeking type certificate

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22

During the MAKS 2009 air

show, the Ilyushin Finance Co.

leasing company signed contracts

and agreements on delivery of

26 more medium-haul passenger

and cargo aircraft of the Tupolev

Tu-204 family to domestic and for-

eign customers. The largest firm

contract was signed by IFC and the

Atlant-Soyuz airline on 20 August

for 15 Tu-204SM upgraded airlin-

ers to be delivered in 2011–12.

Under the contract, the first eight

aircraft are to be delivered in 2011,

with the remaining seven to fol-

low suit a year later. The contract

became a logical extension of the

agreement IFC and Atlant-Soyuz

had gone into at the Le Bourget air

show in June.

IFC awarded another firm

Tu-204 contract to the Aviastar-TU

airline in Ulyanovsk. The contract

provides for delivery of two new

Tu-204C (Tu-204-100C) freight-

ers with a carrying capacity of 30

t during November and December

this year under a 15-year finan-

cial leasing agreement. The two

aircraft, RA-64051 and 64052,

used to be designed for the

Air Bridge Cargo air company

(a member of the Volga-Dnepr

group) that decided to go back

on the June 2007 deal due to a

change to its plans. The Aviastar

plant in Ulyanovsk completed the

first aircraft this summer. It flew

its maiden mission on 9 August

while the second aircraft hav-

ing completed its first flight on

29 October. Aviastar-TU carrier

now has three Tu-204C freighters

(RA-64021, 64024, 64032) built

in 2000–03 and two Tu-204-100

airliners (RA-64011, 64017) made

in 1993 and 1996.

IFC has clinched two more

Tu-204 deals with foreign cus-

tomers. On 20 August, it signed

a pre-contractual agreement with

Brazilian upstart Clean Air plan-

ning to launch its operations

in December 2009. Under the

agreement, Clean Air is to take

delivery of four Tu-204SM airlin-

ers and two Tu-204SMC freight-

ers. On the same day, IFC signed

an agreement for two similar

freighters with one option with

Ecuadorean company Icaro that,

too, ordered two An-148-100s

from IFC.

There is also information on

IFC’s Web site that the com-

pany intends to deliver in 2010

a Tu-204-100B to North Korean

carrier Air Koryo that has been

operating the Tu-204-300 airliner

since 2007. The aircraft will be

remanufactured from the Tu-204

(RA-64013) built in 1993 and long

stored by Aviastar.

According to Aviastar-SP

Director General Mikhail

Shushpanov, the company is to

deliver another four aircraft of

the Tu-204 family this year. The

two freighters earmarked for the

Aviastar-TU airline were described

previously. Another aircraft is the

Tu-204-100B airliner (RA-64048)

built in May, supposed to become

the sixth and last plane in the batch

ordered by the Red Wings air car-

rier and given an original orange

advertising colour scheme of the

Coral Travel company. However,

it has become known recently that

Red Wings will not accept the

aircraft, and, according to Mikhail

Shushpanov, the manufacturer

is looking for a new buyer. So

far, a decision has been taken to

use RA-64048 as a flying testbed

during the trials of the advanced

PS-90A2 engine designed to

power production-standard

Tu-204SM. The prototype engine

was mounted on the wing of the

airliner in September. When the

tests are over in November, the

Tu-204-100B (RA-64048) is to be

delivered to a new customer.

Finally, the fourth Tu-204 to

enter service before year-end will

be the VIP-version Tu-204-300A

(RA-64010) derived by Aviastar

from a 1993-built Tu-204 on

order from the Tupolev joint stock

company for VTB-Leasing. It con-

ducted its first flight in its new

capacity on 13 August 2009, mak-

ing its debut at MAKS 2009 (see

the photo). As far as Take-off’s

editorial office knows, two more

Tu-204-300As in this variant

(RA-64055 and RA-64057) are to

be built in Ulyanovsk in 2010 for

the Rossiya governmental special

air detachment.

Under the Tu-204 programme,

Aviastar in the near future will

focus on productionising the heav-

ily upgraded Tu-204SM. The first

prototype is to start its trials in

April 2010. The Tu-204SM trials

may also involve the Tu-204-100B

(RA-64053) that is being assem-

bled. The first production-stand-

ard Tu-204SMs are to be made

by the end of 2010 for the launch

customer, Iran Airtour, which

placed five firm orders. Deliveries

to other air companies, including

Atlant-Soyuz, will follow then.

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IFC sells 26 more Tu-204s



In addition to the delivery of the

first An-148 regional airliner to

the Rossiya airline, VASO handed

over the second Ilyushin Il-96-400T

wide-body freighter (RA-96102)

to the Polyot air company in a

ceremony on 1 October. VASO

Director General Vitaly Zubarev, IFC

Director General Alexander Rubtsov

and Polyot Deputy Director General

Alexander Karpov signed the accept-

ance report.

As is known, Polyot took deliv-

ery of the first Il-96-400T serialled

RA-96101 on 23 April this year,

with the plane starting regular

commercial operations in Russia

and abroad on 27 September. On

19 October, the carrier’s com-

menced the acceptance of the third

Il-96-400T (RA-96103) built by

VASO this summer. It is expected to

enter the carrier’s fleet soon. In the

future, Polyot could use its option

for three more aircraft of the type.

The final assembly of the fourth

production-standard Il-96-400T

(RA-96104) is underway.

Polyot receives new Il-96-400Ts

On 2 October, the airfield of

Kazan-based KAPO plant hosted

the ceremony of handover to the

Transaero airline of the third Tupolev

Tu-214 (RA-64518) airliner built

under the contract between KAPO

and the Financial Leasing Company

for five airliners of the type. The

aircraft flew its maiden flight on 5

August this year. Like the rest of the

Tu-214s designed for the carrier, it

has the two-class 184-seat layout

(eight business-class seats and 176

economy-class ones).

As is known, Transaero received

its first Tu-214 serialled RA-64509

in April 2007 and the second one,

RA-64549, in November 2008. “The

company has proved that it can

operate aircraft of the type with

success on domestic and inter-

national services”, said Transaero

Director General Olga Pleshakova in

connection with the delivery of the

third Tu-214. “To do so, we have

skilled personnel and an adequate

route network. We have always

been satisfied with the reliability

of the aircraft. Over the two years

and a half that they have been part

of our fleet, Transaero has had no

problems with flight operation of

their PS-90A engines. The company

is ready to complete its side of the

deal for ten Tu-214s and is doing its

utmost to this end”.

In addition to the three Tu-214s,

Transaero’s aircraft fleet comprises

45 Boeing planes – two 777s, 11 –

767s, 13 – 747s and 19 – 737s.

Transaero flies three Tu-214s

In mid-October, the Yakutia airline

started regular passenger services

using the new 52-seat An-140-100

(RA-41252) regional turboprop air-

liner built by the Aviakor plant in

Samara this summer. The aircraft

was first shown at the MAKS 2009

air show in August. Soon after the

show and the airliner’s return to

Samara, Yakutia’s personnel started

acceptance of the new aircraft that

was ferried to the city of Yakutsk

on 27 September, and in October

flew its first passenger flight from

Yakutsk to Khabarovsk.

Yakutia launched the opera-

tion of its first An-140 serialled

RA-41250 in September 2006. In

December 2007, it started oper-

ating the upgraded An-140-100

(RA-41251) featuring a wider

wingspan and an improved design

of the engine nacelles housing

TV3-117VMA-SBM1 engines. The

Yakutia air company is the first and

the only Russian user of regional air-

liners of the type. The three An-140s

in its aircraft fleet were delivered

under a contract it made with the

Financial Leasing Company (FLC).

At present, talks are underway with

the Russian Machines corporation,

Aviakor plant, Vensheconombank

and VEB-Leasing company on deliv-

ering four more An-140-100s to the

carrier.

“With an increase in the

number of aircraft of the type,

we will increase the number of

flights to Khabarovsk, Magadan,

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and

other cities and will step up the air

services between the Far Eastern

Federal District and other parts of

the Russian Federation”, Yakutia

Director General Ivan Prostit said on

connection with the delivery of the

third An-140.

Yakutia started operating its third An-140

Vla

dim

ir K

arn

ozo

v /

UA

C

And

rey P

echenkin

Yury

Ka

bern

ik


The MC-21 short- and medium-haul air-

liner family comprises the baseline models –

the MC-21-200, MC-21-300 and MC-21-400

with seating capacities of 150, 181 and 212 in

the single-class layout (see the table). Each

of the baseline models is to have a number

of variants differing in range. The baseline

models will have the 5,000–5,500-km range,

but provision was made for extended-range

(ER) versions and, as far as the MC-21-200

model is concerned, a long-range (LR) vari-

ant. The MC-21-200 prototype is slated for its

maiden flight in 2014, and the completion of

the certification tests and kickoff of deliveries

for 2016.

The MC-21 programme, jointly promoted

by the Yakovlev design bureau and Ilyushin

aviation complex, won in 2003 the ten-

der issued by the Russian authorities for

developing an advanced short- and medi-

um-haul passenger aircraft designed to oust

the Tu-154M fleet gradually and put up stiff

competition to the Boeing 737 and A320 that

have been increasingly demanded by Russian

air carriers. The financing of the MC-21’s

conceptual designing began in 2005. By

then, the prime developer, Yakovlev, joined

the Irkut scientific and production corpora-

tion (the official acquisition of Yakovlev took

place in April 2004).

Two years later, Ilyushin pulled out of the

programme, having focussed on transport air-

craft development, with Irkut appointed prime

contractor for the MC-21 programme as part

of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) in

July 2007. Considering the importance of the

MC-21 programme to UAC, Irkut President

Oleg Demchenko, being also Yakovlev

Director General and Designer General, was

in this connection appointed UAC vice-presi-

dent for the MC-21 programme. Having ana-

lysed the results produced by the first stage of

the programme, UAC took a decision in 2003

to keep on pursuing the programme. Thus,

the MC-21 passed its first ‘gate’.

Irkutsk Aircraft Plant, Irkut Corp.’s sub-

sidiary, will handle the construction of pro-

totype and production-standard MC-21s. In

addition to prime developer Yakovlev, other

players of the aircraft industry are taking part

in designing the aircraft. For instance, Irkut’s

subsidiary Taganrog-based Beriev company

is tasked with developing the tail section

(Compartment F5), horizontal and vertical

tails, auxiliary power unit (APU) compart-

ment as well as control, air conditioning,

fire-suppressant and hydraulic systems.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft was subcontracted

to develop the composite wing. The initial

design stage (the so-called ‘second gate’)

was passed in September 2008, after which

Irkut launched the full-scale initial design

of the airliner and selection of key systems

suppliers. The third gate is to be passed,

i.e. a preliminary design is to be completed,

in December this year so as detail design

and preliminary agreements with potential

customers can commence in January 2010.

However, to do so, the developer has to com-

Once the programme on developing the advanced Sukhoi SuperJet 100 airliner

came into the straight, and the aircraft made its debut at home and abroad, design-

ers turned to another promising Russian civil aviation project – the development of

a family of MC-21 short- and medium-haul airliners. According to the developer, the

airliners will have a wide range of operation capabilities, tailored to the Russian and

foreign markets and capable of facilitating airlines’ reaching a radically new level of

economic efficiency, including doing so by slashing the direct operating costs by

15% compared the current aircraft in the same class. The MC-21 programme is at the

pre-design and key systems supplier selection stage. The results of several tenders

on selecting first-tier suppliers for the MC-21 were announced on 20 August, but the

final competitions on the powerplant, avionics and control systems have been put off

until year-end.

And

rey F

om

in

MC-21 programme engine makers go around

c i v i l a v i a t i o n | p r o j e c t

c i v i l a v i a t i o n | p r o j e c t


plete the tenders

on first-tier subcontractors

for 14 systems, in the first place, of which

the key one is, probably, the powerplant. At

the Paris air show earlier this year, UAC chief

Alexey Fyodorov said the results produced

by the tenders on the systems in question

would be summed up before MAKS 2009 and

announced during the same show.

The miracle did not happen. Actually,

it proved to be incomplete: the finalists in

three tenders (including a key one dedicated

to the powerplant) were not selected. The

engine makers were told to go around: the

tender committee led by Oleg Demchenko

and set up by UAC’s management failed to

select the acceptable powerplant variant at

the first push and left two contenders, Pratt

& Whitney and Rolls Royce, on the short-

list. The decision may surprise the outsiders

who may wonder, “What about the domestic

programme on the advanced engine family

developed in Perm, which was designed for

the MC-21 from the outset”? We are hasten-

ing to calm the pro-

ponents of domestic

designs down: the

Russian variant of

the future powerplant,

which prime developer

is the United Engine

Corporation (UEC) and

specifically its subsidiary

Perm Motors, is in a class

by itself and will get the

right to power the MC-21

once it has been completed

and if customers want it.

In this connection, Irkut President

Demchenko told a news conference at

MAKS 2009 that UAC’s development of the

future PD-14 engine (part of the “Future

9–18-tonne thrust engine family” being

developed by Perm engine makers) is not

linked specifically to the MC-21 as such,

with the engine being developed as part

of the federal programme on developing

the engine industry in Russia. According

to Demchenko, if the engine has been

developed and has shown acceptable char-

acteristics and there have been customers

preferring it by the time the MC-21 hits the

market, the advanced Russian engine will be

installed on the MC-21 as well.

Vladimir SHCHERBAKOV

Andrey FOMIN

MC-21 basic design dataMC-21-200 MC-21-300 MC-21-400

Seating capacity (singe-class layout, 812 mm/32 inch pitch) 150 181 212

Seating capacity (tighter singe-class layout, 736 mm/29-30 inch pitch) 162 198 230

Thrust, t 2x12.5 2х14 2х15.6

Length, m 35.9 41.5 46.7

Wingspan, m 35.9 35.9 36.8

Height, m 11.4 11.5 12.7

Maximum takeoff weight, t 67.6 76.18 87.23

Maximum cruising speed, km/h (Mach) 850 (0.8)

Maximum ceiling, m 12,000

Range with max seating capacity, km 5,000 5,000 5,500

11 subcontractors of the MC-21

On 20 August 2009, Irkut announced that it had

selected first-tier suppliers of 11 key systems of

the MC-21, while the powerplant, avionics and

integrated flight control system tenders would

continue. The winners of the completed tenders

were as follows:

- landing gear – the Gydromash JSC, Nizhny

Novgorod, Russia;

- APU – Hamilton Sundstrand, USA;

- integrated air conditioning system – Nauka

scientific and technical association, Moscow,

Russia, in cooperation with Hamilton Sundstrand

and the Hamilton Sundstrand/Nauka joint ven-

ture;

- electrical system – ECE, Zodiac Aerospace

Corporation, France, in cooperation with

Hamilton Sundstrand, USA;

- interior layout – C&D, Zodiac Aerospace,

USA;

- fuel system – Intertechnique, Zodiac

Aerospace, France

- oxygen generation system – Intertechnique,

Zodiac Aerospace, France;

- inert gas system – Intertechnique, Zodiac

Aerospace, France, in cooperation with Hamilton

Sundstrand, USA;

- fire suppressant system - L’Hotellier, France,

Kidd Technologies corporation, in cooperation

with Hamilton Sundstrand, USA;

- hydraulic system – Eaton corporation, United

States, that will order over 50% of hydraulic

system parts and units from Russia manufac-

turers Voskhod, Teploobmennik, Znamya and

Tekhpribor;

- wing anti-icing system – Hamilton Sundstrand,

USA.


i n d u s t r y | i n b r i e f

26

On 28 September, the European

Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

certificated Kamov Ka-32A11BC

all-weather multi-purpose transport

helicopter for operation in the EU,

having issued it with Type Certificate

EASA.IM.R.133. The certificate

allows commercial operation of the

Russian machine by any EU user.

Until the EASA granted its cer-

tificate, EU members had used

several Ka-32A11BCs on a limited

scale under Specific Airworthiness

Specifications only to handle

some peculiar jobs, e.g. firefight-

ing and assembly of high-voltage

power lines in mountainous terrain,

doing so in support of governmen-

tal agencies only. Type Certificate

EASA.IM.R.133 opens access to

the EU skies for the Ka-32A11BC,

removing any restrictions on its

commercial operation by private EU

users.

The Ka-32A11BC was derived

by the Kamov company from

the Ka-32A model certificated in

Russia in 1993 in line with the

requirements of Canadian province

British Columbia (hence the letters

BC in its designation) and was

issued a FAR29 type certificate

by Canada. The Kumertau Aircraft

Production Company (KumAPP)

launched its production for export.

Like Kamov, KumAPP is part of

the helicopter-making holding

company managed by the Russian

Helicopters joint stock company, a

subsidiary of Oboronprom Corp.

Featuring the typical Kamov

coaxial-rotor configuration, the

Ka-32A11BC has a number of con-

siderable advantages over single-ro-

tor machines on special mission

under difficult conditions, but also is

well fit for such routine, as passen-

ger and cargo hauling, patrolling,

search and rescue (SAR) opera-

tions, etc.

“Russian-built helicopters show

up in the skies of united Europe

regularly, but their use is restricted

by EU aviation laws, which ham-

pers the Russian Helicopters sales

growth on the European Union mar-

ket”, says Russian Helicopter of

Director General Andrey Shibitov.

“The EASA certificate for the

Ka-32A11BC opens bright vistas for

the advanced helicopter that has

proven its worth in many EU coun-

tries. Russian Helicopters JSC wel-

comes EASA’s decision and hope

for the agency to do the same as to

other Russian-made helicopters are

concerned”.

Today Ka-32 helicopters

are operated by Spain (ten

Ka-32A11BCs), Portugal (six

Ka-32A11BCs), Switzerland (a

Ka-32A12), Canada, South Korea,

Chile, Mexico, Japan, China,

Papua – New Guinea, etc. South

Korea’s Ka-32 fleet exceeds

60 machines used with success

both by the foresters to suppress

forest fires and by the South

Korean police and naval air arm.

In all, over 160 production-stand-

ard Ka-32s in various versions

have been made (let alone the

numerous military derivatives,

e.g. the Ka-27, Ka-29, Ka-31,

etc.) and operated proactively in

Russia and all over the world.

Ka-32 certificated in EU

Ale

xey M

ikheyev

Ka

mo

v

On 20 August, the MAKS 2009 air

show saw the signing by Russian

Helicopters and Turbomeca a mem-

orandum on deliveries of engines

to equip the first Russian-built

turbine-powered light helicopter,

the Mil Mi-34S2 Sapsan, which

is a heavily upgraded derivative

of the Mi-34 light piston-engined

helicopter that used to be built by

the Progress plant in the town of

Arsenyev.

The document was signed

by Russian Helicopters Director

General Andrey Shibitov and

Turbomeca Vice-President Maxime

Faribault. The memorandum gov-

erns the deliveries of Arrius 2F

engines to fit the Mi-34’s advanced

gas-turbine derivative for five

years to come.

The Sapsan helicopter became

the centrepiece of the pavilion

exposition of Russian Helicopters

at MAKS 2009. The emergence of

the Sapsan reflects the policies

of the Russian helicopter holding

company, aimed at diversifying its

product range in line with market

requirements.

New Mi-34 versions are being

developed to handle corporate and

private passenger operations, ini-

tial flight training, medical evacu-

ation and terrain monitoring, the

latter ranging from environment

and oil pipeline monitoring to

policing.

Turbomeca to supply engines to fit Mi-34

Yevg

en

y Y

ero

kh

in



Another novelty of the MAKS

2009 air show in the past August

was the upgraded Kamov Ka-226T

multipurpose helicopter equipped

with Arrius 2G1 engines from

French company Turbomeca. Until

recently, the prototype and produc-

tion Ka-226s were powered by Rolls

Royce 250-C20R/2 engines. The

introduction of Arrius turboshafts

allows a hefty increase in virtually

all characteristics of helicopters of

the type, especially high-and-hot

performance and service altitude.

Preparations are underway for

the Ka-226T to enter its certifica-

tion tests slated for completion late

in 2010 so that the machine can hit

the market in 2011. The Russian

Helicopters joint stock company, an

Oboronprom subsidiary, is bidding

in the Indian Defence Ministry-issued

tender for 197 advanced light multi-

purpose helicopters.

The Ka-226T prototype shown at

MAKS 2009 was built this summer,

with its maiden flight completed in

July. Overall, three prototypes are

planned for the certification trials. As

the Take-off correspondent was told

by a source in Russian Helicopters,

the machine has achieved a flight

altitude of 7,000 m, and “the alti-

tude was not the limit, there is a

margin to take up”. Owing to the

effective rotor system and advanced

powerplant, the static ceiling has

hiked and the carrying capacity is

retained within a wider flight alti-

tude and temperature bracket. “The

helicopter will become especially

appealing to the states operating

rotary-wing aircraft in mountain-

ous terrain and in the tropics”,

the source stressed. The company

hopes that “the Indian Air Force

will turn out to be among the early

Ka-226T buyers”.

The MAKS 2009 air show saw

the debut of the Kazan Helicopters

Ansat-U trainer helicopter shown

as a static display of its launch

customer, the Russian Air Force.

The report on the Ansat-U’s offi-

cial trials completion and the reso-

lution on launching its full-scale

production by Kazan Helicopters

were signed on 26 December 2008.

Thus, the Ansat-U is to turn into

the basic trainer for Russian mili-

tary helicopter crews, ousting the

obsolete Mi-2 still used by military

flight schools.

The Ansat-U was derived in line

with the Russian Defence Ministry’s

performance specification from the

Ansat multipurpose light helicopter,

which production Kazan Helicopters

has been running for five years now.

The principal features setting the

trainer apart from its baseline model

include the twin controls and twin

instrument set, relevant modifica-

tions to the flight control system

and replacement of the skids with

wheeled landing gear.

The Ansat’s serious advantage

over many Western counterparts

lies in its two engines stepping

up its reliability and safety by far.

By the way, the Ansat-U, like its

baseline model, is powered by

Canadian-made PW-207K tur-

boshaft engines, and the Russian

Defence Ministry does not mind,

because, unfortunately, there is no

production-standard analogue to

the PW-207K in Russia yet. Klimov

is still developing the VK-800 tur-

boshaft, while adapting it to the

Ansat will call for modifications to

the powertrain, rotor system and

flight control system.

To date, Kazan Helicopters have

made over 15 production Ansats in

addition to the six prototypes. An

Ansat-U prototype commenced the

trials in April 2004. Its official test

programme began in the Defence

Ministry’s State Flight Test Centre

in October 2006 and was com-

pleted on 25 November last year.

The acceptance report and decision

on having Kazan Helicopters launch

the production of the Ansat-U paved

the way to service entry for the air-

craft. As was repeatedly reported

in the press, the plant has landed

a launch order for 12 Ansat-Us.

Six of them are expected to enter

service with the Russian Air Force

this year.

Ansat-U expected by the military

Ka-226T gearing up for certification

An

dre

y F

om

in

And

rey F

om

in



28

On 18 August during the MAKS

2009 air show, there was the sign-

ing of the Protocol on Amending the

24 June 1993 Agreement between

the Government of the Russian

Federation and the Government of

Ukraine on further cooperation in the

development, joint production and

selling of the Antonov An-70 mili-

tary airlifter and An-70T commercial

transport aircraft powered by D-27

engines. Thus, Russia is resuming its

participation in the An-70 programme

following a six-year interruption.

Russian Defence Minister

A.E. Serdyukov and Ukrainian Acting

Defence Minister V.V. Ivashchenko

signed the document. Under the pro-

tocol, Russia and Ukraine will contin-

ue the co-development and testing of

the D-27-powered An-70 short take-

off and landing aircraft and its ver-

sions, including its civil applications.

“The basis of the production coop-

eration under the programme will be

served by the cooperation between

the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC)

and Antonov state aircraft corpora-

tion as well as the developers and

manufacturers of components and

materials. The parties shall finance

their joint development work on

the An-70 and its derivatives from

the federal budget of the Russian

Federation and state budget of

Ukraine”, an Antonov spokesperson

said in this connection.

The An-70 prototype has arrived to

Moscow and was shown as a static

display during MAKS 2009 for the first

time since 2003 when Russia sus-

pended its participation in the An-70

test programme unilaterally, and the

then-Air Force Commander-in-Chief,

Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov, lambasted

the programme.

At present, the Aviant plant in

Kiev, a subsidiary of Antonov, is

making the first two production

An-70s ordered by the Ukrainian

Defence Ministry. If all goes to plan,

the first production-standard An-70

is to be complete in early 2011.

In addition to the signing of the

protocol of the intergovernmen-

tal agreement, MAKS 2009 saw

Antonov and Russia’s Volga-Dnepr

group go into agreement of intent

on joint promotion of the An-70T

medium freighter on the market.

Antonov Designer General Dmitry

Kiva and Volga-Dnepr President

Alexey Isaikin signed the agree-

ment.

Under the agreement, Volga-

Dnepr will order the first produc-

tion An-70T batch, with deliveries

to begin in 2013. The parties will

jointly realise their intent to use the

An-70T as part of international pro-

grammes. “Against the backdrop

of the cutthroat competition on the

European market for the medium

freighter niche contested by the

prospective A400M and upgraded

C-130J, both bolstered by their

manufacturers’ governments, the

developers, manufacturers and

users have to pool our efforts to

bring Ukrainian-Russian aircraft

An-70 to the European market and

then to the global one”, Dmitry Kiva

said in this connection.

And

rey F

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in

The first prototype of the advanced

Kamov Ka-62 transport/passen-

ger helicopter being derived from

the baseline Ka-60 multipurpose

troop carrier could be built by the

Progress aircraft plant in Arsenyev

early next year, according to the

statement by Russian Helicopters

leaders during a presentation at the

MAKS 2009 air show. NPO Saturn’s

RD-600V engines will power the

machine. The establishing of the

United Engine Corporation (UEC) as

part of Oboronprom, which subsidi-

ary Russian Helicopters is, with the

RD-600V’s developer NPO Saturn as

a member of UEC, will simplify the

debugging and productionising of

the engine by far. Therefore, a deci-

sion has been taken recently that the

RD-600V will be the principal power-

plant type for the Ka-62, while French

engine Ardiden 3G earlier planned for

this role will become optional. The

Ka-62’s certification tests are to be

completed and its production is to

begin in 2012. Russian Helicopters

estimate the market capacity for the

14-seat Ka-62 with the 6,500-kg

takeoff weight at 350 units.

Concurrently, the development of

the Ka-62’s military baseline model

goes on. Two Ka-60 prototypes are

in their factory trials and could kick

off their official test programme

late this year. The Russian Defence

Ministry’s requirement for such

machines is estimated at 300–400

units. The Ka-60’s deliveries could

start in 2011–12. The second pro-

totype in the Ka-60U trainer variant

with the twin controls was shown

as a static display during the MAKS

2009 air show.

Ka-62 on Russian Helicopters priority list

Russia and Ukraine agreed to pursue An-70 programme together

An

dre

y F

om

in



On 17 October, the first flight

of the Tupolev Tu-204-100B fly-

ing testbed took place from the

airfield of the Aviastar-SP plant in

Ulyanovsk. One of the testbed’s

PS-90A engines had been replaced

with a heavily upgraded PS-90A2

turbofan being made by the Perm

Motor Company in cooperation with

Pratt & Whitney.

The flying testbed designed for

testing the PS-90A2 is a derivative

of Tu-204-100B (RA-64048) airliner

built by Aviastar-SP in May this year

on order from Ilyushin Finance Co.

for Red Wings airline. Red Wings

planned to use the airliner for char-

ter flights to popular resorts served

by the Coral Travel company, which

logo was applied to the fuselage.

However, Red Wings changed its

mind, and the aircraft remained sit-

ting at Aviastar’s airfield. Now, a

new, unusual application has been

found for it. However, the produc-

tion PS-90A will be mounted back

on the wing of the airliner following

the PS-90A2 trials, and the plane is

expected to be ferried to a potential

foreign customer before year-end.

The first mission of the flying test-

bed took 1 h 24 min, during which

time the PS-90A2’s performance

was appraised in different modes,

including taxiing, takeoff and landing.

Overall, the certification flight test

programme on the advanced engine

provides for 25 flights. Three of them

had been logged in the first week

of the trials, on which the engine

logged about 5 h of operating time

and underwent over 10 restarts. No

criticism was offered as far as the

powerplant’s operation is concerned.

As is known, the PS-90A2 is a

heavily upgraded derivative of the

production-standard PS-90A, dif-

fering from its baseline model in a

35% drop in the life cycle cost, a

1.5–2-fold increase in reliability and

a twofold reduction in maintenance

laboriousness. Its noise and emis-

sion parameters meet the future

international standards, with the

engine remaining interchangeable

with the PS-90A. Before year-end,

the PS-90A2 is supposed to be cer-

tificated under the AP-33 rules that

are the analogue of FAR33 (U.S.)

and JAR33 (EU).

The first aircraft to be outfitted

with the upgraded engine will be the

advanced Tu-204SM medium-haul air-

liner. In November, Aviastar launched

the final assembly of its prototype

slated to enter its trials in spring 2010.

Iranian carrier Iran Airtour has placed

a firm order for five Tu-204SMs pow-

ered by PS-90A2s, with Atlant-Soyuz

having ordered 15 airliners of the

type last summer. The Tu-204SM is

expected to obtain its type certificate

in December next year, with its deliv-

eries to start in 2011.

PS-90A2 enters flight trials

On 9 October, the Oboronprom

corporation announced a major deal,

under which its subsidiary Ufa-based

Engine Production Association

(UMPO) is to deliver almost a hun-

dred advanced engines to fit the

Su-35 fighters ordered by the Russian

Air Force in August this year.

“UMPO and the Komsomolsk-

on-Amur Aircraft Production Associ-

ation (KnAAPO) made a contract

on AL-41F-1S (117S) engines for

advanced Su-35 multirole fighters”,

reads an Oboronprom press release.

“The engines are designed to power

the Su-35S aircraft intended for the

Russian Air Force. UMPO will have

made 96 engines until 2015, with

the first batch to be shipped in

2010”.

Thus, RusAF will receive thrust

control vector engines for the first

time. To date, Russian TVC engines

have powered only the aircraft

exported to India, Malaysia and

Algeria: UMPO AL-31FP engines

fit the Su-30MKI, Su-30MKM and

Su-30MKI(A) supermanoeuvrable

multirole fighters.

“The AL-41F-1S (117S) is a

Generation 4++ TVC turbofan”,

Oboronprom reports. “It was ordered

by the Sukhoi design bureau and is

being co-developed by UMPO and

Saturn. The AL-41F-1S (117S) is a

derivative of the heavily upgraded

AL-31F. Its thrust exceeds that of

the baseline model by 2 t”.

Large order for engines to power Su-35

And

rey P

ozd

eyev

Kn

AA

PO


Mr. Bely, what kind of radar system the future fighter will have?

As is known, the future fighter’s avionics

suite will be wrapped around the multifunc-

tion AESA system, which prime contrac-

tor our institute has been selected in a ten-

der. It will be a whole “system of systems”,

rather than an ordinary radar as we know it.

The system will have several active phased

arrays, including those of the X- and L-bands

(the latter ones situated in the fighter’s wing

deflecting slats).

The AESA system Tikhomirov-NIIP is

developing relies on domestic electronic com-

ponentry based on GaAs nanoheterostruc-

tures and advanced AESA technologies. Our

AESA is based on up-to-date domestical-

ly-developed hybrid integral technologies.

The work is bund to succeed owing to the

phased array radar development experience

gained by the institute over the past 40-plus

years. Suffice it to say, the institute pioneered

airborne phased-array radar as far back as the

1970s. It was integrated with the Zaslon fire

control radar system of the MiG-31 intercep-

tor fielded in 1981, with the aircraft remaining

a most effective one in its class.

What stage are the AESA’s tests at?The tests are on schedule, with the sched-

ule approved by the customer, the Sukhoi

company. As was planned, we completed the

intermediate X-band AESA lab test milestone

last November and moved it to the integrated

radar test bench. The tests of the experimen-

tal AESA radar proved our technical solu-

tions, but also revealed a number of serious

issues, which is only natural when develop-

ing cutting-edge high-tech gear. The results

of the tests are being analysed and relevant

modifications and improvements are being

introduced. The second example is being

completed at the same time. Essentially, it

will be an AESA radar prototype embodying

the improvements stemming from the tests of

the first, experimental example. The second

Tikhomirov’s AESA in trialsThe active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar being developed by the

Tikhomirov-NIIP joint stock company to fit a new-generation fighter was among

the head-turners of the MAKS 2009 air show. At the show, Tikhomirov-NIIP

unveiled a full-scale X-band AESA radar that had logged many bench tests in

laboratories. The AESA radar is expected to begin its flight tests next year. Owing

to its design commonality and technical solutions selected, it could spawn active

electronically-scanned arrays to upgrade various radars equipping the fighters of the

Su-27/Su-30 and MiG-29 families also. The Take-off editor met with Tikhomirov-NIIP

Director General Yuri Bely and asked him to tell about the AESA radar development

programme.

NIIP

i n d u s t r y | i n t e r v i e w

AESA radar is to be complete by year-end,

and the antenna itself will have been ready

even before that. Manufacture of the rest of

the components and debugging of the soft-

ware are running concurrently.

In all, several AESA prototypes are to be

manufactured for rig and flight tests under the

test programme. The AESA radar for testing

on board an aircraft is supposed to be made

by the middle of next year. In addition, flight

trials of the AESA on board a flying testbed

are being looked into.

To test and debug the X- and L-band

AESAs, the institute has established the

unique testing facilities, including top-notch

anechoic rooms.

What other companies are involved in manu-facture of the AESA?

There are rather many of them. As to the

backbone of our AESA, the monolithic-micro-

circuit transmit-receive (T-R) modules, they

have been developed and produced by the Istok

scientific and production company in Fryazino,

Moscow Region. The company has reached the

T-R output rate satisfactory to us (as is known,

there are over a thousand of them in a single

AESA), but a lot has to be done to improve their

quality and improve the modules themselves and

slash their cost. However, we are satisfied with

the way the cooperation goes on.

Our traditional partner, the State Ryazan

Instrument Plant (GRPZ), has been par-

ticipating in the programme from the outset

of the work on the AESA. Now, it runs

full-scale production of our Bars phased array

radar fitting the Su-30MKI/MKM aircraft

and is productionising the advanced Irbis-E

phased array radar designed to equip the

Su-35 fighter. By the way, under the Irbis-E,

GRPZ was not only a manufacturer, but also a

full-fledged co-developer of the system, hav-

ing designed several important radar modules,

particularly, digital computers.

The assembly, calibration and testing of all

prototype AESA radars will be handled by

Tikhomirov-NIIP so far. In the future, as the

full-scale production picks up, GRPZ will

join the programme in earnest and be the sole

manufacturer of our AESA radars.

Will your AESA be useful to other aircraft?A decision has been taken that all AESA

radars in our country designed for combat aircraft

will be based on the componentry and techno-

logical base, design and production engineering

solutions developed by our institute. It is quite

natural. Development and production of such

high-tech devices as AESAs are very expensive,

and blowing one’s mint on parallel, rival pro-

grammes is unaffordable luxury these days. The

very AESA technology allows using commonised

technical solutions to develop a wide range of

radars for use on different aircraft. Therefore,

after our AESA radar has been developed and

tested through and through, radar differing from

it in size and performance could be developed

with minimal expenditure of time and money to

fit other platforms, including ground ones.

Tikhomirov-NIIP’s AESA technology is designed not only for the domestic market, isn’t it? What are its export prospects?

Certainly. It has been announced offi-

cially that Russia and India will co-de-

velop the fifth-generation future multirole

fighter. No doubt, its fire control system

will be wrapped around AESA radar. India

has an experience in making phased array

radars, because it is productionising our Bars

radars under a licence production agree-

ment, with the radars fitting the Su-30MKI

licence-produced by Hindustan Aeronautics

Ltd. (HAL).

In addition, India is interested in intro-

ducing the AESA to the Su-30MKIs. Now,

they are devising a programme on further

modernisation of the fire control systems of

these aircraft made for the Indian Air Force.

At the first stage, the performance is to be

enhanced and new operating modes are to be

introduced while retaining the passive phased

array. At Stage 2, the Bars radar’s array of the

Indian Su-30MKIs will be replaced with the

AESA, and this is to be done in the course of

the Su-30MKI licence production in India.

This done, the earlier built aircraft could be

upgraded in the same manner.

If Russia wins the MMRCA tender, in which

it offers its advanced MiG-35 multirole fighter,

our AESA could be used on the MiG-35 too. As

a result, the Indian Air Force could get several

top-notch aircraft at once, with the aircraft hav-

ing different characteristics but common radar

systems solutions, which is very important in

terms of production and operation.

What is your opinion of your AESA com-pared with its foreign counterparts? Will it have any edge over its Western rivals?

I guess, our design will be on a par with

the best foreign analogues, surpassing them

in a number of characteristics. The keystone

to success is the wealth of experience and

the huge progress made by Tikhomirov-NIIP

gained in the electronically-scanned radar

systems field over the past four decades.

i n d u s t r y | i n t e r v i e w

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32

Under the Armament

Development Programme for

2007–15 and Advanced Air-Laun-

ched Weapons Development

Integrated Programme, the Tactical

Missiles Corporation is updat-

ing its basic product line. Part of

them is entering their final stag-

es of development. The range of

advanced air-launched weapons

offers the buyer a wide variety of

export examples in the air-to-sur-

face and air-to-air classes. They

are designed for use as part of

both advanced warplanes (Su-34,

Su-35, MiG-35, new-generation

fighter) and upgraded aircraft

already on the market (Su-30MK2,

Su-30MKI/MKM, MiG-29SMT,

etc.). The corporation unveiled a

number of its cutting-edge preci-

sion-guided weapons at the MAKS

2009 air show last August. They

included, in particular, the RVV-MD

and RVV-SD air-to-air missiles,

Kh-35UE upgraded antiship missile

and new variants of the 500-kg and

1,500-kg guided bombs.

The advanced RVV-MD and

RVV-SD have been developed by

Tactical Missiles Corp.’s subsidi-

ary, the Vympel design bureau. The

RVV-MD short-range/dogfight mis-

sile is similar to the R-73E in terms

of the aerodynamic configuration,

layout and dimensions. Its guidance

system includes a sophisticated

dual-band passive all-aspect heat-

seeker with the ±60° target designa-

tion angle. Its combined gas-dynamic

control ensures high manoeuvrabil-

ity and allows the weapon to attain

high alpha and kill targets jinking

hard with a g-load of up to 12 g. The

RVV-MD features enhanced coun-

termeasures immunity, including

one against optical countermeas-

ures, which allows its effective use

under difficult conditions, e.g. in the

look-down/shoot-down mode, from

all aspects and in the face of heavy

countermeasures.

The missile’s powerplant is a

single-mode solid-propellant rocket

motor. The RVV-MD is offered in

two variants differing in the type

of the fuse, with the RVV-MDL

fitted with a laser proximity fuse

and the RVV-MD equipped with a

radio-frequency one. The warhead

packs rod-type submunitions. The

maximum range of the weapon

against head-on targets is 40 km.

The missile is attached to aircraft by

means of the P-72-1D (P-72-1BD2)

rail-type launcher. The RVV-MD is

designed for use by fighters, ground

attack aircraft and helicopters and

will be effective against various

types of fixed-wing aircraft (fighters,

attack aircraft, bombers, airlifters)

and helicopters round the clock. It

can be adapted to foreign-made

carriers with the use of an in-house

technology.

The RVV-SD medium-range

air-to-air missile is offered as a

lethal all-aspect weapon to eliminate

fixed-wing and rotary wing aircraft

and cruise missiles 24 hr a day

in the face of electronic counter-

measures and in the look-down/

shoot-down mode, including in the

multiple-target engagement mode.

The RVV-SD hits targets manoeu-

vring at 12 g out to 110 km. The

missile’s launch-and-leave capabili-

ty is owing to its combined guidance

system comprising a radio-updated

inertial subsystem and an active

radar homer. The RVV-SD’s lay-

out and dimensions are similar to

those of the RVV-AE. Its powerplant

includes a single-mode solid-fuel

rocket motor. The fuse is of laser

proximity type. The multi-cumulative

warhead is filled with rod-type sub-

munitions. The missile is attached

to the carrier aircraft by means of

the AKU-170E ejection unit. The

RVV-SD can be adapted for use on

foreign-made aircraft.

Debut of advanced air-to-air missiles

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RVV-SD RVV-AE

Launching weight, kgup to

190175

Warhead weight, kg n/a 22,5

Dimensions, m:

- length 3,71 3,6

- body diameter 0,2 0,2

- wing span 0,42 0,4

- empennage span 0,68 0,7

Launch range, km:

- max in forward

hemisphere

up to

11080

- min in rear

hemisphere0,3 0,3

Target altitude, km 0,02–25

Target g-load up to 12

RVV-MD R-73ELaunching weight, kg 106 105

Warhead weight, kg 8 8

Dimensions, m:

- length 2,92 2,9

- body diameter 0,17 0,17

- wing span 0,51 0,51

- empennage span 0,385 0,38

Launch range, km:

- max in forward

hemisphereup to 40 30

- min in rear hemisphere 0,3 0,3

Target designation

angles, deg.± 60 ± 45

Target altitude, km 0,02–20

Target g-load up to 12

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Documents

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russias irkut corporation

sukhoi fighters

lima aerospace exhibition

lima airshow

russian participants

previous lima

leading russian designer