Even though India’s indigenous Kaveri engine has not been able to generate the requisite thrust, the Indian aerospace maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is gaining experience in manufacturing engines to power the fighter fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF). After getting a contract to manufacture engines for MiG-29s, the HAL will now manufacture the aero-engines for Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter jets.
The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has forced India to diversify its defense procurement and rely on domestic capabilities to maintain and upgrade its existing fleet.
The Cabinet Committee on Security on September 2 approved the procurement of 240 AL-31 FB aero-engines to power the Su-30MKI fighter jets. The engines will be procured under the ‘Buy (Indian)’ category at an estimated cost of Rs 26,000 crore ($3.2B).
According to the Ministry of Defence statement, delivery of these aero-engines would start after one year and be completed over eight years. The engines will have an indigenous content of over 54 percent, enhanced due to the indigenization of some key components of aeroengines. These would be manufactured at the Koraput division of HAL in Orissa.
“Su-30 MKI is one of the most powerful and strategically significant fleets of IAF. The supply of these aero-engines by HAL would meet the fleet sustenance requirement of IAF to continue their unhindered operations and strengthen the defense preparedness of the country,” the statement read.
The twin-engine, multi-role air superiority fighter aircraft developed by the Russian Sukhoi Design Bureau has been built by HAL under license. With an inventory of over 262 Su-30 MKI fighter jets, the IAF is the world’s largest operator of Russian-origin aircraft. The multi-role fighters will remain the mainstay of the IAF’s combat strength for decades.
India had placed the order for the first tranche of 50 Su-30MKIs in November 1996. By December 2000, it was approved for licensed production of more than 140 aircraft. In 2002, the first Su-30MKI entered operational service in India. Subsequently, the aircraft were inducted at several IAF bases in India, including those in Bareilly, Pune, Jodhpur, Tezpur Air Force Station, and Chabua Air Force Station in Assam.
Over the past 20 years, India has made significant IPR & infrastructure investments in assembling, operating, servicing (overhaul, spares manufacture), and spiral upgrading (Brahmos-A, Astra, Rudram) the Su-30MKI.
According to the IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari, the technical parameters for the major Sukhoi upgrade are being refined.
“We have decided this upgrade will be done indigenously with many indigenously-designed weapons, electronic warfare systems, and the like. We are looking at upgrading 84 Sukhois in the first tranche,” Chaudhari noted in 2022.
According to the IAF, modernization will kick off after 4-5 years of design and development.
In addition to the ability to carry advanced indigenously developed weapons, the finalized technical parameters would likely include an improved Infrared Imaging Search and Track System (IRST), AESA radar, and a more powerful engine.
In the present geopolitical situation, India has been deftly balancing its national interests. Despite Western countries’ sanctions against Russia, New Delhi has found a way to collaborate with Moscow.
On July 4, 2022, TASS reported quoting a Rostec press statement that Russia will assist India in the assembly and modernization of Su-30MKI as part of the “Make in India” program.
The help will include the supply of additional technical kits for assembling the Su-30MKI and joint work on modernization, including the integration of the latest aviation weapons and avionics.
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On March 1, the HAL received an order for RD-33 engines, which also power the China-Pakistan joint-production JF-17 ‘Thunder’ fighter jet. The engines, worth INR 5,249.72 crore (USD 650 million), will power the IAF’s MiG-29 fleet, increasing their residual life.
The new RD-33 engine would extend the operational life by another decade. The IAF has 66 MiG-29s in three squadrons. The Indian Navy also operates 45 MiG-29K/KUB, the naval version, in two squadrons for its aircraft carrier fleet. The fleet is powered by RD-33MK, an improved version of RD-33.
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These aero engines will also be produced by the Koraput Division of HAL. They will be manufactured under a Transfer of Technology (TOT) license from the Russian OEM. The program will focus on the indigenization of several high-value critical components, which would help increase the indigenous content of future Repair and Overhaul (ROH) tasks of RD-33 aero engines.
The HAL has been contracted to deliver over 100 Klimov RD-33 engines for the IAF’s Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 fighter jets. Earlier, HAL has been assembling these engines.
The Indo-Russian collaboration in manufacturing engine
While the India-US collaboration on manufacturing the GE F-414 engine is yet to gain traction, the India-Russia collaboration in this field has a long history.
India is also working with French engine maker Safran to develop jet engines for future aircraft. On the other hand, the DRDO-developed Kaveri engine is yet to mature, and its scaled version, known as dry-Kaveri, is being developed for the Indian Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle ‘Ghatak.’
The Sukhoi engine division, Koraput, was established in 2002 to manufacture Russian United Engine Corporation’s (UEC) AL-31FP. Engine production commenced in 2004, and to date, the division has manufactured 517 and overhauled more than 670 engines. As per the October 2000 Intergovernmental agreement between Russia and India, HAL was contracted to manufacture 410 engines from 2004 to 17.
Since 2005, about 130 specialists from various divisions of the UEC have been sent to HAL. HAL specialists were trained and transferred experience in mastering complex metallurgical, welding, production, and assembly operations and testing the AL-31FP.
The manufacturing was to be done in five phases, with the fifth phase being made from material provided by Russia. The first three phases are characterized by step-by-step license manufacturing and testing of assembly and sub-assembly.
The Stage IV manufacturing of AL31FP began with its first five deliveries in 2011. The fourth phase of manufacturing is defined by full assembly and subassembly manufacturing (except forging from the material) and testing of engine units, subunits, and modules.
The aim is to scale up the percentage of indigenous components in engine production as India’s aspiration to have an Indigenous engine tries to overcome developmental setbacks.
