The Sukhoi Su-30MKI

When the Sukhoi design bureau, led by Pavel Sukhoi, designed the Su-27 (codenamed "Flanker" by NATO) in the late 70s, the resulting fighter has given and still gives Western Air Forces all over the world many sleepless nights. With its incredible range, large missile armament, and easy custom fittings, it has been a logical choice for many Air Forces in the world, the only constraints being increasing pressure by the United States on smaller countries to buy American made aircraft instead, prominently, Indonesia.

Renowned author Stephen Coonts calls the Su-27 "The best close combat fighter in the world". This is because the Su-27 is as nimble as it could be, yet it is amazingly stable, and has a great unrefueled range, unmatched by most modern fighters. Although the MiG MAPO MiG-29 is more agile, the Su-27 is more durable, and effective.

All these reasons made the "Flanker" a natural choice for making variants. Among them are:

• The two-seat Su-30, an air defence fighter also used for reconnaissance, providing information to other Su-27s by datalink.
• The Su-33 Naval Flanker, with a shorter length, folding wings for carrier operations (Currently serving on the Russian Carrier "Admiral Of The Fleet Kuznetsov").
• The Su-30MK and Su-30MKI, ordered by India and Indonesia for multirole operations.
• The Su-34 ground attack fighter, nicknamed "platypus" because of the duckbill nose. (note: this rather small fighter has a toilet behind the pilots, who sit side-by-side!)
• The Su-35, an advanced air superiority fighter with canards, passed over for the Su-37
• The Su-37 "SuperFlanker", the most agile aircraft ever made (not yet in service) featuring canards, thrust-vectoring, rearwards-facing radar (!!!) and rearward firing rails on the wingtips for the Vympel R-73 heat seeking missile (!!!!!)
• Last, and the best, the S-37 Berkut or "Golden Eagle" with forward swept wings and though not based on the Su-27,  the tail, landing gear and cockpit are borrowed from the Su-27.

Neccessity:

The Su-30MKI will fill a long list of requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF), some of them being:

~ The absence of mid-air refueling means a fighter with long unrefueled flights is required

~ It should operate in specific Indian (hot and high) conditions

~ If necessary, it should be able to perform the role of air defense

Advantages:

1. Range
2. Maneuverability
3. Precision Bombing
4. Two pilots mean that the workload is shared
5. Thrust vectoring (India will be supplied with aircraft already having vectored thrust, and aircraft already supplied will be retrofitted)
6. Excellent radar, for reconnaissance missions
7. Datalink to other Su-30s
8. Large missile armament

Disadvantages

1. Delay in supply of fighters.

My opinion:

The Su-30MKI, if anything, is just what the doctor ordered for the IAF. Unmatched range, durability, agility and performance add a new and powerful dimension to the Indian air force. With the addition of thrust vectoring, there'll be few pilots who would want to take on this monster head to head.

Specifications:

Type: tailed delta configuration, with two fins (canards fitted on the MKI version, not on K version)

Accomodation: Two In tandem

Engines: Two 27,557 lbs with afterburners Saturn/Lyulka AL-31F turbofans (thrust-vectoring nozzles on MKI version)

Weights: Empty: 16,500 kgs, Max takeoff: 33,000 kgs

Length: 21.94 m.

Wingspan 14.7 m.

Wing Area: 62 sq.m.

Ceiling: 59,000 ft

Max speed: 2,500 km/h (Mach 2.35) at max altitude, 1,345 km/h (Mach 1.1) at sea level

Max initial rate of climb: 60,040 ft/min

Range: 3,680 km

(The Su-27)

Armament:

One GSh-301 30mm gun in nose with 150 rounds

Ten external hardpoints, Air-to-air missiles (AAMs) and precision guided munitions (PGMs). Four fuselage, four wing and two wingtip points, wingtip points for heat (infra-red) seeking missiles only.

Also features a Zhuk look down/shoot down track-while-scan radar, and an infra-red search and track unit (IRST) with laser rangefinder that allows passive detection and engagement. A helmet-mounted sight cues IR guided missiles to off-borsight targets.

Other features include a Heads-up display (HUD), leading edge slats, large air brake, widely separated engines, tail boom for parachutes all-moving tails and fly-by-wire controls.

The Su-30MKI will integrate Russian, French, Israeli and Indian avionics into one airframe. The Russians will add ground mapping features to the original radar.

The Su-30 and the IAF:

Currently 14 Su-30Ks in service with the IAF, a total of 50 planned, but hindered by persistent delays. The remaining aircraft will be of MKI standard, while the current lot will be retrofitted to MKI standard. India will also receive the license to manufacture 140  Su-30MKIs. Standard armament: 4 R-77 (AA-12 "Adder") or 4 R-27 (AA-10 "Alamo") and 6 R-73 (AA-11 "Archer") missiles.

Pictures: The tri-coloured Su-30MKI from the front page, A member of the hawks squadron over Rajasthan, Same aircraft from a different angle showing off its firepower , A close-up of the pilots (note the IRST unit in front of the first pilot), On the ground, Another tri-coloured plane, Pretty Su-30s all in a row, Three at an airshow (B&W).

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