Super Sukhoi upgrade
With 260 fighter jet in its inventory, SU-30 MKI forms the backbone of Indian Air force. Once a dominant force in Asia, the aircraft needs several upgrades to make it battle ready for the present and future warfare. Therefore, the Super Sukhoi program was envisioned to upgrade the fighter jet with latest equipment, avionics & sensors.
However, the program has faced several challenges from huge cost of upgrade to Russia-Ukraine war. From what it seems, Indian Air Force is following staggered approach to upgrade SU-30MKIs rather than big bang.
In today’s video we are not going to discuss on what has been proposed earlier as a part of Super Sukhoi upgrade but the components which are being upgraded and will be upgraded in next few years.
New IRST System
In May 2018, the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) had accorded approval for undertaking design and development of the Long-Range Dual Band Infrared Imaging Search and Track System (IRST) for SU-30 MKI aircraft under the ‘Make II’ sub-category and subsequently, for procurement of at least 100 IRSTs under ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ category.
In April 2022, HAL and BEL signed a contract today for the co-development and co-production of Long-Range Dual-Band indigenous Infra-Red Search and Track System (IRST) for Su-30 MKI. The proposed IRST system will be a high end strategic technology product and will feature Television Day Camera, Infrared & LASER sensors in single window for air to air and air to ground target tracking and localization. It will be superior than the existing Russian IRST on SU-30 MKI. The design and development of IRST may take another 2 years. The new IRST will further enhance the long range passive attack capabilities of SU-30 MKI and guide IR missiles.
Uttam AESA Radar
AESA radar is going to be the most important upgrade for SU-30 MKI. After the successful completion of Uttam AESA radar program, On 26th August 2022, the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) has formally completed transfer of technology (ToT) for the production of the Uttam active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The Uttam AESA radar is being developed for SU-30 MKI which is going to be based on GaAs semiconductors & will have much larger number to T/R modules due to the larger diameter of SU-30MKIs nose cone. It is expected to feature 1600 T/R modules.
It also important to note that the defence ministry has placed the import of radar systems on the negative list. After LCA Tejas MK1, Sukhoi-30MKI & Mig-29 will be integrated with Uttam AESA radar system. The process of integration of Uttam on these platforms will begin by 2025.
Advance Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ)
DRDO’s ASPJ is also developing on Gallium Nitride based solid-state AESA jammer transmitters. ASPJ is based on Active Phased Array (APA), ultra wide band DRFM(Digital Radio Frequency Memory) and inbuilt cooling system. The DRFM jammers are famous for their capability to severely degrade the adversaries’ radars and missile seekers. ASPJ can even take input Dhruti RWR and jam the source of RF signal.
Dhruti Digital RWR
The Last upgrade which is already is in its mid-war is Dhruti RWR. Back in August 2021, it was reported that the Indian Air Force is going ahead with Rs 1000 crore project for the upgrade of RWR for the fleet of 125 SU-30 MKIs.
On March 23, 2023, MoD signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for approx. Rs 950 crore for 129 DR-118 Radar Warning Receivers (RWR) for SU-30 MKI.
X-GUARD towed decoy
Indian Air Force has also planned the integration of X-GUARD towed decoy solution which will help SU-30 MKI in defeating advanced tracking radar, including monopole and Lobe-On-Receive-Only (LOBO) radar types. A
Indian Rafales are also equipped with the X Guard Fibre Optic Towed Decoy. The Low-drag and lightweight, X-GUARD can be used in all operational missions to counter air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. It is owed behind the fighter aircraft and is deployable and retractable in mid-flight.
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