HAL gets its platter full with several co-development projects
By Prasun K. Sengupta
Russias 8th international air show MAKS 2009 held in the suburb of Zhukovsky near Moscow between August 18 and 23, hosted a total of 711 companies from 34 countries, including 436 Russian firms, of which 120 exhibited their milirary products and services. Prominent Indian exhibitors at MAKS 2009 were BrahMos Aerospace (exhibiting a full-scale mock-up of the air-launched BrahMos multi-role supersonic cruise missile), and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). Contrary to the intense pre-show hype about Russia lifting the curtains off its long-awaited 22.5-tonne PAK-FA fifth-generation multi-role combat aircraft and the first definitive MiG-35UBK tandem-seat prototype (from United Aircraft Corps Nizhny Novgorod-based Sokol Aircraft Factory), no such event eventually took place. Instead, what was showcased were a smaller number of new-generation precision-guided munitions (PGM), and avionics for the PAK-FA and its 16.5-tonne variant, the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA).
That Russias aviation-related military-industrial infrastructure is still unable to overcome the R&D challenges associated with the development of both the PAK-FA and the FGFA was evidenced by the disclosure from the Commander of the Russian Air Force, Col Gen. Alexander Zelin. The Commander said that the AL-41 turbofan, originally meant to power both these futuristic combat aircraft, will not be available in time for powering the prototypes of these two aircraft. Instead, an uprated AL-31FP turbofan developed by NPO Saturn will be used for the PAK-FAs initial flight-tests, due to get underway by early next year. However, when it comes to FGFA, which is to be co-developed by HAL, Sukhoi Experimental Aircraft Design Bureau and United Aircraft Corp, the uprated AL-31FP will be the definitive powerplant. It also emerged from the expo that, contrary to Indias expectations, only 30 per cent of the fuselage of the FGFA and even the definitive MiG-35 will incorporate composite materials (the Indian Navys MiG-29K/KUB shipborne multi-role combat aircraft also incorporate this same percentage of composites). HAL on the other hand wants this quantum to increase to more than 65 per cent.
Despite the disappointment, HAL remained extremely optimistic of not only the FGFA co-development project, but also about two other projectsone for co-developing the multi-role transport aircraft (MRTA), and the other for co-developing a 12-tonne multi-role utility helicopter (MUH). It is believed that by this November, both India and Russia will officially unveil a joint venture manufacturing company that will develop and series-produce the FGFA, the MRTA and the MUH. All in all, therefore, the future of India-Russia military-industrial cooperation remains extremely bright and mutually rewarding to say the least. On August 21 at Zhukovsky, Rosoboronexport State Corp and HAL inked a contract for the delivery of an initial 26 Klimov RD-33 series 3 turbofans for the to-be-upgraded MiG-29B-12s of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The RD-33 series 3, which can also be retrofitted with KLIWT thrust-vectoring nozzles, will provide greatly enhanced reliability, plus superior manoeuvrability to greatly improve the MiG-29s performance in close air engagements. In 2005, Rosoboronexport signed a US$250 million contract with India to provide 126 RD-33 series 3 turbofans for the IAFs 67 remaining MiG-29s. According to the terms of the contract, HAL will licence-assemble 120 RD-33 series 3s at its Koraput-based facility. The very same turbofan will also power the MiG-35 that is being offered for the IAFs on-going competition for selecting a fourth-generation medium multi-role combat aircraft. Before the years end, two tandem-seat MiG-35s will be made available to the IAF for in-country flight evaluations, and for live-firing of PGMs at a Russian weapons firing range at Akhtubinsk.
Rosoboronexport State Corp has also decided to offer the IAF with a new range of PGMs for not only the MiG-35, but also for the IAFs existing Su-30MKIs and to-be-upgraded MiG-29s. To this end, Russias Tactical Missile Weapons Corp JSC has developed three new types of PGMs.
The Kh-35UE air-launched anti-ship cruise missile comes fitted with a new smaller turbojet to provide additional fuel space. The subsonic missiles intake design has also been revised. The maximum range has been extended to 260km (162.5 miles). The missile also comes fitted with a dual-mode seeker, providing both active-radar guidance and passive homing. Other PGMs being offered include the Kh-58Ush long-range anti-radiation missile, the Kh-36 short-range anti-radiation missile, and the multi-role Kh-38 supersonic missile. However, missing from this line-up at MAKS 2009 were the new-generation within-visual-range and beyond-visual-range air combat missiles that are being developed by two traditional rivalsVympel JSC and Novator JSC. By late next year, Vympel expects to complete all R&D work on the Izdeliye 760 air combat missile, which is a significantly upgraded variant of the existing of the R-73E air combat missile.
The Izdeliye 760, also known as R-73M2, will come fitted with an inertial flight-control system and course correction receiver, improved rocket engine and a new-generation multi-mode and imaging infra-red (IIR) seeker. This will be followed in 2013 by the new-generation K-MD within-visual-range air combat missile (called the Izdeliye 300) that will also feature a target discriminating IIR seeker whose lock-on range will be twice more than that of the Izdeliye 760. A new adaptive warhead with laser proximity fuzing will be used, with the missiles flight-control to be achieved through aerodynamic surfaces and a thrust-vectoring engine nozzle. Vympel has also begun a multi-phase upgrade of its existing medium-range R-77 (Izdeliye 170) and its export variant, the RVV-AE (Izdeliye 190). The upgraded R-77-1 (Izdeliye 170-1) is now undergoing flight qualification trials. Additionally, the R-77M (Izdeliye 180) variant of the missile is being developed. This missile will replace the Izdeliye 190s latticework fins by more common flat aerodynamic control planes. This in turn will reduce aerodynamic drag and reduce the missiles radar cross-section. The R-77M will be fitted with a phased-array active radar seeker and new double-pulse solid-propellant rocket to give an engagement range 3.5 times more than the existing Izdeliye 170 (R-77), depending on the launch altitude. Yet another medium-range air-to-air missile as a follow-on to the Izdeliye 180 also is in development and this will feature ramjets similar to those on the MBDA-developed Meteor BVRAAM. Presently, Russia is the only country developing long-range air-to-air missiles capable of engaging targets at distances up to 400km. Two such missiles--the Izdeliye 172 (K-100) from Novator and the Izdeliye 810 from Vympel--are presently competing against one another to go on board the PAK-FA and FGFA.
One Russian company that was having the last laugh at MAKS 2009 was the V Tikhmirov Scientific-Research Institute of Instrument Design, This highly reputable airborne radar manufacturer, which had developed the NO-11M Bars passive phased-array radar for the IAFs Su-30MKI, is still unable to figure out why exactly the Indian Navy ordered the Phazotron JSC-built Zhuk-ME X-band multi-mode radar (with slotted-array antenna) and why the IAF followed suit in selecting the very same radar for its to-be-upgraded MiG-29s, especially when the more advanced and capable Bars 29 passive phased-array radar (a smaller derivative of the one on board the Su-30MKI) was available since 2005. Both variants of the Bars are now being series-produced by the Ryazan Instrument-Making Plant Federal State Unitary Enterprise. Incidentally,
V Tikhmirov Scientific-Research Institute of Instrument Design also showcased for the first time its range of active phased-array radars comprising an X-band nose-mounted AESA, plus wing leading-edge-mounted L-band and S-band AESAs, all of which are destined to go on board both the PAK-FA and FGFA, and will also be offered for the mid-life upgrades of existing Su-35BMs, Su-30MKIs and Su-30MK2s. Another radar displayed at MAKS 2009 was the X-band IRBIS-E PESA radar, which can detect combat aircraft-sized airborne targets out to a distance of 400km, can detect 30 targets and engage the eight most threatening ones simultaneously, and most significantly, can do terrain mapping when operating in the synthetic aperture (SAR) mode with a resolution of less than 1 metre, thanks to the utilisation of real-beam and Doppler beam-sharpening operating techniques.
Phazotron JSC showcased its Zhuk-AE AESA (containing 680 X-band transmit/receive modules), which is being offered on board the MiG-35.
The company claims that it can detect warships out to 250km, and can detect airborne targets out to to 130km head-on in both look-up or look-down modes, and out to 50km when operating in the look-up tail-on mode. Up to 30 airborne targets can be monitored in the track-while-scan mode, and six of them can be engaged simultaneously with air combat missiles.