MiG-29 upgrade options [p. 12]

Transcription

1 december 2007 special edition for LIMA 2007 First Malaysian in orbit [p. 44] Tikhomirov radars for Sukhoi fighters [p. 28] Sukhoi SuperJet 100 Sukhoi SuperJet 100 rolled-out! [p. 38] Su-30MKM now delivered to RMAF! [p. 20] MiG-29 upgrade options [p. 12]

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3 December 2007 Editor-in-Chief Andrey Fomin Deputy Editor-in-Chief Vladimir Shcherbakov Editors Yevgeny Yerokhin Andrey Yurgenson Columnist Alexander Velovich Special correspondents Vladimir Karnozov, Alexey Mikheyev, Victor Drushlyakov, Andrey Zinchuk, Valery Ageyev, Alina Chernoivanova, Natalya Pechorina, 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 Alexey Mikheyev Publisher Director General Andrey Fomin Deputy Director General Nadezhda Kashirina Marketing Director George Smirnov Executive Director Yury Zheltonogin 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 web sites 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. 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 FS dated 29 November 2004 Print-run: 5600 copies Aeromedia, 2007 P.O. Box 7, Moscow, , Russia Tel. +7 (495) , Fax +7 (495) [email protected] Dear reader, You are holding a fresh copy of the Take-off magazine, special English-language supplement to VZLET Russia s national aerospace magazine, dedicated this time to LIMA 2007 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 all the region in whole. Russian participants interest in it is owing to the country and South East Asia returning as a leader in importing Russian-made aircraft and cooperating with Russia in the aerospace field. For example, this year the Royal Malaysian Air Force started to receive Sukhoi Su-30MKM supermanoeuvrable multirole fighters being produced by Russia s Irkut Corp. RMAF continues to operate MiG-29N fighters delivered in previous years by MiG Corp. The first Malaysian astronaut flew onboard the Russian spacecraft to the International Space Station this autumn. These events became the main topics of this issue. Just three months before this LIMA airshow, the town of Zhukovsky in the Moscow Region saw the completion of the 8th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2007 the aviation-related event of the year in Russia. According to numerous MAKS 2007 exhibitors and visitors, the show became far more impressive, with the number of exhibitors growing noticeably, number of foreign delegations increasing and infrastructure of the show improving. The status of MAKS as a business event and a place to conduct scientific fora and conferences has been bolstered. For the first time, Russian aircraft makers exhibited their projects in Zhukovsky under the aegis of the United Aircraft Corporation and helicopter makers did that under the auspices of the Helicopters of Russia holding company. Actually, the tendency for aerospace developers and manufacturers to merge both in Russia and abroad has been highlighted at MAKS This year s air show was a kind of parade of aerospace novelties that were aplenty in Zhukovsky both combat aircraft and missile weapons, on the one hand, and civil planes, engines and avionics, on the other. This is a good sign of positive dynamics emerging in the Russian aircraft industry, the other proof being a series of key contracts and agreements made in the course of MAKS In this issue, we have focused on the novelties and events of the MAKS 2007 show we deem the most important and interesting ones, as well as on other news of Russian aviation and space industry of recent months, with preference given to those of them that could be of special interest to the current and potential users of Russian aircraft in Malaysia and South East Asia in whole. I wish you fruitful work at the LIMA 2007 air show, useful contacts and lucrative contracts! Sincerely, Andrey Fomin, Editor-in-Chief, Take-off magazine

4 December INDUSTRY UAC and Aviation of Ukraine to work together Line of helicopter models to be optimised Su-35 s debut Details on MiG-35 s new exterior Tikhomirov NIIP unveils AESA developments Kamov s new programmes Second Ka-60 has flown! Tactical Missiles Corp. unveils new weapons Novator air-launched premiers Back to origins (La-225 UAV) BARUK, younger brother of Dan Squadron of new unmanned aircraft (ENIKS UAVs) MiG-29 catches its second wind Over 800 MiG-29 fighters have been exported since the aircraft entered production, with many of them still being in service with the air forces of almost 30 countries. Many of them were delivered from 1986 to 1995 and are now in the middle of their service life, which makes the users keen on having them upgraded. Therefore, along with designing and productionising new variants, such as the MiG-29K/KUB, MiG-29M/ M2 and MiG-35, MiG Corp. has been pursuing several MiG-29 upgrade programmes to meet requirements of various customers. At the same time with introducing advanced avionics and weapons, the upgrade may include overhaul, conversion to on-condition maintenance and service life extension. Depending on tasks and the depth of the pockets of the customers, the upgrade may be either deep or lite. The former option results in the MiG-29SMT featuring the highest combat capabilities for earlier built aircraft of the type. Such fighters have already been supplied to countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The MiG-29SD and MiG-29SM offer less expensive upgrade packages, with their avionics not being subject to such drastic updating. Nonetheless, these versions acquire a number of advanced capabilities in using latest weapons systems. In addition to modernising operational MiG-29s, MiG Corp. s work is in full swing on developing a heavily upgraded derivative of the Fulcrum, the MiG-35, that will hit the market after The MiG-35 s advanced technical solutions also are to be embodied in the MiG-29M/M2 intermediate derivative carrying less expensive avionics and weapons suites commonised with the MiG-29SMT. Andrey Fomin reviews MiG-29 upgrade programmes CONTRACTS AND DELIVERIES Ilyushin Finance Co. to deliver planes to Cuba and Iran Ka-32 exports on the rise Irkut makes first Su-30MKA jets for Algeria Venezuelan Su-30 deliveries on schedule MMRCA tender kicks off at last Indonesia to get more Sukhoi fighters Su-30MKM already in service with RMAF This summer, the first Su-30MKM supermanoeuvrable multirole fighters entered service with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). The ceremony of acceptance of two first planes took place at the airfield of the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant, a subsidiary of the Irkut Corp., on 24 May The Malaysian delegation attending the acceptance ceremony was led by the RMAF commander, Gen. Dato Sri Azizan bin Ariffin. Less than a month later, on 18 June, a 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. Four 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. The importance of the event was highlighted by the presence of Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister 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. By then, the fighters had been used by the first group of RMAF pilots for conversion to the aircraft of a type new to them, with Russian test pilots 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 is slated for LIMA 2007 air show. Andrey Fomin tells about Su-30MKM main features Tikhomirov s radars for Sukhoi fighters A principal component of the high combat capabilities of the Su-30MKM fighters, whose export to Malaysia has kicked off this year, and other aircraft of the Sukhoi Su-27 family is a sophisticated fire control system wrapped around advanced airborne radar. The Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design (NIIP) has developed the fire control systems and the radars they are based on for virtually all versions of Su-27 fighters. With the evolution of the Su-27 family aircraft, scratch-new radars 2 take-off december 2007

5 and upgraded derivatives have been developed for them, characterised with the progress of such radar specifications, as range, simultaneous tracking and engagement capabilities, reliability, and their weight and size have been diminishing and weapons suites have been expanded. Cassegrain twin-reflector, slotted-array and passive phased-array radars would supersede one another on board fighters of the Su-27 family. It is the Bars PAR that fits the fighter s latest versions Su-30MKI, Su-30MKM and Su-30MKA being fielded with the Indian, Malaysian and Algerian air forces. Tikhomirov NIIP s efforts have resulted in the unique cutting-edge phased-array radar, the Irbis-E, designed to equip the latest derivative, the Su-35, which made its debut during the MAKS 2007 air show. However, the company is not about rest on its laurels. In line with the global airborne radar trends, it is developing a radically novel type of radar with active electronically scanned array (AESA) for use on Sukhoi s fifth-generation fighter now under development. The first demonstration of prototype X- and L-band AESA components took place at MAKS 2007 in August as well. Victor Andreyev reviews the main trends of Tikhomirov radars development GRPZ: making phased-array radars The Ryazan State Instrument Plant (GRPZ) runs full-rate production of the Tikhomirov NIIP Bars airborne phased-array radar fitting Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighters being delivered to the Royal Malaysian Air Force, Su-30MKIs for the Indian Air Force and Su-30MKAs for the Algerian Air Force. GRPZ, which relies on cutting-edge technologies, is a recognised leader in phased-array radar (PAR) manufacture. However, the company does not rest on its laurels; rather, it is productionising the advanced Irbis-E PAR to fit the Su-35 fighter and has launched work on future active electronically scanned arrays (AESA). Take-off s Yevgeny Yerokhin visited the factory and met Director General Yevgeny Barankin who was kind enough to answer his questions MILITARY AVIATION Su-34 fielded with Air Force Growing number of upgraded Su-27SMs RusAF Chief tries Yak-130 out CIVIL AVIATION Two more Il-96s built New aircraft for Russian carriers Tu-204 acquires Red Wings 38 The time has come First airworthy Sukhoi SuperJet 100 rolled out in Komsomolsk-on-Amur The time has come was the motto of the long-awaited event the rollout of the first flying prototype of the advanced Russian regional airliner, the Sukhoi SuperJet 100, conducted by the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company on the premises of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) on 26 September. The first SuperJet 100 rolled out of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft hangar in a well-rehearsed top-class ceremony attended by First Vice-Premier Sergey Ivanov and leaders of Russian and foreign companies involved in the Sukhoi SuperJet 100 programme, airlines and a thousand other guests and media people. The ceremony marked another stepping-stone to developing the advanced Russian regional jet. The first flying SuperJet serialled now enters ground tests in the run-up to flight trials. According to Sukhoi Director General Mikhail Pogosyan, the maiden flight is slated before year-end. Andrey Fomin reports from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur COSMONAUTICS FSA Chief on prospects of Russian space exploration Latest space rocket designs at MAKS 2007 Aspects of GLONASS development 44 ISS now run by female The first Malaysian astronaut s orbital trip There has been a change of the crew of the ISS. In October, a woman, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, headed a long-term orbital expedition for the first time in history of space exploration. She and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko were accompanied to the ISS by the first Malaysian cosmonaut Sheikh Muszafar Shukor. He spent 11 days in orbit and came back to the Earth together with the ISS-15 crew cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Fyodor Yurchikhin. Alina Chernoivanova tells about the current mission to the ISS AIRSHOW MAKS 2007 sets records take-off december

6 industry in brief UAC and Aviation of Ukraine to work together A key event on the first day of MAKS 2007 was the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich, who discussed the cooperation of the two countries aircraft industries. Putin and Yanukovich attended together the MAKS 2007 exposition of Ukrainian aircraft makers and were briefed on the status of the Ukrainian-Russian aircraft development programmes. Speaking with Antonov s Designer General Dmitry Kiva, the guests discussed the two countries cooperation in resuming the full-rate production of a newer variant of the An-124 Ruslan heavy airlifter and productionising a new-generation An-148 regional airliner. The Russian president also called for continued cooperation in developing and making the An-70 airlifter. The meeting of the Russian president and Ukrainian premier resulted in the signature on 21 August of the memorandum of understanding by the United Aircraft Corporation and Aviation of Ukraine state aircraft production concern, with the MoU providing for furthering the cooperation in the field of transport and passenger aircraft-making. To prevent competition due to similar programmes pursued, the parties agreed to stick to common marketing and pricing policies and run joint scientific and technical research under a common product strategy. The memorandum reaffirms the two countries readiness to have Russian and Ukrainian aircraft plants launch the full-scale production of the An-148 and set up relevant maintenance centres. Cooperative development of the MS-21 medium-haul airliner and an advanced wide-body airliner was pronounced promising as well. A month after the MoU s signature on September, the programmes of the joint An-140, An-74 and An-148 production by Ukrainian and Russian manufacturers were presented to UAC and the Aviation of Ukraine delegations as well as media and new fields of cooperation to explore were discussed on the premises of KSAMC (Kharkov), Aviant (Kiev) and Antonov (Kiev). Being more specific on the MoU, Ilyushin s Director General/Designer General Victor Livanov, dual-hatted as the head of UAC s Transport and Special Aircraft Division, told at a news conference in Kiev that, as far as cargo ramp aircraft are concerned, the parties were intent on joint promotion of the An-124, Il-76, An-70, MTA, Il-112 and An-74 freighters on the markets, including the Russian one. In this context, the Ukrainians were invited to join the MTA programme, and the Russians indicated their willingness to reconsider their stance on the An-70 programme. Feasibility of passenger aircraft cooperation was mentioned before the gathering in Kiev by Ilyushin Finance Co. Director General Alexander Rubtsov, who stressed that the major Russian-Ukrainian project in this field was production and sales of An-148 regional airliners. He said that the rollout of the first Aviant-built production An-148 was slated for late this year and that of the first VASO-made one for late According to Alexander Rubtsov, the An-148 has become part of UAC s model line and 96 An-148s are to be made by VASO until The next stage of airliner development and production cooperation between the two countries, IFC s leader believes, may be joint work on the future MS-21 short-medium-haul airliner slated to hit the market in In addition, the Ukrainian side was invited to cooperate in developing a future twin-engine medium-haul wide-body aircraft that might replace the current Il-86 fleet. Antonov Designer General Dmitry Kiva outlined the current R&D efforts on a medium transport jet with a lifting capacity of 20 t, a seat medium-haul wide-body airliner and a seat medium-haul airliner that could serve the base for future Russian-Ukrainian programmes. Rounding off the meeting, head of Aviation of Ukraine Oleg Shevchenko underlined that he was for partnership between UAC and Aviation of Ukraine and believed Russia s and Ukraine s cargo and passenger aircraft industries had a future ahead of them only in pooling their efforts. Andrey Fomin 4 take-off december 2007

7 industry in brief Line of helicopter models to be optimised Alexey Mikheyev The Oboronprom defence industrial corporation and Helicopters of Russia joint stock company (Oboronprom s 100-per cent subsidiary) have come up with a concept of optimising the line of helicopters in production with the Russian aircraft industry. The news was voiced by Helicopters of Russia Director General Yuri Ivanov at a news conference during the MAKS 2007 international air show. According to Ivanov, the Mil Mi-34 and the Kazan Helicopters-developed Aktai are to be developed further in the light helicopter class. In June and July this year, the Mi-34 made its debut, flown by the crew of Mikhail Kazachkov and Yuri Kazachkov at the open championships in the UK, Italy and France. Oboronprom and Helicopters of Russia acted as the principal partners of the Russian team who took prize-winning places in all three countries. The Russian team also flew the Mi-34 at Mil Design Bureau Cup held during MAKS 2007 on August and dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the helicopter advent. In the class of single-engine helicopters with a takeoff weight of 2 3 t, Yuri Ivanov says, the feasibility of licence-producing a foreign machine (possibly, by the Ulan-Ude Aircraft Plant) is under consideration. The machine would fill the niche between the lightweight Aktai (1.5 t), on the one hand, and Ka-226 Alexey Mikheyev and Ansat (3.5 t), on the other. The leader of Helicopters of Russia named the Ansat a very promising aircraft, but before it hits the market, he believes, its certification should be completed first. A balanced marketing policy is being pursued on the Ka-226 as well. If all goes to plan, 5 to 10 Ka-226s are to be sold in 2007 and about 15 in Kamov s and the Kazan Helicopters machines may find different applications, with the Ka-226 featuring the unique capability of landing on tiny helipads and the Ansat being just the thing for flying rather long distances. In addition to the Rolls-Royce-powered Ka-226 variant, another version, this time powered by a powerplant from Turbomeca, is to be built. Russo-French R&D in under way into the version According to Yuri Ivanov, in the 4.5t takeoff-weight class, in which the Mi-54 used to be planned for development, a different machine will be developed with foreign participation to meet the FAR and JAR standards. The aircraft will be able to carry either Russian or foreign-made engines. The head of Helicopters of Russia also brought Kamov s proponents unpleasant news as well. In his view, in the 6.5t class, due to the lack of the full-fledged financing of the promising Ka-60 and Ka-62 helicopters and the lack of an engine to power them, it might be easier to buy a licence for a foreign machine s licence-production in Russia. As far as the Mil Mi-17 is concerned, the helicopter will certainly remain in demand for the forthcoming years, Yuri Ivanov believes. The machine is upgraded continually, using the principle of the so-called reverse upgrade, he said. For instance, the advanced power train developed for the Mi-28 and a number of sophisticated Mi-38 components have been adapted for use on the Mi-17 at the same time. Promotion of the Kamov Ka-32, which goes well on the very competitive markets of North America, Europe and Japan, will continue as well. In addition, a joint Russian-Indian programme will be pursued in the 10 11t helicopter class, Yuri Ivanov said. As far as heavy helicopters are concerned, production and sales of the Mi-26 will continue. Both Russian and foreign users need an upgraded Mi-26. The Russian Defence Ministry does. In addition, according to Ivanov, Oboronprom and Helicopters of Russia, which have teamed up with Eurocopter, are taking part in NATO s work group for developing a future European heavylifter. Ivanov maintains that the Russian helicopter makers have both technologies and wealth of experience relevant to developing heavy rotorcraft. Andrey Fomin take-off december

8 industry in brief Su-35 s debut KnAAPO Probably, the first flying example of the Generation 4++ Sukhoi Su-35 heavily upgraded fighter, which is to replace the current Su-30MK fighter family on the global market after , was the most-high profile debutant of the MAKS 2007 air show. Sporting a new yellow-and-brown camouflage paintjob and No 901, the first Su-35 had been completed by KnAAPO by August 2007 and had not flown by the time the air shows kicked off. It was shown only as a static display for this reason. An An-124 Ruslan transport aircraft airlifted it to Gromov LII s airfield in Zhukovsky on the eve of the MAKS 2007 show. After the show had been over, it carried on with the ground tests in the run-up to its flight trials. The maiden flight is slated for November this year. The aircraft has been fitted with flying examples of the Saturn 117S engine rated at 14,500 kgf. Prior to MAKS 2007, the first Su-35 had been equipped with the Tikhomirov-NIIP Irbis-E passive phased array radar (PAR) and, during the show, was displayed with its nose cone detached for a while. The full-scale mockup of the phased array and a scaled-down mockup of the whole Irbis-E radar were exhibited by Tikhomirov-NIIP as part of its pavilion exposition. The Irbis-E radar features, among other things, an electro-hydraulic actuator enabling the phased array to scan ±60 deg. in azimuth and ±120 deg. around its longitudinal axis. However, the principle advantage of the Su-35 s radar is its km acquisition range. This has been the world record as far as production active and passive fighter PARs as well as those now under development are concerned. At present, the Irbis-E is in its flight trials on board the Su-30MK2 No 503 flying testbed, with the first series of test mission having produced very good results in basic declared air-to-air and air-to-surface characteristics. Both the existing air-launched weapons (R-73E, RVV-AE, R-27ER1, R-27ET1, Kh-59MK, Kh-29T and Kh-31A/P) and unveiled full-scale mockups of a super-long-range two-stage air-to-air missile and the 3M-54AE two-stage long-range antiship missile were displayed on the Su-35 s hardpoints and laid out in front of it. The two two-stage missiles in question are both from the Novator design bureau in Yekaterinburg. The first Su-35 prototype has been followed by two more in KnAAPO s jigs (the second and fourth prototypes). They are to join the flight test programme in At the same time, several flying testbeds derived from various Su-27 versions are used in the trials to test the 117S engine, Irbis-E radar, a new infrared search-and-track (IRST) system, the advanced KSU-35 integrated control system, etc. The Su-35 is expected to enter full-rate production and delivery already in 2009, with its production to continue until a Russian fifth-generation fighter hits the market. The Su-35 s production also has become part of the State Armament Programme for the Period until 2015, under which its deliveries to the Russian Air Force are planned. Piotr Butowski Yevgeny Yerokhin 6 take-off december 2007

9 industry in brief Details on MiG-35 s new exterior Tikhomirov-NIIP unveils AESA developments Yevgeny Yerokhin Participating in the MAKS 2007 air show, the MiG Corp. placed emphasis on displaying the ad-hoc painted MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB carrierborne fighters under development on order from the Indian Navy and on the Gen. 4++ MiG-35 fighter demonstrator, known from the air show in Bangalore, and upgraded MiG-29SMT. A number of interesting innovations under the MiG-35 programme could be seen at the stand, in particular, the full-size Zhuk-AE active phased-array radar mockup, OLS-UEM IRST and a MiG-35 model featuring several design modifications compared with the flying demonstrator. The latest MiG-35 will have larger vertical tails, whose outline will be different to that of the well-known MiG-29 family s fighters. In addition, its tail section s shape will change as well due to introduction of a large central tail boom. The improvements stem from the necessity of housing extra fuel and from an increase in the takeoff weight. In addition, the MiG-35 had as many as 10 underwing weapons stations. It looks like the aircraft will kick off its tests in this very layout, with the tests slated for late 2008 or early Kamov s new programmes At the stand shared with the State Ryazan Instrument Plant in the United Aircraft Corporation s combat aircraft pavilion, the Tikhomirov-NIIP instrument research institute unveiled at MAKS 2007 fragments of the prototype X- and L-band active electronically scanned arrays (AESA) in development to fit the radar system of the future PAK FA tactical fighter. AESAs being developed by Tikhomirov-NIIP are based on up-to-date Russian technologies and electronic componentry, including microwave multifunction integrated circuits. The microwave multifunction integrated circuits intended for the X-band AESA are wrapped around GaAs heterostructures. Coupled with innovative AESA systemic solutions, this allowed the emission level per antenna channel to be about 10W with the antenna efficiency exceeding 30 per cent. The L-band AESA is to be housed by the aircraft s moving slats. Both AESAs implement electronic scanning within the 120deg. sector and extensive beam shaping to provide the radar with the effective lookup and lookdown capabilities. Yevgeny Yerokhin In addition to its traditional family of characteristic coaxial utility and combat helicopters (Ka-226, Ka-32, Ka-50, Ka-52) exhibited as static displays and demonstrated in flight at the MAKS 2007 air show, the Kamov joint stock company provided brief information on two of its latest programmes at the show. One, designated as Ka-32-10, is a top-to-bottom upgrade of the production Ka-32A11BC, including introduction of an advanced more streamlined and spacious fuselage with a cargo ramp at the stern and an all-new empennage. News about the Ka programme came as far back as 2001, but the machine must have been at the design stage so far. Alexey Mikheyev Alexey Mikheyev Kamov s second latest programme unveiled at MAKS 2007 looks far more revolutionary. It is about developing the Ka-92 high-speed helicopter powered by a rigid coaxial three-blade coaxial main rotor and a coaxial push-type propeller set in the tail section aft of the tail unit. Judging by a poster at Kamov s stand, the Ka-92 is designed for use as a transport means in inaccessible areas of the country. There has been no detailed information offered yet, but the proof that this is not a dusted-off design of yester-years is the fact Oboronprom s chief Denis Manturov presented a Ka-92 model to Russian President Vladimir Putin attending the helicopter makers stand at MAKS take-off december

10 industry in brief Second Ka-60 has flown! Alexey Mikheyev The second example of the advanced Kamov Ka-60 medium multirole helicopter entered the flight test programme on the Kamov company s premises in Moscow s Lyubertsy suburb on 21 September. The machine completed its first flight controlled by a test pilot crew of Alexander Smirnov (pilot in the right seat) and Alexander Papai (unlike the first prototype, the second machine is the Ka-60U trainer version with double controls). The maiden flight of the second Ka-60 (side No 602) had been awaited for quite a while. The aircraft was built as far back as 2003 and exhibited as a static display at the MAKS 2003 air show. Engine runs began in March 2005, but it took the prototype the long 2.5 years from the first engine run to the maiden flight, because the powerplant and power train were in need of debugging and additional ground tests. Following the early test hovers, the Ka-60 (No 602) was moved to Kamov s new flight test base near the Chaklovsky airfield where it will undergo further trials. At the same time, the future of the Ka-60 remains hazy. Yuri Ivanov, Director General of the Helicopters of Russia joint stock company (a 100-per cent subsidiary of Oboronprom), said during MAKS 2007 that the current Russian helicopter type and model optimisation concept does not provide for actual steps to be taken to productionise the Ka-60. In the 6.5t field (i.e. the advanced Ka-60 and Ka-62), it would, possibly, be easier to obtain a licence for making a similar foreign machine in Russia due to the lack of the proper financing of these [Ka-60 and Ka-62] helicopters and the lack of the engine to power them, Yuri Ivanov told at a news conference in Zhukovsky. As is known, the Ka-60 was developed to be powered by the RD-600V 1,300 hp (emergency rating 1,550 hp) engine from the Rybinsk Engine Design Bureau (now NPO Saturn). The IAC s Aircraft Registry type-certificated the engine on 30 December 2003, but the RD-600V has not entered production due to the lack of orders and proper funding. The same goes with the Ka-60 s power train: the VR-60A main and KhVR-600A reduction gearboxes were developed by the Voronezh-based OKBM Engine-Building Design Bureau but its testing dragged its feet due to the lack of money. By the way, the problems faced by the VR-60A reduction gearbox are considered to be among the reasons behind the delays in the helicopter s tests. A manufacturer of the Ka-60 s production model has not been selected yet either. The first prototype (side No 601) was made in 1997 by Kamov s prototype division that later assembled the second prototype made by the MiG Corp. s production and test outfit in Lukhovitsy. Then, the Ka-60 and Ka-62 s production was planned to run at the Ulan-Ude Aircraft Plant (UUAZ) that used to make Kamov s Ka-15, Ka-18 and Ka-25 helicopters. They say the Ka-60 might enter production at another Kamov-related helicopter plant, Progress, in the town of Arsenyev in the Russian Far East, which now builds Ka-50s and Ka-52s. However, it looks like neither plant has taken any concrete steps to productionise the Ka-60 yet. Meanwhile, the Kamov company is hopeful for its machine to face a bright future, all the more so that no helicopters in the class are made in this country, and the niche of the 6.5t helicopter with the t lifting capacity remains vacant. Therefore, the company carries on with its work on the Ka-60, paying for it, essentially, out of its pocket. The first prototype helicopter, which entered the trials almost a decade ago (by the way, it completed its 10 December 1998 maiden flight, controlled by the very Alexander Smirnov who took off the second prototype from the ground as well), is having bugs ironed out of its empennage and avionics. Once this is done, it is to resume flying. Testing as many as two flying prototypes will allow the programme to step up its tempo, which, Kamov hopes, will attract launch customers. In such a case, one could expect a change of heart of the Russian helicopter industry s leaders as to the programme. Alexey Mikheyev 8 take-off december 2007

11 industry in brief Tactical Missiles Corp. unveils new weapons The Tactical Missiles Corp. unveiling as many as three advanced guided air-launched weapons at MAKS 2007 recently made a stir. The company displayed such a drastic innovation as the Kh-38ME small-size multirole medium-range missile designed to replace a wide range of similar air-launched guided weapons in the Russian and foreign air forces inven- Another novelty was the Kh-58UShKE antiradiation missile. Unlike the known baseline model designated as Kh-58UShE and fitted with a wideband passive homing head, it has a redesigned pop-up wing enabling the weapon to be housed by weapons bays of future warplanes. According to Tactical Missiles Corp. Director General Boris mised. The programme has won the government s support, and the government now has only to take care that the executive bodies, including the Finance Ministry, do their job, Boris Obnosov believes. There are three components of funding the development of sophisticated air-launched weapons governmental, private-in- Today, the corporation s divisions develop virtually the whole spectrum of air-launched guided weapons, with the Vympel design bureau developing all types of air-to-air missiles, the parent company Tactical Missiles as well as Raduga and Vympel working on air-to-surface, antiship and antiradiation missiles and Region handling the development of smart bombs all for use with the existing, upgraded and future combat platforms. In spite of the current funding and managerial issues, the company plans Yevgeny Yerokhin Kh-38ME Kh-31AD Yevgeny Yerokhin tories (the Kh-25M and Kh-29 missiles in the first place). Thus, the missile will handle a wide spectrum of missions. Its characteristics have not been revealed yet, but in terms of dimensions, the missile is known to be between the family of Kh-25M modular missiles with a launch weight of about 300 kg and the heavier Kh-29T/L, which launch weight stands at kg. Like the designs they are to oust, the new missiles are to be fitted with various guidance packages, including TV or active radar homers, homing submunitions packed by the cluster warhead, etc. A full-size mockup of the modified Kh-31AD high-speed antiship missile featuring an improved powerplant and a large fuel capacity was unveiled at the air show as well. The derivative has a longer range over the baseline Kh-31A. Obnosov speaking during MAKS 2007, the company devised a comprehensive air-launched weapon development programme in To date, timeframes for delivering weapons to fit a fifth-generation aircraft have been hashed out, financial sources have been determined and in-house cooperation has been opti- vestor and in-house financing. According to Obnosov, the corporation s governmental financing has been virtually unchanged, accounting for mere 20 per cent, with the government to start providing the bulk of the funds to pay for advanced programmes no sooner than in Kh-58UShKE to launch the trials of several latest designs in the forthcoming months, Boris Obnosov said at MAKS Thus, cutting-edge air-launched guided weapons may enter inventory after All of them are designed to fit future aircraft, particularly, the PAK FA, and the Su-35 and MiG-35 upgrades. Yevgeny Yerokhin take-off december

12 industry in brief Novator air-launched premiers Andrey Fomin Among advanced air warfare gear exhibited as static displays during the MAKS 2007 air show, the Novator design bureau unveiled mockups of the Club family s long-range air-launched cruise missiles the air-to-ground 3M-14AE and antiship 3M-54AE. They are designed for use as part of the weapons suites of the MiG-35 and Su-35 warplanes, along with which they were displayed at MAKS Until recently, the aircraft of the MiG-29 and Su-27 families have been unable to use such long-range and heavy missiles weighing 1.4 t or more. Novator used to be a specialist in naval anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles. At the air show, the company made its debut in the field of aircraft weapons. The design bureau has been working in this field for a rather long time, with the efforts being based on proven solutions Back to origins The Lavochkin scientific production association, which designed several versions of jet-powered drones and unmanned recce aircraft of the La-17 series and then switched to spacecraft development, is coming back to aeroplane development. News came during MAKS 2007, when the company unveiled a mockup of its new UAV bearing the famous brand name of Lavochkin. The aircraft is dubbed La-225. Take-off s correspondent was told at Lavochkin that work on advanced drones had been under way for several years now. There are several programmes in various implemented in sea-based antiship missiles and SAMs. The Club family s missiles are derivatives of the 3M-14E and 3M-54E surface-to-surface cruise missiles widely displayed at various arms shows, differing only in the lack of the solid-fuel booster motor. Thus, the 3M-14AE has become a single-stage weapon. Its powerplant is made up by a turbofan engine developed and manufactured by the Omsk Engine-Making Design Bureau and NPO Saturn. The engine furnishes the missile with the Mach subsonic cruising speed. The 3M-54E version is a two-stage design with a supersonic warload stage powered by a solid-propellant booster accelerating it to Mach The missiles have the normal aerodynamic configuration with the pop-up wing and cruciform tail unit. The solid-fuel sustainer is housed by the tail section of the missile s stages of development, including the Krechet (Binom), Colibri and Terrier (Navodchik) remote-sensing UAVs. Displayed at MAKS 2007, the La-225 Komar mobile air recce UAV is designed to feed real-time video imagery to the ground control post. The vehicle is powered by a two-stroke petrol engine (there are several versions of the powerplant to fit it), can remain airborne for six hours and keep an eye on a perimeter up to 300 km (up to 500 km, if a relay capability is available). According to Lavochkin, the aircraft is at the flight test and experiment stage. body and has a belly-mounted air intake. On hardpoints, the Club family s missiles are inside the cruciform-empennage containers, from which they are ejected by an expulsion charge after the release from the carrier. It is such containers that were exhibited during MAKS Release can take place within the ,000m altitude bracket. The cruising altitude above water is 20 m, with the 3M-14AE hugging terrain at an altitude of m. On the terminal leg towards the target, the altitude over the sea drops to 5 10 m. The maximum range of the Club-family weapons is 300 km. the 3M-14AE s launch weight measures 1,400 kg, with the two-stage 3M-54AE weighing 1,950 kg. Depending on the variant of the missile, the warhead weighs from 200 kg to 450 kg. Another latest product from Novator, displayed together with the Su-35 aircraft at MAKS 2007, is a superlong-range two-stage air-to-air missile, which provisional designation AAM was stencilled its mockups. Two full-size AAM mockups were on display by the Sukhoi design bureau, attached to the Su-35 or laid out in front of it. However, Novator s stand lacked any information on the weapon, and its experts kept mum about it. Yevgeny Yerokhin Andrey Fomin Andrey Fomin 10 take-off december 2007

13 industry in brief BARUK, younger brother of Dan The Sokol design bureau situated in the city of Kazan is developing an advanced unmanned reconnaissance/attack aircraft system designated as Dan-BARUK. Its full-size mockup was unveiled at the MAKS 2007 air show in August. Take-off s correspondent was informed by Sokol that the system of Dan-BARUK unmanned aerial vehicles is designed to conduct aerial reconnaissance and attack individual ground targets. The operational-tactical self-contained mobile system includes the UAV, mobile control post with the flight control room and a bank of antennas, ground-based maintenance equipment including the mobile launcher, transport vehicle and a mobile service station. The UAV has a combined programmed and radio-command control system. Reliable control of the UAV will be ensured by the highly secure data link. According to the developer, the system can reconnoitre the battlefield, seeking, acquiring and identifying ground targets and getting the fix on their location for their subsequent elimination. Targets can be attacked both with onboard weapons and by other assets provided target designation via the ground control post. The system is expected to have the round-the-clock all-weather capability. The UAV s weapons are housed by two under-wing pods fitted with homing or shaped charge/fragmentation submunitions. The system is being designed as heavily commonised with the baseline Dan aerial target system in service with the Russian Defence Ministry. The same is true with the aircraft as well. Its fuselage is 4.6 m long, with its wing spanning 5.63 m. The takeoff weight is within 500 kg, and both weapon pods weigh Squadron of new unmanned aircraft 30 kg and surveillance/targeting gear weighs up to 90 kg. The system s combat radius is 150 km and its altitude bracket between 50 m and 6,000 m. The piston engine provides the km/h speed for at least hours. The UAV can take off from the mobile launcher, propelled by its booster motor. The UAV lands in a fixed-wing aircraft manner, using its four-strut landing gear, but it can descend by parachute if need be, e.g. if there is no suitable airstrip available. Belarus is said to be among the system s component suppliers. Particularly, a Belarus-made powerplant is to be used. The Dan-BARUK UAV system s unveiling at MAKS 2007 in UAC s joint pavilion proves the developer is quite serious about the programme it is running. The Rosoboronexport state corporation promotes the Sokol design bureau s products abroad. Sokol and Rosoboronexport have crafted technical and commercial proposals for potential customers. According to a Sokol spokesman, the programme is focused on export sales, moreover, there is already a concrete customer that has not been named as yet. Yevgeny Yerokhin The ENIKS close corporation a Russian leader in developing various unmanned aerial vehicles is running several development programmes on advanced UAVs for the Russian Defence Ministry and commercial users. The company unveiled an extensive palette of UAVs differing in layout, purpose and size during MAKS These are full-size examples and mockups of the T24 and T10 light UAVs, larger T90, T92 Lotos, T92M Chibis and M830 Svist and, finally, ENIKS s largest advanced UAVs the M850 Astra and E22 Berta with launch weights of 130 kg and 150 kg, respectively. The latter two aircraft E22 Berta Yevgeny Yerokhin Yevgeny Yerokhin M850 Astra are aerial targets designed for range practice of air defence missile system crews, with the Astra being an air-launched UAV while the Berta is launched from the ground. The UAVs land by parachute. Both targets are powered by ENIKS s traditional powerplants pulsejet engines; however, there are the piston-engined and turbojet Berta variants. take-off december

14 industry project Piotr Butowski MiG-29 CATCHES ITS SECOND WIND Andrey FOMIN 12 take-off december 2007

15 industry project Over 800 MiG-29 fighters have been exported since the aircraft entered production, with many of them still being in service with the air forces of almost 30 countries. Many of them were delivered from 1986 to 1995 and are now in the middle of their service life, which makes the users keen on having them upgraded. Therefore, along with designing and productionising new variants, such as the MiG-29K/KUB, MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35, MiG Corp. has been pursuing several MiG-29 upgrade programmes to meet requirements of various customers. At the same time with introducing advanced avionics and weapons, the upgrade may include overhaul, conversion to on-condition maintenance and service life extension. Depending on tasks and the depth of the pockets of the customers, the upgrade may be either deep or lite. The former option results in the MiG-29SMT featuring the highest combat capabilities for earlier built aircraft of the type. Such fighters have already been supplied to countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The MiG-29SD and MiG-29SM offer less expensive upgrade packages, with their avionics not being subject to such drastic updating. Nonetheless, these versions acquire a number of advanced capabilities in using latest weapons systems. In addition to modernising operational MiG-29s, MiG Corp. s work is in full swing on developing a heavily upgraded derivative of the Fulcrum, the MiG-35, that will hit the market after The MiG-35 s advanced technical solutions also are to be embodied in the MiG-29M/M2 intermediate derivative carrying less expensive avionics and weapons suites commonised with the MiG-29SMT. In support of NATO s East European members Since the East European MiG-29 users Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania decided to retain their Fulcrum fleets in service despite joining NATO in , the fighters have to be adapted to NATO/ICAO standards. The standards in question are met by the upgraded version dubbed MiG-29SD. MiG Corp. and a number of foreign companies have been upgrading the Slovak Air Force s MiG-29s to SD standard since Upgrading MiG-29s to MiG-29SD standard is aimed at adapting their avionics for compatibility with other NATO air forces and improving the cockpit management system to enhance combat effectiveness. Once upgraded, the fighters will be fitted with advanced US- and UK-made communications, navigation and IFF gear. Modifications to the cockpit management system include the advanced MiG-29SMT (aircraft 918) became a prototype for upgraded fighters for Yemeni Air Force, their deliveries started in The first MiG-29SMT prototype (aircraft 917) built in late 1990s and offered for RusAF featured a wide array of precision guided weapons, new avionics, glass cockpit, mid-air refuelling system and a huge additional 2,000-litre dorsal fuel cell, at MAKS 2005 airshow MFI-54 push-button colour multifunction liquid-crystal display (MFD) and PUS-29 systems control panel from the Russian Avionics company. MiG Corp. is the MiG-29SD programme integrator operating in close cooperation with suppliers of latest gear to fit the fighters Rockwell Collins and BAE Systems as well as the LOT aircraft repair plant in Trencin (Slovakia) that handles the upgrade of the Slovak MiG-29s. Similar modernisation is offered to other NATO s East European members operating MiG-29 fighters with specific improvements and advanced equipment may vary depending on the customer s requirements. Piotr Butowski Andrey Fomin take-off december

16 industry project Low-cost option Cash-strapped countries in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia needing inexpensive multirole fighters are offered the MiG-29SM low-cost upgrade package. At minimum cost, the customer can have its fighters furnished with the improved avionics and weapons suites, the latter beefed up with sophisticated air-to-air missiles and precision-guided air-to-ground weapons. In addition, the aircraft can be fitted with the mid-air refuelling system, if the customer wishes so. Similar solutions have been applied to the MiG-29BM fighters in the Belarusian Air Force s inventory since MiG-29SM improvements boil down to furnishing the N019E (N019ME) fire control radar with the ARLK additional radar channel and MVK-4 computer, modernising the infrared search-and-track (IRST) system by introducing an up-to-date data display system with the MFI-54 MFD and installing a control system to manage additional weapons. The flight navigation and communications suites have been beefed up through introducing a multifunction computer, a satnav receiver and an extra comms radio. The advanced MSP-418K podded electronic warfare system can be added as well. The MiG-29SM s air-to-air weaponry is similar to that of the MiG-29SE, but in addition it can use such air-to-ground PGMs, as the Kh-29T(TE), Kh-31A and Kh-31P guided missiles as well as KAB-500Kr and KAB-500-OD guided bombs. Using a target designation Zhuk-ME slotted-array radar designed by Phazotron-NIIR corp., the core of the MiG-29SMT s upgraded weapons control system pod or having the targets painted by external laser designators, the aircraft can use the Kh-29L and Kh-25ML guided missiles and KAB-500L guided bombs. Deep upgrade A deeper upgrade of the MiG-29 fighter, the MiG-29SMT, is offered to the Middle East, North African and Asian countries that are in cash and in need of top-notch multirole fighters. The MiG-29SMT features the sophisticated Zhuk-ME radar, a new cockpit management system, a number of latest avionics, new weapons including air-to-ground PGMs, and an in-flight refuelling system. Subject to specific customer requirements, the fighter s internal fuel capacity can be increased and Anton Pavlov Anton Pavlov MiG-29SMT (aircraft 919) featuring additional 950-litre dorsal fuel cell became a prototype for upgraded fighters for Algerian Air Force being delivered since 2006

17 industry project Anton Pavlov individual foreign-made avionics can be fitted. For instance, the Yemen-ordered MiG-29SMTs are fitted with several French-made avionics systems and those intended for Algeria mount a 950-litre extra fuselage fuel cell aft of the cockpit. The MiG-29SMT s open-architecture avionics suite is wrapped around the central computer system with multiplex data channels, which allows it to incorporate new avionics from Russian and foreign manufacturers, should the customer wish so. Compared with the N019E and N019ME radars, the slotted-array Zhuk-ME designed by Phazotron-NIIR corp. has wider scan area, an acquisition range twice as longer (120 km), a lower weight, a higher reliability and the four-aircraft multiple-engagement capability. The MiG-29SMT s cockpit management system comprises two large MFI-10-6 MFDs and HOTAS capability. Its navigation suite includes an inertial/satellite navigation system and its communications suite has advanced radios. The aircraft can carry the MSP-418K EW system in a pod. At the customer s request, the MiG-29SMT can be given an up-rated IRST and radios, navigation aids and IFF transponders of other types. The MiG-29SMT s weapons suite is commonised with the MiG-29SM and Fulcrum s latest versions the MiG-29K/KUB and MiG-35 in terms of the existing production weapons. Important features of the MiG-29SMT are its extended service life and reduced operating cost. To maintain the relevant serviceability and combat readiness of the aircraft and ensure their flight safety, the fighters are now subject to on-condition maintenance. The assigned life has been extended to 4,000 flight hours and the service life to 40 years (production MiG-29s had 2,500 hours and 20 years respectively). MiG-29SMTs are powered by RD-33 Series 3 engines, which assigned life has been extended to 2,000 hours. The RD 33 Series 3 is in production with the MMP Chernyshev Moscow-based Machine-building Plant. On-condition operation includes operational maintenance (preflight and between-flights servicing totalling within 25 min., as well as post-flight action up MiG-29SMT s glass cockpit: the main sighting and navigation information is displayed on two huge multifunction colour LCDs and HUD with HOTAS concept is implemented to 45 min.) and periodic maintenance, including dedicated inspections and tests, periodic maintenance every 200 flight hours logged or 24 months of operation, technical assessment and reconditioning every 1,000 flight hours logged (for comparison: during planned-maintenance operation of earlier-built fighters of the MiG-29 family, periodic maintenance was run every 100 flight hours or 12 months, scheduled maintenance every 200 fight hours (24 months) and overhaul every 800 and 1,500 flight hours, or 9 and 17 years respectively). MiG-29SMT fighters can result from both upgrading the existing MiG-29s MiG-29SMT and upgraded MiG-29UB main data MiG-29SMT MiG -29UB upgraded Aircraft length, m Wing span, m Height, m ,73 Take-off weight, kg: - normal 17,000 16,000 - max 22,000 21,000 Internal fuel, kg 4,200 3,380 Drop fuel tanks, l 1х1,500 1х1,500 2х1,150 2х1,150 Max combat load, kg 4,500 4,500 Max speed, km/h: - at sea level 1,500 1,500 - at high altitude 2,400 2,230 Max Mach number Service ceiling, m 17,500 17,500 Max g load 9 9 Ferry range, km: - without drop fuel tanks 1,800 1,400 - with one drop fuel tank 2,400 2,000 - with three drop fuel tanks 3,000 2,600 - with three drop fuel tanks and 6,000 - in-flight refueling Powerplant type RD-33 Series 3 RD-33 Series 2 (3) Take-off thrust, kgf 2x8,300 2x8,300 Weapons Number of hardpoints 6 6 Air-to-air missiles - medium range 2xR-27ET1 (T1) 6xRVV-AE 2xR-27ET1 (T1) - close range 6xR-73E 6xR-73E Air-to-surface missiles - general purpose 2xKh-29T (TE) 2xKh-29T (TE) 2xKh-29L, Kh-25ML* 2xKh-29L, Kh-25ML* - anti-ship 2xKh-31A - - anti-radiation 2xKh-31P 2xKh-31P Guided bombs 4xKAB-500Kr 4xKAB-500Kr (OD) (OD) 4xKAB-500L* 4xKAB-500L* Internal cannon of 30mm caliber GSh-301 GSh-301 * with usage of target designation pod or external target designation (MiG-29SEs) and making new aircraft. MiG-29SMT deliveries to the launch customers Yemen and Eritrea kicked off in 2005 and to Algeria in late The two-seat combat trainer variant of the MiG-29SMT was designated as upgraded MiG-29UB, or MiG-29UBT. It has the same avionics suite and cockpit management system, save for the radar. Its weapons fit matches that of the MiG-29SMT, except for the radar homing missile capability (an emulation mode has been provided for trainees to practice firing radar homing missiles. Upgraded MiG-29UB (MiG-29UBT) combat trainers will result from conversion of the existing MiG-29UBs and from take-off december

18 industry project MiG-29SMT prototype (aircraft 777) with different PGMs being displayed at Dubai airshow in November 2005 Piotr Butowski construction of new aircraft in this version by the Sokol aircraft plant in Nizhny Novgorod. Foreign customers stated taking delivery of modernised two-seaters in 2004 with the arrival of such aircraft to Yemen, and Algeria followed suit in The advanced MiG-29M single-seat and MiG-29M2 two-seat derivatives now under development by MiG Corp. are to be similar enough with the MiG-29SMT in terms of the avionics and weapons suites and, hence, combat capabilities. Both MiG-29M Russia made its first steps towards establishing military cooperation with Malaysia in 1993, when the Russian side voiced its readiness to share high technology with Malaysia and other ASEAN nations. Following an international tender, the United States being among the key players, Malaysia opted for Russian-made aircraft. The tender resulted in signing a contract for MiG-29 procurement. The contract is regarded as one of the most successful and largest deals cut by Russia s defence industry on the world armament market in the mid 1990s. It signifies a certain breakthrough in harnessing new markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Under the agreement, signed in Kuala Lumpur on 7 June 1994, Malaysia was to get 18 MiG-29 fighters, including two MiG-29UB combat trainers. The upgraded version which got MiG-29N designation in RMAF, featuring an improved fire-control radar and more weapons, was the subject of the agreement. The customer put forward a number of additional requirements: they were to be adapted for the humid tropical climate of the Asia-Pacific region, fitted with satellite communication and navigation systems and powered by longer life engines. Besides, the Malaysian side expressed a desire to have the range of the MiGs increased through installing an in-flight refuelling system. To accelerate the implementation of the contract, the sides agreed on phased upgrade of the aircraft and MiG-29M2 are commonised heavily, sporting virtually identical fuselage nose sections, cockpit canopies and integrated mid-air refuelling systems. The MiG-29M and MiG-29M2 aircraft differ only an extra fuel tank fitted to the singleseater instead of the rear cockpit. A similar solution has been applied to the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB carrierborne fighters now in production for the Indian Navy and will be embodied in the future MiG-35 single-seat and MiG-35D two-seat fighters. As a matter MiGs in Malaysia to the MiG-29N configuration. Russia was to deliver production MiG-29s with a minimum set of improvements (new communication and navigation equipment and underwing drop fuel tanks), which were supposed to be further equipped with a refuelling probe, an advanced fire-control radar, new air-to-air missiles, etc. under the guidance of Russian experts. All the aircraft covered by the contract were delivered in April June MiG-29Ns and two MiG-29UB twin-seaters were organised into 17th and 19th squadrons of the Royal Malaysian Air Force at Kuantan airbase, some 200 km to the East from Kuala Lumpur, on the South China Sea shore. of fact, the MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35(D) are to be commonised considerably in terms of design, with the fighters to differ only in their avionics and weapons fits. This will allow a MiG-29M/M2 cost reduction, making the aircraft more affordable to certain customers. In addition, the avionics suite proven on the MiG-29SMT will allow a considerable reduction in the MiG-29M/ M2 s development time from snagging a contract to delivering first production fighters. By the spring of 1998, joint efforts by Malaysian and Russian engineers had produced the Malaysian first upgraded MiG-29. It was powered by a longer life engine and had in-flight refuelling capability. Under the next upgrade stage all Malaysian MiG-29Ns were fitted with updated N019ME (Topaz) fire-control radar and got a provision to carry RVV-AE missiles. After two crashes RMAF operates 16 MiG-29N and MiG-29UB fighters now. All of them are in service with the 19th squadron (Cobra) at Kuantan airbase. For several years, MiG Corp. negotiates with Malaysian side on the possibilities of their next upgrade to MiG-29SM or MiG-29SMT standard Andrey Fomin 16 take-off december 2007

19 contracts and deliveries in brief Ilyushin Finance Co. to deliver planes to Cuba and Iran A ceremony of signing the contracts for delivery of advanced Russian aircraft to Cuba and Iran was held on 22 August during the MAKS 2007 air show. The contract for five Tupolev Tu s worth over $200 million in total was signed by Russian leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co. and Iranian air carrier Iran AirTour. The first delivery is to be taken in In the wake of the signature of the contract, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said that Russia and Iran intended to use their transit capabilities and air route network, noting that the decision had been taken during the bilateral talks between Iran s and Russia s transport leaders at MAKS Levitin explained that both countries have aircraft deficit that we should remedy by forming joint routes. In this connection, the transport minister tasked the Federal Air Transport Service to look into the issue in cooperation with domestic carriers. Iranian Transport Minister Mohammad Rahmati said, Russian-made aircraft have flown in the Iranian skies for many years, and we continue our cooperation. The second agreement was made by Ilyushin Finance Co. and Cuban company Aviaimport S.A. It is a memorandum on delivering two Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft and three Antonov An-148 regional airliners to Ka-32 exports on the rise Cubana Aviacion. Deliveries to the Cuban carrier will take three years from 2008 to The value of the deal exceeds $150 million. To date, Ilyushin Finance Co. have provided Cuba with three Ilyushin Il s and two Tupolev Tu-204s (atu-204ce freighter and a Tu E passenger airliner, which participated in the airshow and was accepted by Cubana Aviacion right at MAKS 2007). Alexey Mikheyev Alexey Mikheyev As Take-off learnt from Oboronprom company, all six new Kamov Ka-32A11BC helicopters have been delivered to Portugal by late October. The delivery took place under the $50 million contract signed in May 2006 in the wake of a tender held by the Interior Administration Ministry of Portugal. A group of Kamov experts is now in Portugal, accepting the aircraft together with Interior Administration Ministry specialists. Acceptance includes test flights and training of air and ground crews. The machines delivered were made by the Kumertau Aircraft Production Company (KumAPP), fitted with additional advanced flight navigation equipment and can handle fire-fighting, search, rescue and evacuation missions in addition to the tasks helicopters of the type fulfil. Earlier this year, another two Ka-32A11BC helicopters have been built for delivery to Spain, one more Ka-32A to South Korea and the first Ka-32A11BC to Japan. In all, 18 aircraft in the Ka-32A11BC version have been made and delivered to 10 countries. The Ka-32A11BC variant, which was derived in its day on order from Canada and meeting such stringent airworthiness standard, as FAR-29 in effect in that country (hence the BC letters in the chopper s designation to indicate British Columbia, a province of Canada) has been in demand in several European countries of late. The first such machines were delivered to Spain in 2004, with one more shipped to the Heliswiss company in Switzerland. Spain s HeliSurEste then received two Ka-32A11BCs in 2005 and five more last year, having become the major operator of the helicopters of the version (nine machines that became 11 this year). The growing Ka-32A11BC s popularity in Europe is contributed to by the work underway to have the aircraft certificated under the EASA air rules, with the certification expected to wrap up this year. By the way South Korea remains a traditional market for the Ka-32, with the number of the machines of the type in use in that country has long exceeded 50. Over the past three years, South Korea took delivery of two Ka-32Ts for its forest protection administration in 2004 and 2005 and three Ka-32A04 for the ROK Air Force in 2004 and another four in Two more Ka-32As were ordered by South Korea and built last year. The export of Ka-32s has been growing steadily. While it totalled seven aircraft in 2006, this year s plans provide for delivery of at least nine helicopters, with new Ka-32A11BC users Portugal and Japan appearing specifically in The Ka-32 has proven itself abroad in logging and fire-fighting operations as a dependable aircraft easy to use and maintain. Designed in Kamov s trademark coaxial rotor fashion, the helicopter features high manoeuvrability and hover stability, which is especially important, e.g. in erecting work or SAR operations in mountainous terrain or among high-rise buildings. take-off december

20 contracts and deliveries in brief Irkut makes first Su-30MKA jets for Algeria The Irkut corporation will have delivered the first six Sukhoi Su-30MKA multirole fighters to Algeria before year-end, Irkut President Oleg Demchenko said at MAKS The deliveries will be in compliance with the contract landed by Rosoboronexport last year. Under the deal, the Irkutsk aircraft plant will make 28 Su-30MKAs and deliver them to the Algerian Air Force in Sukhoi derived the fighter from the Su-30MKI and Su-30MKM exported to India and Malaysia respectively, from which the derivative differs only in certain avionics. The high degree of commonality with the production Su-30MKI/MKM enabled the Su-30MKA developer to skip making flying prototypes, launching full-rate production instead. Following factory tests, new-build warplanes will be shipped to the customer at once. According to Oleg Demchenko, the first two Su-30MKAs flight-tested by Irkut s test pilots were ferried this summer to the Sukhoi design bureau for flight trials. They have been flown at the Defence Ministry s Flight Test Centre (GLITs) in Akhtubinsk. Three more aircraft were built in September. They are designed for converting the first team of Algerian Air Force pilots who are having ground school at Sukhoi s training centre in Zhukovsky (Moscow Region), with the flight training phase to take place there as well. To this end, three Su-30MKAs were ferried from Irkutsk to Gromov LII s airfield in Zhukovsky. Following the flight trials and training the Algerian crews, the aircraft will go to Algeria, Demchenko is quoted as saying by the Interfax-AVN news agency. The Irkut president also said the plant in December would assemble one more production Su-30MKA that would be shipped to the customer at once. Under the contract, the Russian company will have delivered the first Su-30MKA six-ship tranche to Algeria by early next year. The remaining 22 aircraft will be delivered during , after which a new deal might be clinched, Irkut s president admits. The current contract provides for an option for 28 Su-30MKAs more. The deal under the option may be finalised based on the result of operating the aircraft to be delivered under the first contract, Oleg Demchenko said at MAKS Venezuelan Su-30 deliveries on schedule The contract on delivering 24 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 multirole fighters to Venezuela are right on schedule, Sukhoi Director General Mikhail Pogosyan said late in September. We have shipped as many as eight aircraft to Venezuela this year and will have delivered four more by the end of the year, he said, The Sukhoi company has always done its utmost to meet its contractual obligations. The deal for 24 Su-30MK2 fighters was clinched with Venezuela in July The first four aircraft arrived in Venezuela as far back as late last year. Su-30MK2s are made at KnAAPO plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Then An-124 Ruslan heavylifters bring them to the customer two fighters per sortie. Once in Venezuela, they are assembled and check-flown by Russian pilots and then accepted by the Venezuelan Air Force. The service will have had as many as 16 Sukhoi jets by late this year, with the remaining eight to be delivered by KnAAPO next year. This done, Rosoboronexport expects to snag a new Venezuelan contract for 24 fighters more. If this goes to plan, Hugo Chavez might be offered more sophisticated Su-35s that should be ready for delivery in At present, Venezuela is regarded as a most probable launch customer for the Su-35. Rosoboronexport Director General Sergey Chemezov confirmed this, talking to the media in Komsomolsk-on-Amur late in September. 18 take-off december 2007

21 contracts and deliveries in brief MMRCA tender kicks off at last Alexey Mikheyev The Indian government issued on 28 August the request for proposals under the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) programme stipulating for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to acquire 126 medium multirole fighters. Thus, a largest combat aircraft tender in history (estimated to be worth more than $10 billion) kicked off officially. Until that date, only requests for information had been sent to potential contenders. Based on this preliminary stage s results, a group of principal aspirants for the multibillion-dollar deal has emerged. Six companies from the United States, Western Europe and Russia are willing to take part in the Indian tender Lockheed Martin and Boeing with their F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-18E/F Super Hornet respectively, Dassault with its Rafale, SAAB and BAE Systems with their JAS39 Gripen, Eurofighter with the EF2000 Typhoon and Russia s MiG Corp. with its MiG-35. The proposals should be submitted within six months, i.e. by late February The first stage of the tender the three-month evaluation of the six contenders demonstrators is to begin already next June. Then, IAF s experts will go to the fighters countries of origin to evaluate the capabilities of Indonesia to get more Sukhoi fighters During the MAKS 2007 air show, an important event was the signature on its very first day, 21 August, of the protocol putting in their weapons suites. A short list of contenders is to be approved early in 2009, with a final decision to be taken based on the short list in following the final evaluation of the remaining contenders (that stage will mostly be focused on the commercial side of the deal, particularly, offset programmes offered by the seller, which at the Indian government s request should total 50 per cent of the contract s value). With a decision taken, a contract is to be awarded to a winner that will deliver 18 fighters to IAF, with the remaining 108 to be licence-produced by Indian corporation HAL. force the contract, under which the Indonesian Air Force will accept six more Sukhoi fighters three upgraded Su-27SKM singleseaters and three Su-30MK2 twin-seaters worth a total of $335 million during The aircraft will be an addition to the two Su-27SKs and two Su-30MKs bought by Indonesia in News about the preparations for signing the contract came a year ago, when the two countries forged an agreement on a Russian loan to finance Indonesia s acquisition of the Russian fighters. The first several planes of the new tranche are to be delivered late in According to expert opinion, the Generation 4++ MiG-35 multirole being developed and offered by the MiG Corp. will be among the main contenders in this race. The company had completed a MiG-35 technology demonstrator based on the MiG-29M2 No 154 by early The demonstrator was displayed at the Aero India 2007 air show in Bangalore in February. In all probability, the aircraft will be used in the first phase of the competitive trials in India next summer. MiG Corp. plans to launch testing prototype (preproduction) MiG-35s in the final configuration, intended for IAF, in late 2008 or early Soon after MAKS 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid an official visit to Indonesia, during which an intergovernmental agreement was signed on Russia providing a $1 billion state credit to Indonesia to finance its procurement of advanced Russian arms. The latter may include about 10 Mil Mi-17 helicopters, five more Mi-35 attack helicopters and an additional tranche of Sukhoi fighters Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the country would continue to buy Sukhoi fighters to bring their number up to 18. take-off december

22 contracts and deliveries project Su-30MKM ALREADY IN SERVICE WITH RMAF Andrey FOMIN Photos by Sergey Kuznetsov This summer, the first Su-30MKM supermanoeuvrable multirole fighters entered service with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). As was reported earlier by Take-off, the ceremony of acceptance of two first warplanes took place at the airfield of the Irkutsk Aircraft Plant, a subsidiary of the Irkut Corp., on 24 May The Malaysian delegation attending the acceptance ceremony was led by the 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. Four 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. The importance of the event was highlighted by the presence of Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister 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 Gen. Azizan bin Ariffin. By then, the fighters delivered had been used by the first group of RMAF pilots for conversion to the aircraft of a type new to them, with Russian test pilots 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 is slated for LIMA 2007 airshow at the island of Langkawi in the first week of December. 20 take-off december 2007

23 contracts and deliveries project 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 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 six aircraft of the type by the autumn, with six more to be shipped before year-end. The remaining six Su-30MKMs are to be delivered during Thus, the contract is going to be fulfilled as early as next year. The Su-30MKM fighter is a derivative of the proven Su-30MKI that has been in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF) since 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 50 are to be built by Russia s Irkut Corporation and 180 are to be licence-produced by Indian aircraft manufacturer HAL under a licence programme. To date, Irkut has shipped 32 fighters of the type to India, continuing to make and deliver licence production kits (HAL had received 24 aircraft assembly kits by early 2007, with 15 more to be delivered this year). The first Indian-assembled Su-30MKIs have been check-flown and handed over to IAF in November Since then, the number of Indian-produced Su-30MKIs in IAF s inventory has been on the rise. This year, Russia and India have clinched two more deals one for 18 Su-30MKIs to be supplied in addition to the earlier-delivered 32 in return for 18 Su-30Ks Russia delivered during The other deal covers delivery of assembly kits for licence production of 40 more Su-30MKIs (before that, the licence production programme had stipulated the assembly of 140 such fighters in India). 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 avionics 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, modifications to the IFF transponder, self-defence suite, display system and podded optronic systems. For instance, the Su-30MKM mounts an advanced French-made IFF system, with its plates situated on top the nose section fore of the cockpit. 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 incoming 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 section (98 cartridges with flares and chaff). Actually, the share of Russian-made components is larger than that on the Indian variant due to Russian components replacing 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-angle 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 system (the pod weighs 265 kg and is 2.5 m long) handles the surface search, target acquisition, identification and tracking, laser spot detection and target ranging take-off december

24 contracts and deliveries project and designation for laser-guided weapons, including smart bombs. To this end, it has the thermal imaging capability with the 3-5micron wavelength as well as two laser channels: a 1.5micron eye-safe ranging laser and a target illumination laser. The thermal imager s extra-wide field of vision in the navigation mode measures 24 x18, wide one 4 x3 and narrow one 1 x0.75. The twofold electronic magnification (zoom) is possible. The 3-5micron infrared NAVFLIR navigation system has the front-hemisphere lookdown/lookup capability with the 24 x18 optical field of view (the electronic zoom with 12 x9 angle of view) and shows the resultant imagery on the HUD and/or MFDs. The acquisition and identification range for objects measuring 20x20 m is km and those for 100x100m objects is km. The system, except the pod and cooling system, weighs mere 20 kg. The rest of the Su-30MKM s search and targeting systems are Russian-made and mostly similar to those on the Su-30MKI. They include, first and foremost, the Tikhomirov NIIP Bars phased-array radar (PAR) capable of simultaneously 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 additional 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 60 x10 and the narrow one is 20 x5, with the field of view being 3 x3 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 aircraft 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 databus 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-surface missiles (two missiles with TV command guidance), Kh-31A or Kh-31P (six ASMs with active or passive radar homing heads), 22 take-off december 2007

25 Su-30MKM in details contracts and deliveries project IRST, new IFF transmitting antennas and new HUD by Thales RWR antenna on wing s slat Forward and backward cockpits interiors Laser illumination sensor on the air intake box UV sensors lookup set oh the dorsal fairing Defence system sensors on the forward fuselage bottom side One of the two Su-30MKM prototypes, aircraft No 04, in a test flight with LDP Damocles under its starboard air intake Alexey MIkheyev take-off december

26 contracts and deliveries project Sukhoi Su-30MKM supermanoeuvrable multirole fighter Drawing by Alexey Mikheyev Lookup UV sensors AL-31FP thrust vector control engines LDP Damocles optronic system R-73E dogfight IR-guided AAM KAB-500Kr (OD) TV-guided bomb Active jammer pod KAB-1500Kr TV-guided bomb APK-9E pod for Kh-59ME guidance Rear hemisphere laser illumination sensor 24 take-off december 2007

27 contracts and deliveries project R-27ER1 medium-range semiactive radar guided AAM R-27ET1 medium-range IR-guided AAM K-36D-3,5E zero-zero ejection seat RVV-AE medium-range active radar guided AAM Glass cockpit with French-made MFDs New HUD by Thales OLS-30 IRST In-flight refuelling probe New French-made IFF transmitter antennas Bars phased array radar Forward hemisphere laser illumination sensor GSh-301 internal cannon Kh-29TE TV-guided ASM Kh-31P/Kh-31A antiradiation/antiship missile Kh-59ME TV-command ASM take-off december

28 contracts and deliveries project 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 family. The Su-30MKM carries up to eight HE gravity bombs or 500kg disposable cluster bomb units, up to thirty-two 250kg or 100kg blast/fragmentation bombs and 80, 122 and 266/340mm (420mm) 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 30mm GSh-301 automatic cannon with the 150-round ammo load. 26 take-off december 2007 In conclusion, a few words about one other feature of the Su-30MKM. The aircraft is fitted with the integral oxygen generator from the Zvezda company in the town of Tomilino, Moscow Region, led by Designer General Guy Severin. 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 maintenance 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. The Sukhoi design bureau furnished two prototype aircraft last year 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 converted 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 The other prototype completed its maiden flight in Irkutsk on 9 June 2006 with Vyacheslav and Yevgeny Averyanov at the controls. The bulk of the tests conducted at LII s airfield in Zhukovsky and at the Defence Ministry s Main Flight Test Centre (GLITs) in Akhtubinsk were complete in late spring this year, 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. With introducing the Su-30MKM into service, RMAF becomes 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 neighbouring nations in the region have to put up with less sophisticated aircraft carrying ordinary 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.

29 contracts and deliveries project Su-30MKM Drawing by Andrey Zhirnov Su-30MKM basic specifications Length, m Max range on full tanks with missiles attached, km: Wing span, m without refuelling... 3,000 Height, m with one refuelling... 5,200 Wing area, sq.m with two refuellings... 8,000 Maximum takeoff weight, kg... 34,000 Maximum combat radius, km: Limit takeoff weight, kg... 38,800 - in maritime AO, with 4xR-73E & 4xKh-31A Full fuel capacity, kg... 9,600 - in land AO, with 2xR-73E, 2xKh-29TE & 2xKh-31P... 1,010 Combat load, kg... 8,000 Time on station without refuelling, hr: Maximum speed, km/h: km away from base at high altitude... 2, km away from base at sea level... 1, km away from base Maximum Mach number Maximum endurance (limited by crew s physical abilities), hr Service ceiling, m... 17,300 Engines...AL-31FP Maximum g-load... 9 Thrust, kgf: Take-off run (normal take-off weight), m full afterburner...2x12,500 Landing roll length (normal landing weight), m full power...2x7,670 take-off december

30 contracts and deliveries avionics The development of the first Tikhomirov A principal component of the high combat capabilities of the Su-30MKM fighters, NIIP radar for the Su-27 fighter was no small whose export to Malaysia has kicked off this year, and other aircraft of the Sukhoi beer. Under a 1976 governmental resolution, Su-27 family is a sophisticated fire control system wrapped around advanced airborne the radar to fit the advanced Sukhoi jet was to radar. The Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design (NIIP) has developed the fire control systems and the radars they are based on for virtually all surpass the USAF F-15A s AN/APG-63 the versions of Su-27 fighters. With the evolution of the Su-27-family aircraft, scratch-new world s first pulse Doppler slotted-array radar radars and upgraded derivatives have been developed for them, characterised with featuring full-digital data processing, hydraulic the progress of such radar specifications, as range, simultaneous tracking and actuator, km head-on acquisition engagement capabilities, reliability, and their weight and size have been diminishing range and 10-target track-while-scan capability. and weapons suites have been expanded. Cassegrain twin-reflector, slotted-array To make the new Soviet radar superior to and passive phased-array (PAR) radars would supersede one another on board the AN/APG-63, a decision was taken to fit fighters of the Su-27 family. It is the Bars PAR that fits the fighter s latest versions Tikhomirov s radar designated as Mech (Sword) Su-30MKI, Su-30MKM and Su-30MKA being fielded with the Indian, Malaysian and with an ingenious phased/slotted array reliant Algerian air forces. on mechanical steering in the horizontal plane Tikhomirov NIIP s efforts have resulted in the unique cutting-edge phased-array and electronic beam scanning in the vertical radar, the Irbis-E, designed to equip the latest derivative, the Su-35, which made its one. debut during the MAKS 2007 air show. However, the company is not about rest on its Although the MiG-29 s radar under laurels. In line with the global airborne radar trends, it is developing a radically novel type of radar with active electronically scanned array (AESA) for use on Sukhoi s development by NIIR institute (now fifth-generation fighter now under development. The first demonstration of prototype Phazotron-NIIR Corp.) was to be equipped X- and L-band AESA components took place at MAKS 2007 in August as well. with a more customary mechanically-scanned twin-reflector Cassegrain array, the preliminary study into both options showed that the basic components of the two radars could be commonised. This promised a hefty development cost and time reduction and lower labour intensity of full-rate production. Later on, the degree of commonality of the radars increased even more: flight tests of the Mech radar on the T10-4 and T10-11 prototypes of the Su-27 revealed a number of deficiencies of the basic design. As a result, a decision was taken in May 1982 to equip the Mech a new mechanically-scanned array derived from the twin-reflector Cassegrain array. Four research institutes NIIP, NIIR, NIITsEVT and GosNIIAS pooled their efforts and did the job very quickly. The upgrade, N001, was rig-tested by the developer and GosNIIAS and then fitted on the Sukhoi T10-10 and T10-11 prototype aircraft. Already in March 1983, it was pronounced ready for TIKHOMIROV S RADARS FOR SUKHOI FIGHTERS flight tests as part of the fire control system of the Su-27 fighter. The trials were run and completed early in The joint official trials were complete two months later. Following minor improvements to the software, the S-27 fire control system with the RLPK-27 (N001) radar was recommended for service entry and its fielding with combat units as part of the Su-27 fighter began in Although not all of the ideas were embodied at the time, the N001 radar well met the then requirements. For the first time in the Soviet radar development, the N001 had the mean repetition rate mode for rear-hemisphere low-altitude target acquisition and tracking; radar update mode for cuing R-27ER (R) air-to-air missile at the initial guidance phase; and a single emitter for the radar s operation and painting the target for the missile being cued, which operated alternately in the pulse and continuous emission modes. Advanced technical solutions and up-to-date electronic componentry almost halved the equipment s weight and size over the previous-generation gear. The fighter-size target acquisition range totalled 100 km in the forward hemisphere and 40 km in the rear hemisphere, with the number of simultaneous track-while-scan targets being 10 and the simultaneously cued missiles numbering two. The radar was immune to almost all types of electronic countermeasures (ECM) at the time. Over 900 Su-27 (Su-27SK), Su-27UB (Su-27UBK) and Su-30 (Su-30K) aircraft have been furnished with RLPK-27 fire control radar systems, with the aircraft operated by the Russian Air Force and its sister services in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan as well as China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, 28 take-off december 2007

31 contracts and deliveries avionics Indonesia and Vietnam. In addition, such radars fit about a hundred Su-27SK fighters licence-produced in China as well as the Su-33 carrierborne aircraft in service with the Russian Navy s aviation arm. Derivatives of the baseline RLPK-27 fire control radar system have been the RLPK-27V and RLPK-27VE to equip the upgraded Su-27SM and Su-27SKM singleseaters and the series of Su-30MK (Su-30MK2) twin-seat multirole fighters exported en masse to a several countries since The feature of the upgraded radars is their air-to-surface capability that prompted fitting the fighters with the Baget-55 reprogrammable digital signal processor, air-to-surface mode receiver, a versatile computer system and a backbone interface switch. Unlike the baseline radar, the Su-30MK and Su-30MK2 fighters also entered service with the Indonesian Air Force in 2003, Vietnamese Air Force in 2004 and Venezuelan Air Force in December 2003 saw the first five Su-27SM fighters upgraded with such improved radar systems delivered to RusAF, with the first RusAF fighter air regiment converted to such fighters during In all, Russian and foreign customers had taken delivery of about 150 warplanes carrying RLPK-27VE radar systems. Tikhomirov NIIP has been working on advanced types of radar to fit aircraft of the Su-27 family. At the time, development of the RLSU-27 (N011) fire control radar system started, with the system to have the slotted array instead of the usual twin-reflector one and advanced digital computers. Compared to the production early 1990s. However, experts with NIIP had concluded by the time that slotted-array radar would not meet requirements in the near future. In this connection, a decision was taken to design a phased-array N011 version with electronic beam scanning in azimuth and elevation, given NIIP s wealth of experience in PAR development (NIIP had developed the world s first fighter-borne PAR fire control radar system fielded as part of the MiG-31 interceptor in 1981). The radar was dubbed N011M. The upgraded RLPK-27 s phased array, coupled with the signal processor s and computers enhanced capacity, extended the range of the radar and zones of simultaneous multiple-target tracking and engagement, increased the number of simultaneously tracked and attacked targets, enhanced the plane s combat capabilities through combining the air-to-air and air-to-surface modes and missions, and ensured the use of future weapons. The N011M featured an extra electro-hydraulic actuator steering the phased array by 30 in azimuth in each side. The reason for that was a deterioration of the radar s emission performance during electronic beam steering by an angle exceeding 40. The measure taken resulted in the N011M s azimuth scan angle equalling ±70, with guaranteed retention of the characteristics required. Phased-array-equipped RLSU-27 prototypes were mounted on the Sukhoi T10M-11 and T10M-12 aircraft for RLPK-27 (N001) the first Tikhomirov s radar for Su-27 family fighters. The picture at the top shows the maintenance of the RLPK-27 radar system installed onboard the Sukhoi Su-33 carrier-borne fighter Left: Irbis-E phased-array radar, the newest design of the Tikhomirov NIIP for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter, onboard the Su-30MK2 No 503 flying testbed being used for its trials since early 2007 RLPK-27VE also allows the use of RVV-AE air-to-air missiles; all-weather surface threats acquisition and location in the real-beam mapping, Doppler beam sharpening and synthetic aperture modes; and surface target selection, and handles the rangefinding function as well. The improvements have furnished the aircraft carrying the modernised fire control radar systems with radically novel air-to-surface combat capabilities and higher air-to-air effectiveness. RLPK-27VEs have been fitting the Su-30MKK and Su-30MK2 fighters in the China s PLAAF and PLA Navy inventory. N001, the N011 had the range extended to km and aerospace scan area expanded in azimuth and elevation. It got the simultaneous multiple-target tracking and engagement capabilities and the mapping capability. The N011 featured, among other things, enhanced ECM immunity and additional air-to-surface modes. The 960mm slotted array was steered mechanically in azimuth and elevation within ±90, thus providing the view of the whole of front hemisphere of the fighter. Prototype N011s were fitted to Sukhoi Su-27M prototypes and entered trials in the testing, but due to the termination of the Su-27M programme in the mid -90s, NIIP s latest design was embodied in another Sukhoi aircraft. A contract was signed in 1996 for 40 Su-30MKI multirole super-manoeuvrable fighters to India. One of the fighters features was to be a PAR as part of their fire control radar system. Such a radar designated as Bars was developed by Tikhomirov NIIP relying on its experience in developing the RLSU-27 phased-array system. Owing to the Bars fire control radar, the Su-30MKI can track at least 15 aerial targets at a time at a range of at least 140 km within a wide scan zone and engage at least four targets simultaneously at a long range. In the air-to-ground mode, the radar acquires and tracks surface threats in the low-, medium take-off december

32 contracts and deliveries avionics Bars phased array radar onboard the Sukhoi Su-30MKI supermanoeuvrable multirole fighter and high-resolution mapping mode, acquires and selects moving surface targets, supports terrain-following obstacle-avoiding flying, and identifies the type of the target. The Bars radar s electronic beam scanning allows using the air-to-air and air-to-surface operating modes at the same time, e.g. the radar can track a surface target while keeping and eye on airspace or attacking aerial targets acquired with long-range missiles. The Bars phased-array radar control system, which is in production by the State Ryazan Instrument Plant (GRPZ), has been in service with the Indian Air Force as part of the latter s Su-30MKI fighters. 32 such fighters have been delivered, with another 18 to be delivered soon. In addition, India has been running a programme of licence production of 140 Su-30MKIs, and a contract has been signed on extending the programme s output by 40 aircraft. All of them are to carry Bars radar control systems, with early planes to be fitted with Russian-made radars and the rest with those made in India under the Russian licence. The same Bars passed-array radar equips other Sukhoi fighters derived recently from the Su-30MKI on order from several foreign air forces. In May this year, the Royal Malaysian Air Force accepted in a ceremony the first two of the 18 Su-30MKM fighters ordered, which are being built by the Irkut corporation. The deliveries to Malaysia are to be completed in 2008, with the country to become the only country in the region, having such a formidable fleet of fighters carrying cutting-edge PARs. Algeria is soon to become one more country to receive Bars-equipped fighters. This year, delivery is to commence of the 28 Su-30MKA fighters ordered by the Algerian Air Force. The aircraft are Su-30MKI derivatives fitted with radars of the same type. Thus, the market capacity for Bars PARs is at least 276 kits, taking into account the existing orderbook alone. Talks are underway with several customers interested in Su-30MKI-type fighters. Another heavily upgraded Sukhoi aircraft, the Su-35, is to meet the market requirements in the next decade, until fifth-generation fighter hits the market. Building on the lessons learnt from the development of the Bars, Tikhomirov NIIP has developed an advanced phased-array radar designated as Irbis-E. It is fitted with a 900mm passive phased array mounted on a two-stage electro-hydraulic actuator and fitted with an advanced computer system. Latest technical solutions and cutting-edge software enabled the Irbis-E s designers to make considerable progress over the Bars, enhancing the radar s scan zones, number of simultaneously tracked and engaged targets and acquisition range (record-breaking km). No other Russian or foreign airborne passed-array radar be it passive or active can boast such a performance, including those still under development. Since early 2007, the Irbis-E s prototype has been undergoing flight tests on a flying testbed, and two more radars like that, manufactured by Tikhomirov NIIP and GRPZ, are to join tests as part of Su-35 prototypes. At the same time, GRPZ is productionising the Irbis, since the potential Su-35 market capacity is estimated at about 300 aircraft. The Russian Air Force is expected to order the aircraft too. Irbis radars can be fitted to other upgraded Sukhoi aircraft both land-based and carrierborne ones. In accordance with the global airborne radar trends, longer-run requirements are to be met by an advanced type of radar system being developed by Tikhomirov NIIP under PAK FA future tactical fighter development programme, with Sukhoi as the prime contractor. The system will be equipped with an active phased array by several ones, in fact. In the tender, Tikhomirov NIIP came up on top as the prime contractor to develop the PAK FA s multirole integrated radio-electronic system (MIRES) that will comprise not only radar systems as such, but ECM, communications and some other aids as well. The first experimental example of the AFAR-68 active phased array featuring 68 transmit-receive modules was unveiled by Tikhomirov NIIP during the MAKS 2005 air show. At MAKS 2007, the company unveiled elements of AESA prototypes to operate in two different wavebands. These arrays are intended to fit the MIRES multirole integrated radio-electronic system of Sukhoi future fighter (see separate story in this issue for details). The PAK FA s maiden flight is slated for The aircraft and all of its avionics, including the MIRES, are expected to pass all relevant tests and enter full-rate production by the middle of the next decade. Radar type RLPK-27 RLPK-27VE Bars Irbis-E Array Cassegrain Cassegrain PPAR PPAR Array diameter, mm 1,076 1, Aerial target acquisition range, km - front hemisphere > rear hemisphere >60 80 Surface target acquisition range, km - destroyer or aircraft carrier 150 > railway bridge >150 > group of tanks 50 > Tracking zone, deg.: - in azimuth ±60 ±60 ±70 ±120 - in elevation ±60 ±60 ±40 ±60 Multiple-target tracking capability >15 30 Multiple-target engagement capability Carrier aircraft Su-27 (SK) Su-27UB (UBK) Su-30 (K),Su-33 Su-30MK Su-30MKK Su-30MK2 Su-30MKI Su-30MKM Su-30MKA Aircraft delivered (ordered) ~1,000 ~160 ~280 ~300* * market estimate 30 take-off december 2007 Su-35

33

34 contracts and deliveries interview GRPZ: MAKING PHASED-ARRAY RADARS The Ryazan State Instrument Plant (GRPZ) runs full-rate production of the Tikhomirov NIIP Bars airborne phasedarray radar fitting Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighters being delivered to the Royal Malaysian Air Force, Su-30MKIs for the Indian Air Force and Su-30MKAs for the Algerian Air Force. GRPZ, which relies on cutting-edge technologies, is a recognised leader in phased-array radar (PAR) manufacture. However, the company does not rest on its laurels; rather, it is productionising the advanced Irbis-E PAR to fit the Su-35 fighter and has launched work on future active electronically scanned arrays (AESA). Take-off s Yevgeny Yerokhin visited the factory and met Director General Yevgeny Barankin who was kind enough to answer his questions. What place is occupied by PAR production in your company? Today, military products account for about 95 per cent of our plant s output, with export orders making up the mainstay of our production programme. To a large extent, the plant is living off its exports. Therefore, the advanced Irbis-E PAR designed to equip the Sukhoi Su- 35 is to become a key promising project. We regard the productionising of the Irbis-E, in the first place, as our main export programme able to keep us busy in the near future. No matter how tough times may be, we keep on pursuing the programme proactively. Today, Sukhoi and Rosoboronexport are doing their best to promote the fighter on the international market, and there is hope that the first orders will start coming soon. For now, a considerable place in plant s workload is being taken, naturally, by the Bars phased-array radar. Bars deliveries will remain our export priority for the coming year. The Bars is the baseline model of the radar, tailored to the requirements of various customers. There are no drastic differences between the versions exported, say, to India and Malaysia. They only differ in avionics components mated with the radar, with some of the avionics being French, Israeli or Russian-made. Initially, when the first Indian order was landed, the factory s production capabilities were designed to make far fewer radars. Therefore, the time from late last year to early this year proved to be rather hard, with us having to more than double the Bars output urgently under two orders awarded by Malaysia and Algeria virtually at the same time. In that situation, we had to realign our production facilities quickly and obtain loans, which enabled us to assume the necessary operational tempo and remain on schedule to meet our commitments under the three simultaneous orders. Recently, India has awarded us an extra order for more radars to fit its Su-30MKIs. What does the plant make for domestic customers? There have been virtually no orders from the Russian Air Force for advanced radars yet. The only exception is the upgrade of the fire control systems for Su-27 fighters, and even that is being done on very hard economic terms. The only firm order for our advanced radar, the long-awaited one, is that for radars to fit Mil Mi-28N helicopters. 32 take-off december 2007

35 contracts and deliveries interview Radar for Mi-28N helicopter The radar was developed by us and is designed for mapping, target acquisition, weather location and flight safety functions. In addition, GRPZ has developed and been productionising an airborne computer system and a video computer system for use on the Mi-28N. As far as the radar is concerned, the plant is on schedule and has resolved all principal technical issues. Prototypes intended for testing has been ready. In terms of production rate and volume, the anticipated full-rate production will not call for rearranging and expanding our production facilities. However, we hope that the radar s entry into service with the Russian Air Force as part of the helicopter will prompt interest of potential foreign buyers at once. The volume of production may grow then. Irbis-E radar system for Su-35 fighter conduct joint conferences to discuss routine and promising technical issues. For us to launch the productionising of the AESA radar, we need to build and new shop intended for calibrating the AESA s systems. This necessitates introduction of radically novel equipment, which is a nogo for the existing facilities. There has been a contract signed, and construction of the shop is to begin next year. However, the issue of financing remains unresolved. Actually, the government has allocated some money to pay for productionising the AESA, but the disbursement schedule is very irregular. We in the field know what and in what priority should be financed. We expect the full-scale financing under the programme to begin only by Nonetheless, we are still optimistic and certain we will Mechanical machining workshop There is also a preliminary order for an upgraded variant of the radar. The work is under way and it is feasible in technical terms. If the customers remain interested, we will be ready to develop, make and launch production of such radar in the near future. What programmes do you see as the future for the plant? We are often told, What an up-to-date plant you have! Right, but for it remain cutting-edge, it had to be developed further. We need to introduce latest technologies and set up new production facilities with eversophisticated equipment. Our principal strategy is, first and foremost, the productionising of the future radar featuring an active phased array. In this field, we have been cooperating proactively with several Russian companies and with the prime developer, Tikhomirov NIIP, in the first place. We have achieved complete organisational and technical understanding with the developer. Currently, at the development stage, we be able to do the job, because the AESA radar is to serve the backbone of the future multirole fighter s fire control system, with the aircraft both to enter service with the Russian Air Force and, a decade further down the road, to become a main Russian product on the global market. Yevgeny BARANKIN was appointed Director General of the Ryazan State Instrument Plant by the order of the head of the Federal Agency for Industry dated 7 June He has been working for the company since 1967 following his graduation from the Ryazan Radio-Technical Institute. He held the positions of senior foreman, deputy chief of assembly shop and head of the metrology department. Mr. Barankin was Deputy Director for social and utilities from 1985 to 1992 and chief of economic matters and foreign trade of the plant, and the first deputy Director General, from 1998 to He holds a master s degree in economics. take-off december

36 military aviation in brief Su-34 fielded with Air Force The first Sukhoi Su-34 multirole fighter-bomber has been accepted by the Russian Air Force s (RusAF) Combat and Conversion Training Centre (CCTC) in Lipetsk recently. Another step towards the aircraft s fielding with the service was taken on 12 September 2007 when Lipetsk CCTC crews flew the Su-34 on its first training missions. The Su-34 s delivery to CCTC was planned to take place as far back as late last year, as was stated officially during the first production Su-34 s rollout ceremony in Novosibirsk in July However, NAPO s assembly and debugging work on the first two planes followed its own track, with the first aircraft completing its maiden flight on 12 October On 15 December, both production Su-34s No 01 and 02 were delivered to the Air Force while remaining at NAPO, in fact. Upon completion of the factory trials, the Su-34 No 01 was ferried to the Russia s Defence Ministry s Chkalov Flight Test Centre (GLITs) in Akhtubinsk for military test pilots to try it. The second production fighter-bomber, the Su-34 No 02, had been ready to ferry this summer, which it did on 3 August, hopping to CCTC in Lipetsk. CCTC flight and ground crews spent a month on familiarising themselves with the aircraft and then started scheduled training flights on 12 September. In Lipetsk, the Su-34 No 02 flew its first mission with CCTC chief Maj. Gen. Alexander Kharchevsky and Chkalov GLITs instructor-pilot Col. Vyacheslav Petrusha at the controls. They were followed by two more CCTC crews of pilots Yuri Sukhkov and Yuri Gritsayenko with navigators Alexander Mayorov and Nikolay Kabantsov. At the first stage, the pilots practiced takeoff, basic handling and landing procedures. According to CCTC commander s assistant Lt.-Col. Vladimir Kokhlenko, speaking with a Take-Off correspondent, future scheduled flights will be focused on certifying the centre s pilots and navigators for the subsequent beginning of a planned study into the plane in line with the tasks assigned. The first week after the Su-34 s arrival saw CCTC chief Maj.-Gen. Kharchevsky, his deputy for research Col. Sushkov and chief navigator Col. Nikolay Kabantsov qualified for solo flights on the Su-34. It is an awesome aircraft, its engine power is similar to that of a bomber and its handling is like that of a fighter, Kharchevsky said, having completed several flights. Once the centre has completed its familiarisation with the new aircraft, it will recommend the Su-34 s operating procedures and tactics. In the near future, CCTC will handle on-site ground-school and flight conversion of flying and ground crews in combat units. To this end, an up-to-date Su-34 simulator will be set up. It maximises the simulation of real-life flight and combat procedures as realistically as possible. However, transition to en-mass conversion of combat pilots will begin once Su-34 start fielding with RusAF combat units in sufficient numbers. To date, NAPO has delivered only two production aircraft, with six Su-34 prototypes and LRIP aircraft more undergoing the joint official trials in Akhtubinsk and Zhukovsky. If all goes to plan, CCTC could be furnished with several aircraft more once they have completed their trials in Chkalov GLITs. The Su-34 entered full-rate production in 2006 under a three-year contract. Alas, one should hardly expect that the manufacture and delivery of six such aircraft before year-end would not slip behind schedule. Meanwhile, the plan provided for making up to 10 aircraft a year since According to first Vice-Premier Sergey Ivanov speaking in public on his visit to NAPO last year, 24 production Su-34s are to be built to form an air regiment the three-year contract. As many as 58 aircraft were to be delivered by In all, RusAF needs about 200 aircraft of the type, says Mikhail Pogosyan, Sukhoi s Director General, but the company plans to make a total of Su-34 aircraft, considering the prospects the fighter-bomber s export variant, the Su-32, is facing on the global market. A.Gordeyev A.Gordeyev 34 take-off december 2007

37 military aviation in brief Growing number of upgraded Su-27SMs On 15 August 2007, the Russian Defence Ministry s Web site ( reported that the fighter air regiment stationed at Tsentralnaya Uglovaya AFB in the Primorsky Territory, Russia s Far East, was about to convert to the upgraded Su-27SM fighters. This must be the 22nd Guards Fighter Air Regiment, 11th Air Force and Air Defence Army, which, thus, will be the second RusAF regiment to switch to the Su-27SM. As is known, the first five combat Su-27SM fighters were delivered to the Lipetsk-based Combat and Conversion Training Centre (CCTC) following their upgrade by KnAAPO in December CCTC subjected them to operational evaluation, with the opeval s results serving the base for Su-27SM operating and maintenance manuals devised for combat unit personnel. Then, under a three-year deal between the Defence Ministry and KnAAPO, 24 Su-27SM aircraft more were delivered between December 2004 and July 2006 to the 23rd Fighter Air Regiment at Dzyomgi AFB in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Even before the first contract was fulfilled, KnAAPO had launched overhaul and reconditioning of the airframes of another first six aircraft awaiting the upgrade to the new standard. A group of Tsentralnaya Uglovaya pilots went on a temporary duty to CCTC in Lipetsk for theoretical and flight conversion training. Three upgraded Su-27SM fighters acceptance ceremony was held by a Guards fighter air regiment in the Primorsky Territory, the Defence Ministry s Web site at reported on 3 October. At present, ground crews are familiarising themselves with the upgrades, while flying crews led by Maj.-Gen. Alexander Kharchevsky are completing the conversion training course at CCTC in Lipetsk. In the near future, the regiment in the Primorsky Territory are to accept of two more aircraft, with the modernised warplanes to be ferried to their air base in the vicinity of Vladivostok. The Defence Ministry s official reports on the Su-27SM fighter s forthcoming arrival to the 22nd Regiment indicates certain progress made under the combat units aircraft upgrade programme. Another case in point is the statement by Sukhoi s Director General Mikhail Pogosyan who spoke at MAKS 2007 on 22 August about the delivery of more than 20 upgraded aircraft to RusAF, planned for this year (he, probably, meant both the Su-27SMs and Su-25SMs). RusAF Chief tries Yak-130 out Col.-Gen. Alexander Zelin, commander-in-chief, Russian Air Force, visited the Yakovlev design bureau on 5 September and completed an inspection flight on the advanced Yak-130 combat trainer at the Gromov LII Flight Research Institute. The service chief s visit to Yakovlev was aimed at assessing whether drafting a preliminary report on the Yak-130 s official tests was on schedule, with the report to be released in November this year. Having flown the Yak-130, Col.-Gen. Zelin praised the aircraft, emphasising its flight performance, The aircraft is easy to control. It is a manoeuvrable plane featuring a good thrust-to-weight ratio and an ergonomic cockpit and being tolerant to many errors in handling. According to Alexander Zelin, a combat trainer in this class is needed by his service very much. He stressed that the combat trainer both can and should be used to train rookie to fly virtually all up-to-date fighters. Oleg Demchenko, president of the Irkut Corp. and Director General of the Yakovlev design bureau, said that completing the Yak-130 s official trials was high on the company s agenda. In this November, we are to receive the customer s preliminary report on the Yak-130. The official tests are to be completed in late The aircraft is being productionised at the same time, Demchenko said. Col.-Gen. Zelin said the Air Force would launch procurement of production Yak-130s in 2008, with the first four aircraft to be delivered to the Combat and Conversion Training Centre (CCTC) in Lipetsk in later 2008 for familiarisation and issuance of recommendations to combat units on its operation. This done, the early Yak-130s are slated for fielding with the training centre in Borisoglebsk, Alexander Zelin says. In all, RusAF plans to field at least 60 Yak-130s by As Oleg Demchenko said during the air show in Paris in June, the State Armament Programme for the Period until 2015 stipulated the number of aircraft, with additional orders being mulled over. The wings of the Yak-130s earmarked for RusAF will be made in Irkutsk and airframes in Nizhny Novgorod, with the Nizhny Novgorod-based Sokol plant to handle the combat trainers final assembly as well. In all, the Irkut Corp. has plans for over 150 Yak-130s to be delivered in the coming years in cooperation with Sokol. According to Oleg Demchenko, this year, the aircraft plant in Irkutsk has launched work under the first foreign contract for aircraft of the type, under which 16 Yak-130s are to be exported to Algeria. The first six aircraft are to be delivered in 2008, with the remaining 10 to follow suit in Concurrently, talks are underway with other potential foreign buyers. Oleg Demchenko says his company has 82 orders for the Yak-130. We are facing the future with confidence, Irkut s president said, Air forces around the world are to start renovating their trainer aircraft fleets in Only Russia, Italy and South Korea can now offer such advanced trainers. We are leading other countries by years in this respect and, hence, expect to get a large slice of the market. Alexey Mikheyev take-off december

38 civil aviation in brief Two more Il-96s built Sergey Sergeyev As many as two advanced wide-body aircraft of the Ilyushin Il-96 family had been completed and had kicked off flight trials on the verge of the MAKS 2007 air show. Leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co. pays for their construction by the VASO aircraft plant in Voronezh. The first of the planes is the lead freighter in the new Il T version, which conducted its maiden flight in Voronezh on 14 August. It was made for the Atlant-Soyuz air company owned by Moscow s city hall. New aircraft for Russian carriers On 23 August, in a ceremony during MAKS 2007, Atlant-Soyuz, Ilyushin and Ilyushin Finance Co. signed an acceptance report for the first Il T (RA-96102) to enter flight trials with the carrier s participation. The new transport is to be the first aircraft of the type in Atlant-Soyuz s fleet being formed in line with a strategy of entering regular cargo operations. In this connection, Atlant-Soyuz Director General Vladimir Davydov and his Ilyushin Finance Co. s opposite number, Alexander Rubtsov, signed a memorandum, under which Ilyushin Finance Co. is to lease five Il T freighters to the airline. The first two of them are to start cargo operations by the end of 2007, with the rest to follow suit before The second brand-new Il-96 participating in this year s MAKS show was the Il (RA-96018) airliner made by VASO in August for use by the Rossiya state transport company. The company has in its inventory two Il PU airliners designed for carrying the Russia s President and other governmental officials. Unlike the two presidential jets, Rossiya s new buy has the traditional passenger layout. Alexey Mikheyev Several major contracts were made on the very first day of the MAKS 2007 air show. Airlines 400, which operates out of Moscow and has assumed the Red Wings brand name this year, and Ilyushin Finance Co. signed on 21 August a financial leasing contract on six Tupolev Tu s. Their deliveries are slated to begin in 2008, with the lease s duration set at 15 years. On the same day, the government-owned Rossiya airline turned a six Antonov An-148 regional aircraft agreement into a firm financial leasing order and signed a contract of sale of six more aircraft of the type. According to expert estimates, both deals are worth in the neighbourhood of $500 million. Another agreement between the major Russian leasing company and Rossiya, dated 21 August, is memorandum of understanding on one more Il long-range widebody aircraft. To ensure deliveries of advanced An regional aircraft in , Ilyushin Finance Co. and VASO on 23 August clinched a firm deal on acquisition of 34 airliners of the type. They are designed for Russian and foreign carriers. On the same day, the East European Air Transport Association (EEATA) signed a memorandum on acquiring five An-148 planes in the cargo version for the Polish airline Exin and Hungarian carrier CityLine Hungary. Thus, by the time MAKS 2007 wrapped up, the number of firm orders for the An-148 had totalled 45, with 89 options. To fit the An-148s in production by VASO with engines, Ilyushin Finance Co. and Motor Sich signed a contract of sale on the very first day of the air show, under which the Zaporozhye-based engine manufacturer is to deliver 74 D engines and 37 AI-450-MS auxiliary power units. Alexey Mikheyev 36 take-off december 2007

39 civil aviation in brief Tu-204 acquires Red Wings Another low-cost air company is emerging in Russia. Airlines 400, the carrier trying to establish itself on the market under the Red Wings brand name, has started taking delivery of Tupolev Tu aircraft from Ilyushin Finance Co. leasing company. The lessor handed the first aircraft (RA-64018) over to Airlines 400 for a term of 15 years during a ceremony at Moscow s Vnukovo Airport on 2 October. Over the past 18 to 24 months, we have analysed the proposals of aircraft and have opted for the Russian-made Tu for use with the Red Wings project, Airlines 400 Director General Konstantin Teterin says. We chose the aircraft because it meets our corporate business model and our specificity best. According to the carrier s experts, the Tu is to be most effective in domestic low-cost operations the opinion shared by Ilyushin Finance Co. s Director General Alexander Rubtsov who said, The aircraft of the type are very competitive and are going to be 15 per cent more effective in service than the Boeing 737s used by Sky Express. Today, the Tu from Aviastar-SP in Ulyanovsk meets ICAO s emission, noise and navigation precision standards, and its operating temperature restrictions have been scratched, with its service life having been extended to 15,000 flight hours or 15 years of operation. Thus, Red Wings becomes the first Russian low-cost carrier operating a fleet of modern Russian-built airliners. The company is intent on flights to be within 3 hr and services to Murmansk, Chelyabinsk, Samara and Kaliningrad provided so far. Now, two low-cost carriers operate from Vnukovo GermanWings, which flies Airbus A319s on international routes, and Sky Express using Boeing 737s on domestic lines. Red Wings joins them now, with its experts believing there will be no competition with Sky Express on domestic services yet because the companies will have different aircraft, specificities and, to some extent, destinations served. The Tu (RA-64018) Red Wings leased on 2 October is the second plane of the type in the carrier s stable. In May this year, the Roand Image Graphics company developed a corporate identification of the Red Wings brand for the Airlines 400 company, particularly, its aircraft s exterior design. The first Tu (RA-64020), sporting the new paintwork, left the paint shop of the Bykovo Aircraft Repair Plant in June and soon started operating under Red Wings flag, albeit charter flight so far. The aircraft is owned by Ilyushin Finance Co. too and had since 2003 been leased to KrasAir that subleased it to Airlines 400 in the summer. The Tu No had been owned by KrasAir since 2000 as well, but it has been bought by Ilyushin Finance Co. earlier this year along with another aircraft of the type (RA-64019). The airliner has a 210-seat single-class cabin. Ilyushin Finance Co. plans to deliver the RA to Red Wings in coming December. However, Red Wings is not about stop at that. At the MAKS 2007 air show in August, the carrier awarded Ilyushin Finance Co. a firm order for financial leasing of six brand-new Tu-204 aircraft in various configurations, including the Tu-204SM upgraded model now under development. Their deliveries are slated to begin in late 2009 or early Therefore, to plug the hole while the carrier is waiting for the new Tu-204s, the lessor is pondering temporary commissioning of several earlier-built aircraft of the type, e.g. those previously operated by Siberia Airlines (S7) and now flown by Aviastar-TU the Tu s No and 64017, which were built in 1993 and Another Tupolev aircraft could be delivered to Red Wings as early as next March. In addition, at the same time with delivering the RA to Red Wings on 2 October, Alexander Rubtsov and Konstantin Teterin signed another document aimed at developing the carrier s aircraft fleet an agreement on the delivery of five more Tu s worth about $160 million in total. Thus, in the coming years, the Tu-204-family planes in service with Red Wings are to total 14, which will make the airline the major operator of aircraft of the type. The new Russian low-cost carrier is expected to arrange the booking of tickets two to three weeks in advance via the Internet, like other discounters do. Yevgeny Yerokhin Yevgeny Yerokhin take-off december

40 civil aviation event THE TIME HAS COME First airworthy Sukhoi SuperJet 100 rolled out in Komsomolsk-on-Amur The time has come was the motto of the long-awaited event the rollout of the first flying prototype of the advanced Russian regional airliner, the Sukhoi SuperJet 100, conducted by the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company on the premises of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) on 26 September. The first SuperJet 100 rolled out of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft hangar in a well-rehearsed top-class ceremony attended by First Vice-Premier Sergey Ivanov and leaders of Russian and foreign companies involved in the Sukhoi SuperJet 100 programme, airlines and a thousand other guests and media people. The ceremony marked another stepping-stone to developing the advanced Russian regional jet. The first flying SuperJet serialled now enters ground tests in the run-up to flight trials. According to Sukhoi Director General Mikhail Pogosyan, the maiden flight is slated before year-end. 38 take-off december 2007 The aircraft rolled out in Komsomolsk-on- Amur on 26 September is actually the second KnAAPO-made Sukhoi SuperJet prototype. The first one (c/n 95002) was assembled late last year and flown by an Antonov An-124 Ruslan heavylifter to Zhukovsky where it has been undergoing its static tests at TsAGI s labs. In all, six prototypes are to be built under the SuperJet test programme. On the eve of its rollout, the media were shown in KnAAPO s shops the fuselage and wing of the third prototype (c/n 95003) to be completed before the end of the year, as well as parts of the airframes of next three aircraft. All of them are to enter testing next year. As far as the third prototype is concerned, three basic fuselage components F-2, F-3 and F-4 have been made and mated, and the wing panels have been completed. According to KnAAPO s SuperJet Production manager Vladimir Bychenko, who spoke with Takeoff s correspondent, the completed fuselage nose and tail sections with the empennage (F-1, F-5 and F-6) were slated for delivery to KnAAPO by NAPO in Novosibirsk on 30 September, after which KnAAPO was to launch final assembly of the airframe of the prototype c/n Next two prototypes (c/n and 95005) are designed for flight tests while the sixth one (95006) for endurance ones. Fuselage and wing parts are being made by KnAAPO to fit these aircraft. Work is underway concurrently on prototypes, which gives hope that all of them will join the certification programme at small intervals during The programme is very

41 civil aviation event Mikhail Pogosyan, Sukhoi s Director General (left), and Sergey Ivanov, Russia s first Vice-Premier, at the Sukhoi Superjet 100 roll-out ceremony Yuri Kabernik Andrei FOMIN All photos by the author unless stated tough: the SuperJet is to be certificated in late 2008 when the first production aircraft are to be delivered to the launch customer, Aeroflot Russian Airlines. Attending the rollout ceremony, Aeroflot s boss Valery Okulov concluded his welcome address by wishing well to the aircraft s developers and voices his hope for the first SuperJet s delivery to be on schedule. Sukhoi Director General Mikhail Pogosyan agreed that the certification s unprecedented tight schedule posed the main hurdle for the programme but his company and subcontractors had been doing their best to stick to the schedule. Stringent (to the day!) compliance with the first SuperJet s rollout schedule is a good case in point. At the same time with the certification tests, KnAAPO will launch production in According to Vladimir Bychenko, the first 13 aircraft are planned for production next year, while the proactive renovation of KnAAPO s production facilities is to allow production of as many as 30 airliners in The annual SuperJet output is to be driven to 60 by late in 2010, and then to 70 afterwards. About 115 million euros are to be invested in the production lines overhaul. The money is to be obtained from several sources, including the governmental financing, Sukhoi s and KnAAPO s own funds and money provided by leasing companies. To date, KnAAPO has used about 50 million euros on setting up an upto-date engineering centre, which provided the paperless preproductioning technology, and on acquiring manufacturing equipment from major foreign companies. Productionising the SuperJet, KnAAPO takes delivery of automated assembly systems allowing manual assembly work to be minimised. This steps up quality and precision of the production processes and saves time. Production aircraft are to be assembled at the production line, with the final assembly shop being furnished with six work areas, namely the automated jigless fuselage assembly-hole laser assembly area (the first such area in Russia), wing/fuselage mating area; powerplant/airframe integration area, aircraft system assembly area to fit the hydraulic, oxygen and fire-suppressant systems, and other areas. At the same time, six aircraft will be in the assembly shops, moving from area to area. A production SuperJet is to be completed in only 28 days. The SuperJet cooperative manufacture also involves two more Russian aircraft take-off december

42 civil aviation event Yuri Kabernik Right: SaM146 new-generation turbofan designed and manufactured by Russia s NPO Saturn in cooperation with French SNECMA onboard the first Sukhoi Superjet 100 flying prototype plants NAPO (Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association) making fuselage nose and tail sections and empennage and VASO (Voronezh Aircraft Production Joint Stock Company), the manufacturer of the new airliner s composite parts and components that make up 10 per cent of the structure. The SuperJet s wing high-lift devices, elevators, rudders, hatches, fairing and the inboard leading-edge blendings are made of composites. NPO Saturn and SNECMA handle the development and manufacture of the SaM146 engine to power the SuperJet. The two companies set up the PowerJet joint 40 take-off december 2007

43 venture to this end. For the first flying SuperJet prototype to be completed and rolled out on time, Saturn in August delivered two production SaM146 engines (No 005 and No 006) to KnAAPO, people from the Aircelle company assembled the engine nacelles at KnAAPO, and the nacelles then were mounted on the aircraft. In all, 10 SaM146 engines are to be made in support of the SuperJet s certification test programme. For the prototype to go on its maiden flight, Saturn shipped a flight-capable SaM146 (No 003/2) to Gromov LII Flight Research Institute in July, where it was installed on the Il-76LL flying testbed (RA-76454) that was displayed at the MAKS 2007 air show. The first flight of the SaM146-powered flying testbed is planned for October Along with tests of several SaM146 prototypes at Saturn s test rigs since last summer, the flying testbed trials will allow the required reliability and safety of the SuperJet s early and followon test missions to be provided. The SaM146 avionics to fit the airliner. This is done in cooperation with their Russian partners under the programme. Delivery and after-sales support will be performed by a Russo-Italian joint venture, which establishment was announced during MAKS Headquartered in Venice, SuperJet International will have 51 per cent of its stock owned by Alenia Aeronautica (a division of Finmeccanica) and 49 per cent by Sukhoi. The venture will tackle marketing, sale and after-sales support of the Sukhoi SuperJet 100 in Europe, America and a number of other regions of the world. According to Mikhail Pogosyan, Alenia Aeronautica is to play an important part in the SuperJet 100 s certification under the EU s air rules. The participants in the SuperJet 100 programme are well versed in certifying their components on the European and global markets. This is a very important factor that will facilitate quick certification of the advanced aircraft, he said. civil aviation event As of October, the SuperJet 100 orderbook was as follows: 30 aircraft for Aeroflot with 15 more as an option, 10 for the Financial Leasing Company, 15 with 10 options for AirUnion, six with four options for Dalavia, 10 with 10 options for ItAli and two with two options for Armavia. The first airliner is estimated to be delivered to the launch customer, Aeroflot, in November 2008 and to the first foreign customer, ItAli, in December According to Sukhoi managers, the number of firm orders is to reach 100 by year-end and total 300 in Sukhoi estimates the capacity of the market the SuperJet 100 can enter by 2025 at 800 aircraft, of which 70 per cent are designed for export. The production SuperJet s flyaway cost will stand at $28 million, according Sukhoi Director General Mikhail Pogosyan speaking in Komsomolsk-on- Amur. At the inauguration of the SuperJet International joint venture in Venice, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Financial Director Left and centre: wing and fuselage assembly for the second Sukhoi Superjet 100 flying prototype (No 95003). Top: airframe panels manufacture by means of Broetje automatic processing system will be certificated under the Russian, EU and US air rules, which will permit the SuperJet s operation in any country. In accordance with the SuperJet s service-entry schedule and under the existing contracts, Saturn shall launch deliveries of production SaM146s in According to a Saturn spokesman, 267 SaM146s are planned for delivery to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft in , of which 167 have already been firm orders. Major French, German, US and other companies handle the development, manufacture and delivery of systems and By the time the first flying SuperJet was rolled out, the developer had snagged 73 firm orders, including 10 from Italian carrier ItAli and 61 from Russian airlines, with 41 options. In September, a customer from the former Soviet Union appeared a contract was signed on 14 September in Yerevan for two SuperJet 100/95LR extended-range planes and two options for Armenian carrier Armavia. The deal, which value is estimated at $55 60 million, will be financed by Russian bank VTB. The first aircraft for the Armenian airline is to be delivered late in Maxim Grishanin offered a new assessment of the market. In accordance with the socalled conservative forecast, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft with its SuperJet 100 regional airliner eyes 15 per cent of the global market of airliners, whose total capacity until 2022 is estimated by Boeing at 6,000 units. Thus, we are talking here about as many as 900 SuperJet 100s. Considering the advanced 120-seat SuperJet variant now under development, Maxim Grishanin said in Venice, the total number of possible sales of the whole SuperJet family may well be 1,800 aircraft. take-off december

44 cosmonautics in brief FSA Chief on prospects of Russian space exploration The head of the Federal Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov, has held several news conferences over the recent months, in which he shared with the media his vision of the state and future of the Russian space exploration industry. According to the FSA chief, Russia will have orbited six more spacecraft of the GLONASS satellite navigation system that is to start serving Russian users already in 2007 and provide global coverage by late According to Anatoly Perminov, the Russian constellation will have numbered 103 spacecraft, and its status has improved considerably since 2004 with the number of improve navsats having hiked from 25 per cent in 2004 to 60 per cent at present. The FSA head said the space companies net income had tripled over the past three years, with their earning capacity having more than doubled. There remained only seven loss-making companies out of the 103. The annual salary growth in the industry is 25 percent, Perminov said. Dwelling on the future of manned flight in space, he remarked that the Clipper reusable spacecraft had not been approved by a scientific and technical council. Scientists believes that another stage of developing an advanced manned transport space system should be the deriving of a spacecraft from an existing design. According to Perminov, in the world there is an aerospace-plane programme graveyard: there were eight to 12 such spacecraft under development. Unfortunately, none of the programmes, except the US Space Shuttle, has succeeded. The chief of FSA thinks that an advanced Russian manned system will have been developed by 2015, and by 2020 with the ISS to wrap up its operation, there will have been a new-type Russian space station in orbit to be used for inorbit assembly of spacecraft for lunar and other planetary missions. Anatoly Perminov did not rule out foreign participation in developing such a station. Construction of the new orbital base is now part of the medium-term Russian space exploration programme for the period until The FSA leader specified that the agency was not going to pull out from the Baikonur space launch facility in the near future. Responding to the question whether there is a chill in the Russian- Kazakh joint space operations, he said, The idea is outlandish. Perminov sad he had had talks with Talgat Musabayev, head of Kazakhstan s space agency. We have got no problems, and more than 40 agreements on joint work have been signed, he maintained, saying that recurring minor disagreements and technical issues are settled in the regular course of work. I see no alternative to Kazakhstan as far as manned space flights are concerned, the FSA boss concluded. Speaking about plans to explore the Moon and Mars, Anatoly Perminov said that they should have a scientific base and one should not stoop to resort to adventurism. In his opinion, the cost of sending a manned spacecraft to the Mars is estimated at $40 50 billions. Russia s budget would, probably, survive that, but FSA s coffers cannot, he added. Nonetheless, Perminov specified, We have come up with proposals for space exploration for the period until The proposals cover all aspects, including lunar and Martian missions. Now we have to obtain relevant financial and material resources. The proposals cover several fields, particularly, further use of near-earth space, development of the Moon and a flight to Mars. Readiness for landing on the Moon is to be achieved by 2025, a lunar base is to be set up between 2027 and 2035 and a mission to Mars is slated for 2035 or later. According to Anatoly Perminov, FSA has not decided yet on the location for a new space launch centre. If we develop an advanced manned spacecraft, e.g. for Moon missions, it will need an advanced launch vehicle that needs a new launch pad. Where the latter should be built remains undecided yet, but I think we should consider not only Baikonur to this end, but the territory of Russia as well, Perminov said. No matter where we start [construction of a new launch pad], we have to start from scratch. It is a very difficult thing to do in economic and technological terms. Still, it is doable. Touching on international cooperation, FSA s chief noted that cooperation with other countries has surged recently. The agency cooperates with 38 countries. Perminov noted, among other things, that good relations with Arab countries are evolving as far as remote Earth sensing, space communications systems and manned flight programmes are concerned. Commenting the South Korean launch vehicle development programme and construction of a launch centre in the Republic of Korea, Anatoly Perminov said relevant agreements had been reached and contracts signed and Khrunichev would roll up its sleeves in late Essentially, Russia is offering one stage and the launch complex. Full-scale work is to begin in 2008, and the first flight under programme may take place in 2009, he added. As to a first Russian space tourist planned to fly to the ISS in 2009, Anatoly Perminov said he would be a businessman turned politician. FSA s chief decline to name the man, citing the cosmonaut candidate s personal request of anonymity for a while. Commenting on rumours of the feasibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin s space flight, Perminov denied any FSA plans to this end, I do not think it is serious. We have not planned any thing of the kind, let alone doing it for the president. The matter is not on the agenda. I guess the President has enough places to visit and enough work to do. 42 take-off december 2007

45 cosmonautics in brief Latest space rocket designs at MAKS 2007 Igor Afanasyev By tradition, space rocket hardware became a key element of the MAKS 2007 air show. Truth be told, there were not too many truly advanced designs. For instance, the Makeyev design bureau displayed a mockup of the reusable space rocket system dubbed Rossiyanka. The project, no doubt, became a rocket sensation of the air show. The system, which designed under the Federal Space Programme, resulted from the cooperation among Makeyev, KBKhA, KBKhM, NIIMash (Nizhnyaya Salda), NPOA and KBTM. Under the federal programme, the partially reusable booster rocket is to insert 25 35t spacecraft into low orbit while slashing the specific launch cost by 1.5 times and reducing the number of fallout areas by far. The Rossiyanka features a multi-unit first stage comprising four 4.1m-dia. tanks arranged around the tail section and interstage adapter; return of the first stage to the launch site along a ballistic trajectory and vertical parachuteless landing by means of the sustainer and control engines; and liquefied natural gas (LNG) or methane (which makes up 90 per cent of LNG) to be burnt as fuel. Measuring 35.6 m long, the rocket has a launch weight of 750 t and carries a payload of 21.5 t. The first stage can be used 25 times. The carrier s lifting capacity could be increased to 35 t by increasing its size or using an oxyhydrogen second stage, while retaining the system s layout and returnability of its first stage. KBKhA is developing single-type sustainers (210 t of thrust in the first stage and 240 t in the second one), KBKhM and KBKhA are co-developing 11t control engines and NIIMash handles the development of attitude engines. The total cost of Rossiyanka s development is estimated $ million, and the launch cost is to be within $19 million. The LV will be able to blast off from the Kapustin Yar or Baikonur launch sites. In the latter case, the Energia launch vehicle s ground infrastructure may be used. The wingless variant of the Clipper manned craft mounted on the mockup to simulate the payload came as a surprise, because the Clipper s future remains hazy. The Makeyev design bureau s exposition also included a mockup of a new rocket for the Air Launch system. Unlike the previous configuration, its stages have the same diameter 2.66 m. The solution stems from the striving for using the Bloc E s (third stage of the Soyuz carrier) production tooling available at the Progress plant in Samara. The public at MAKS could see a mockup of the old launch vehicle of the Shtil family a submarine-launched ballistic missile derivative. Khrunichev displayed mockups of the Angara and Proton LV families, long known by experts and space exploration enthusiasts. However, they included novelties as well, e.g. the Angara-5P two-stage LV designed for inserting the manned system Khrunichev is developing based on its TKS manned spacecraft expertise, and as many as three different versions of the Angara-1 light launch vehicle. TsSKB-Progress from Samara unveiled its R-7 family rocket mockups the Soyuz-2-1b, Soyuz-2-3 and 16 17t-capable Soyuz-2-3. While the first two are known, the third one became the second sensation after the Rossiyanka. Some data on the rocket have been circulating for a Igor Afanasyev while, but the general look and basic characteristics of the future launch vehicle were unveiled during MAKS Despite the Soyuz-2-3 designation shared with the baseline model, the third variant is radically different rocket featuring enlarged strap-on boosters to house NK-33-1 engines, just like the central booster will. To carry manned spacecraft, the third stage is to be powered by the RD-0110 engine. Fitted with the advanced efficient RD-0124, it will haul unmanned spacecraft. The second- and third-stage blocks have the same diameter, due to which the rocket measures roughly the same 46 m despite its launch weight growing up to 481 t. In spate of a considerable difference from other versions, the 17t-capable Soyuz will likely to launch from a modernised launch complex of the Soyuz rocket, if the programme goes ahead, of course. Meanwhile, the future of this interesting rocket, which load ratio exceeds those of the Zenit and Angara, is a big question mark. The Soyuz-2-3 line stems from the Yamal, Aurora/Onega and Yamal-1 designs that were considered in but have been as far back from being embodied in metal, as they were a decade ago. Igor Afanasyev take-off december

46 cosmonautics mission ISS NOW RUN BY FEMALE The first Malaysian astronaut s orbital trip Alina CHERNOIVANOVA Photos 44 take-off december 2007 There has been a change of the crew of the ISS. In October, a woman, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, headed a long-term orbital expedition for the first time in history of space exploration. She and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko were accompanied to the ISS by the first Malaysian cosmonaut Sheikh Muszafar Shukor. He spent 11 days in orbit and came back to the Earth together with the ISS-15 crew cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Fyodor Yurchikhin.

47 Another Russian spacecraft went to the International Space Station on 10 October. The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle hauling the Soyuz TMA-11 blasted off the 1st Launch Pad at Baikonur at hours Moscow time, with the spacecraft docking to the Zarya functional cargo unit of the Russian segment of the ISS two days later. The 16th main expedition comprising Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson as well as the first Malaysian angkasawan Sheikh Muszafar Shukor arriving under the 13th expedition programme (angkasawan is the derivative of the Malay word angkasa outer space). The three have long space-related careers. Malenchenko first went to orbit in 1994, having worked 126 days at the Mir space station. He flew again in September 2000 as part of the STS-106 mission on board the Atlantis space shuttle under the programme of preparing the ISS for the arrival of the first permanent crew. Third time Malenchenko came to the orbit in April 2003 as crew commander of the 7th main expedition. While in orbit, Malenchenko got married, with his marriage of Russian-American Yekaterina Dmitiryeva being effected in absentia (under the law of Texas, the bride was present at the Mission Control Centre in Houston during the marriage ceremony). This was the first ever in-orbit marriage in history of space exploration. This flight was not the first one to Peggy Whitson. She spent six months at the ISS as the first researcher astronaut in 2002, having conducted 21 experiments in the fields of microgravity and medicine. However, this time around, she has much greater authority, having become the first female ISS crew commander. During the six month stint, she will have a crew of two men under her command, one of whom is Malenchenko and the slot of second flight engineer is to be occupied by alternating personnel. Until late October, it had been occupied by NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson, who came to the ISS as part of the STS-117 mission on the Endeavor shuttle in August this year. The STS-120 mission s Discovery brought on 25 October US astronaut Daniel Tani to replace Anderson. Tani will have stayed at the ISS until December when he will be replaced by ESA astronaut Leopold Eyarts, who is to come on the Atlantis shuttle (STS-122). Finally, US astronaut Garret Reisman will replace Eyarts in February 2008, coming on board the STS-123 mission s Endeavor. The ISS-16 crew led by Whitson will pursue a complex and rich programme. With the arrival of the Discovery to the ISS, a new construction phase began the shuttle, also commanded by a female NASA astronaut, Pamela Melroy, brought the second module, Node 2, into orbit. The first one, dubbed Unity, has been part of the ISS since Node 2 made in Italy will link three lab modules the US Destiny, the EC s Columbus and Japan s Kibo. Columbus will be brought to the ISS in December while Kibo cosmonautics mission in early This will beef up the capabilities of the ISS, allowing its crew to increase from three to six. The Whitson-led crew also will receive two Progress cargo craft and the first EC freighter, the ATV Jules Verne, which launch is slated for January As usual, the main expedition s programme provides for several dozen experiments. The third member of the Soyuz TMA-11 s crew, Malaysian Shukor, went to outer space for the first time, but his space epic has gone down to history of Malaysia. Mulling over sending a man into outer space began in Malaysia as far back as the late 1980s in response to a proposal from the Soviet government. However, only in 2002 did Malaysia s National Space Agency sate that it was ready to meet all relevant requirements. A space flight of a Malaysian was specifically stipulated in the major package agreement between the two countries (under the agreement, Malaysia procures an almost $1 billion worth of Su-30MKM fighters and send a Malaysian national to outer space). Soon after clinching the deal, the Malaysian Space Agency started accepting applications from volunteers eager to become the first angkasawan. Applications were accepted via the Internet, with anybody above 21 having the right to apply. In the end, out of 11,000 applicants, about 3,700, who met the age and education requirements, were selected, of whom subsequent additional tests and medicals left only four, including a female. The four were further reduced to two Sheikh Muszafar Shukor, who, in the end, went to the ISS with the short-duration crew. His backup was Faiz Bin Halid. 35-year-old Shukor is an orthopaedic surgeon. He teaches medicine in Kebangsaan University. During his 10-day space flight, he conducted a series of experiments, including those aimed at researching cancer cells, proteins and microbes as well as an experiment official dubbed Malaysian Cuisine in Outer Space. Truth be told, there was not much food in question (the pack of nine Malaysian national dishes cooked to Islamic standards (halal) weighed 550 g, but the angkasawan managed to treat his comrades-in-orbit right after the end of Ramadan. By the way, since Shukor also was the first Muslim to be in outer space during Ramadan, the Malaysian ulema had devised for him the world s first Muslim cosmonaut memo that allowed him to pray in accordance with special rules. Shukor s space flight inspired Malaysia so much that the country s vice-premier arrived in Russia to greet the angkasawan upon his return from orbit and, at the same time, talk with the Russians about having the other Malaysian cosmonaut, Faiz Bin Halid, fly to the ISS. The initiative came as take-off december

48 cosmonautics mission a pleasant surprise to the Russian Federal Space Agency (FSA). However, the other surprise could hardly be called pleasant: the Soyuz TMA-10 s lander with the Malaysian on board followed a ballistic trajectory. On the morning of 21 October, Oleg Kotov and Fyodor Yurchikhin, who were members of the 15th main expedition, and Sheikh Muszafar Shukor left the ISS and headed for the Earth. At hours Moscow time, the lander was to touch down 85 km north of the town of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan. However, at 14.18, two minutes after entering the atmosphere, Oleg Kotov reported to the Flight Control Centre (TsUP) that the onboard computer opted for ballistic landing for some reason. About a minute after the sitrep, the lander s crew experienced g-load exceeding the normal one by two times about 8.5 g. According to Kotov, electronic gear was sparking and there was a bit of smoke during the descent. At hours, two minutes earlier than it would have happened in the automatic controlled descent, the main parachute deployed. While I was telling Sheikh to hold on, we already landed, Fyodor Yurchikhin reminisces on the ballistic descent. About a minute earlier that the estimated time, the lander s soft landing motors kicked in, and the capsule touched down 10 km away from the Kazakh town of Tolybai at hours, undershooting more than 400 km. Already at hours, the first search-and-rescue helicopter landed by the Soyuz capsule lying on its side. The lander s crew did not even have enough time to get really scared. According to doctors, the Malaysian cosmonaut s pulse rate was 72 beats per minute and that of Yurchikhin and Kotov beats per minute. Soon afterwards, the three were flown to Zvezdny Gorodok out of Moscow, and Energia s ad hoc technical commission launched investigation into the reasons behind the ballistic descent. Mention should be made that last time a Soyuz spacecraft landed in a ballistic descent was May 2003, when Nikolay Budarin, Kenneth Bowersox and Donald Petit were returning from the ISS. They were subject to 8.1g overload and the craft landed 460 km away from the estimated location. Later on, investigation revealed that the lander went into ballistic descent due to an inadequate reaction of the BUSP-M descent control unit part of the descent control system to signals it received from the KIOO-18 gyro and angular rate meter. According to FSA chief Anatoly Perminov, this time the reasons for the lander to go ballistic were different. Most probably, the atmospheric state and the attitude of the craft played their part, Perminov guessed. Anyway, the ad hoc commission will find out the reasons, but the FSA chief was certain that the incident would not have an impact on those queuing up to fly to outer space in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. 46 take-off december 2007

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50 AIRSHOW MAKS-2007 MAKS 2007 sets records Held on Gromov LII s premises from 21 to 26 August, the 8th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2007 exceeded previous events in terms of the number of participants and became a world leading air show. 787 companies, including 540 from Russia and 247 foreign ones from 39 countries, took part in the show, which is 133 companies, or over 20 per cent, more than last time. 279 civil and military aircraft were displayed a 58-aircraft (26-per cent) increase over MAKS 2005, with 55 aircraft exhibited by foreign participants. The world s major aircraft manufacturers took part in the air show. The exposition of space-related products grew by more than 30 per cent, different types and in different versions flew 328 sorties at MAKS The world-renowned display teams Russian Knights, Swifts and Patrouille de France attracted a lot of spectators, as did the Sergey Sergeyev Alexey Mikheyev MAKS 2007 s position among major international air shows in Le Bourget 2007 occupying pavilions, which area totalled more than 32,000 sq.m. Chalets for negotiations numbered 76. Foreign participation increased considerably too. 247 foreign companies attended an 84-per cent increase over MAKS 2005, with 79 of them being newcomers. The number of national expositions grew too. The public and experts had an opportunity to see the expositions of Germany (25 companies), France (22), United States (13), China (14), Belgium (17), Ukraine (15) and the Czech Republic (8). A key feature of MAKS 2007, setting it apart from the previous and foreign air shows, was the conduct of international scientific conferences, seminars and roundtables, in which leading Russian and foreign scientists, designers and engineers spoke on latest trends in aircraft development and manufacture. The flight demonstration of aircraft at MAKS 2007 routinely one-upped demonstration programmes of other international aerospace shows. 62 aircraft of Farnborough 2006 ILA 2006 MAKS 2007 Participant companies Participant countries Aircraft demonstrated Total visitors 314, , , ,000 Business visitors 154, , , ,000 Public 160, , , ,000 Russian Falcons military display team from Lipetsk, who debuted this year with a mock dogfight staged by four Su-27 and Su-30 fighters. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony of MAKS 2007, saying that the show could potentially turn into the major forum of business partnership in aviation and space exploration. The first three days of the air show were dedicated to business, with over 300 business meetings conducted, including signatures of contracts, agreements and MoU. The total worth of the agreements signed exceeded $3 billion. The key international deals clinched in the course of the show include the memorandum on the contract for six Sukhoi Su-27SKM and Su-30MK2 fighters for Indonesia coming into force, the agreements on delivery by the Ilyushin Finance leasing company of five Tupolev Tu-204s to Iran and two Tu-204s and three Antonov An-148s to Cuba, the signature of the memorandum of understanding and cooperation by Russia s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Aviation of Ukraine state aircraft-making concern, MiG Corp. s contracts with Kazakhstan and Poland on MRO and support of earlier-delivered aircraft, etc. During the air show, several major deals were made on making and delivering Tu-204, Il-96 and An-148 aircraft and engines to power them to Russian carriers. In all, MAKS 2007 was attended by 725,000 people more than 40 per cent increase over the previous show and the record for all international air shows! The event prompted unheard-of interest of the media, with 3,644 reporters from 713 media covering MAKS 2007 from 46 countries. Andrey Fomin 48 take-off december 2007