The cost of first vessel is put at $6B from your post. Operating expenditure at almost $1B. I doesnot look very good in terms of price. 24 Su type aircraft will an addition. And it is very little strike package interms of money. I think China should get license of RAFALE and build 300 after embargo is hopefully lifted in near future. Sukhoi is now poor man aircraft. Every nation in Asia have it. Rafale is an expensive project. France will unlikely to share its technology with the countries with out big money. Money should more spend on AESA radars for all the other aircrafts.

Originally posted by plawolf
“like the Flanker MKK design is any newer ”

MKI is newer and probably better, but there are alot more MKK and SKs.;)

Show me a single Air to Ground or Air to Air missile that MKI has fired and MKK has not. MKI radar can look further and can engage more targets simultaneosly but it is limited to capabilities of R-77 range. Where only two can be updated with data links simulaneously and that is what the current capabilities of MKK radar is. TVC has only 250hrs life with no thrust increase.

Russia is also offering 14.1 Ton AL-31FM2 engine with -SK upgrade.

Douglas Barrie Alexey Komarov

2 February 2004
Aviation Week & Space Technology
56
Volume 160, No. 5
English
(c) 2004 McGraw-Hill, Inc.

The Russian air force intends to begin fielding its first regiment of upgraded Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker aircraft by the end of 2004, with a further batch to be modified in 2005, providing the air force with a badly needed multirole capability.

The upgraded aircraft, the Su-27SM, will likely form the basis of any upgrade program for China, which is also seeking to improve the capability of its basic Su-27 fleet.

Vladimir Mikhailov, commander in chief of the Russian air force, told a press conference here recently that along with five of the upgraded aircraft which have already been delivered to the Lipetsk training center, a further 20 airframes will be modified by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur production plant during 2004.

The Su-27 upgrade will provide the air force with its first genuine multirole platform; almost all the Flankers in service are single-role aircraft, optimized for air-to-air combat. The upgrade will also afford the air force some breathing space in trying to adequately fund development of a next-generation combat aircraft.

Further upgrades are underway to the long-range strike derivative of the Flanker. This much-delayed program is intended to replace the Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer and to take on some of the roles of the Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire.

Mikhailov revealed that two of the seven existing development aircraft for the Sukhoi Su-27IB/Su-34 are to be upgraded at the Novosibirsk production site. The eighth Su-27IB was flown for the first time at the end of December, with an improved radar and avionics suite.

The air force chief admitted that completion of the eighth aircraft, described as a production standard model, had to be delayed while changes to the technical specification were introduced. These were necessitated following trials of the aircraft that revealed performance problems.

The aircraft’s Leninetz B-004 phased-array radar has been modified, according to a Russian industry official, along with avionics changes. The eighth aircraft is also fitted with the UOMZ TV/electro-optical sensor package, according to the official. This is mounted in a retractable bay under the aircraft’s chin. At least one other of the prototype aircraft has been fitted with the package, which is understood to include day and infrared sensors, as well as a laser designator.

The exact status of a production order for the Su27IB/Su-34 remains unclear; however, industry sources claim that alongside modifying at least a further two pre-production standard aircraft, two new-build airframes, aircraft Nos. 9 and 10, are already on the factory floor in Novosibirsk.

With funding remaining a painful problem, as Mikhailov admitted during the press conference, then the acquisition of large numbers of new aircraft in the near term, at least, is unlikely. Small batch production runs of the Su-27IB/Su-34 would appear the most affordable route to the aircraft entering the air force inventory in usable numbers.

Cost is also a key driver with regard to the Su-27SM upgrade package. An industry official involved in the program points out that providing the aircraft with an air-to-surface capability did not require replacing the NNIR N-001 radar. “It was very important that we used the basic radar since this kept the cost down, both for us and for the customer,” he said.

Instead, modifications were made to the radar system to provide the necessary processing for the inclusion of air-to-ground modes, as well as for the support of active radar-guided beyond- visual-range air-to-air missiles (AAM). Up to six Vympel R-77 (AA-12 Adder) active radar-guided AAMs can be carried by the Su-27SM.

In terms of air-to-surface weaponry, both active and passive radar-guided versions of the Zvezda Strela Kh-31 (AS-17 Krypton) can be carried, with TV- and laser-guided versions of the Vympel Kh-29 (AS-14 Kedge) also capable of being used. A single KAB-1500Kr or four KAB-500Kr TV-guided bombs can also arm the aircraft. The provision for air-to-surface missiles has also meant the aircraft’s inner wing-section had to be strengthened to cope with the additional load.

Russian avionics manufacturer Ramenskoye acted as the integrator in upgrading the cockpit. Two large multifunctional displays are mounted on the main panel behind the control stick, with a third, smaller display mounted in the center. The aircraft’s Saturn Al-31F engines are also likely to be uprated to offer additional thrust, possibly to the AL-31FM2 standard.

The Su-27SM upgrade is included with the Russian defense ministry’s medium acquisition and development plan. Exactly how many will be upgraded will depend on overall program costs, but at least one additional batch of around 20 aircraft is likely.