IF the only notable acheivement you can point to is “the Flanker has vectoring thrust” then that is a sad state indeed.

Do you have any idea of the Su-30MKI’s radar…IMO its also a fifth generation radar and is in the same league as the F-22’s radar.

The forward facing NIIP NO11M Bars (Panther) is a powerful integrated radar sighting system. The N011M is a digital multi-mode dual frequency band radar (X and L Band, NATO D and I). The N011M can function both in air-to-air and air-to-land/sea mode simultaneusly while being tied into a high-precision laser-inertial / GPS navigation system. It is equipped with a modern digital weapons control system as well as anti-jamming features. The aircraft has an opto-electronic surveillance and targeting system which consists of a IR direction finder, laser rangefinder and helmet mounted sight system. The HMS allows the pilot to turn his head in a 90º field of view, lock on to a target and launch the much-feared R-73E missile. The Sura-K HMS for the Su-30MKI has been supplied by the Ukranian Arsenal Company (the same also makes the APK-9 datalink pod for the Kh-59M).

The N011M radar has been under flight testing since 1993, fitted to Su-27M (Su-35) prototype ‘712’. It employs the same level of technology as the now abandoned N014 radar which was to have equipped Mikoyan’s MFI “fifth-generation” fighter and was initiated by Tamerlan Bekirbayev. The nose of the Su-30MKI was modified (compared the Su-27) to accommodate the fixed antenna array and more avionics boxes. The first improved N011M radar for the Su-30MKI was flown on 26-Nov-2000. Note that the N011M is different from the N011 “Mech” radar: the latter is mechanical scanning and equips the No 24 Sqn aircraft.

Antenna diameter is 1m, antenna gain 36dB, the main sidelobe level is -25dB, average sideobe level is -48dB, beamwidth is 2.4 deg with 12 distinct beam shapes. The antenna weighs 100kg

For aircraft N011M has a 350 km search range and a maximum 200 km tracking range, and 60 km in the rear hemisphere. A MiG-21 for instance can be detected at a distance of up to 135 km. Design maximum search range for an F-16 target was 140-160km. A Bars’ earlier variant, fitted with a five-kilowatt transmitter, proved to be capable of detecting Su-27 fighters at a range of over 330 km. The radar can track 20 air targets and engage the 4 most threatening targets simultaneously (this capability was introduced in the Indian RC1 and RC2). These targets can include cruise/ballistic missiles and even motionless helicopters. For comparison, Phazotron-NIIR’s Zhuk-MS radar has a range of 150-180km against a fighter and over 300km against a warship. “We can count the number of blades in the engine of the aircraft in sight (by the NO11M) and by that determine its type,” NIIP says.

The forward hemisphere is ±90º in azimuth and ±55º in elevation (+/-45 degrees vertical and +/-70 degrees horizontal have also been reported). N011M can withstand up to 5 percent transceiver loss without significant degredation in performance.

The Su-30MKI can function as a ‘mini-AWACS’ and can act as a director or command post for other aircraft. The target co-ordinates can be transferred automatically to atleast 4 other aircraft. This feature was first seen in the MiG-31 Foxhound, which is equipped with a Zaslon radar.

Radar Computers

Purpose :
> Facilitate automatic PRF selection of hostile targets moving at blind speeds
> Enhance tracking capability to 8 targets

Characteristics :
> 486 main processor
> 386 Summit processor
> ARINC 429 Interface
> Dimensions 32cm x 19cm x 19cm
> Weight 14 kg each

RC1 Functions > Interfaced to MCDP through ARINC and MIL-1553 BUS
> Interfaced to RC2 via high speed parallel Q bus
> Processes radar input and passes results to mission computer

RC2 Functions > Interfaced to PSP
> Interfaced to various radar devices and combat computer via Q bus

Ground surveillance modes include mapping (with Doppler beam sharpening), search & track of moving targets, synthetic aperture radar and terrain avoidance. To penetrate enemy defenses, the aircraft can fly at low altitudes using the terrain following and obstacle avoidance feature. It enables the pilot to independently find his position without help from external sources (satellite navigation, etc.); detect ground targets and their AD systems; choose the best approach route to a target with continuous updates fed to the aircraft navigation systems; and provide onboard systems and armament with targeting data.

According to Sukhoi EDB the Su-30MKI is capable of performing all tactical tasks of the Su-24 Fencer deep interdiction tactical bomber and the Su-27 Flanker A/B/C air superiority fighter while having around twice the combat range and atleast 2.5 times the combat effectiveness.

The N011M offers a quantum leap in technology over the earlier Russian radars. Small ground targets, like tanks, can be detected out to 40-50 km. The MiG-29, Su-27 and other fighters can be provided with a ground strike capability only if their radars can operate in the down-looking mode which generates a map of ground surface on a cockpit display (this mode is called the Mapping Mode).

N011M ensures a 20 m resolution detection of large sea targets at a distance up to 400 km, and of small size ones – at a distance of 120 km. Coupled with the air-launched Brahmos-A AShM, the Su-30MKI will become an unchallanged platform for Anti-Ship duties.

N011M Bars supplied to the IAF have progressively updated capabilities. Future upgradation plans include new gimbals for the antenna mount to increase the field of view to about 90-100 degrees to both sides. New software will enable a Doppler-sharpening mode and the capability to engage up to eight air targets simultaneously. Additionally the capability of the world-best PJ-10 Brahmos missile will be incorporated. The Air launched version of the missile ‘Brahmos-A’ requires modifications to the airframe due to high weight. As many as three can be carried on the MKI, but only if the weight of the missile can be reduced. Untill then a capability to carry one Brahmos and two Krypton (“mini moskit”) missiles is being worked on.

[u]Enter the Irbis. By 2010, when the first totally-built Su-30MKI will roll out from HAL Nasik, it will be equipped with new, active phased-array airborne radar. Called the Irbis (Snow Leopard), it will replace the NO11M. Both the LRDE and Tikhomirov NIIP are co-developing the Irbis at a cost of US$160 million. [/u]

http://vayu-sena.tripod.com/info-su30mki.html#8

That is why foreign money is being sought for development of the PAK-FA aircraft as it is not intended directly for Russian use, but for export… as such it will have international systems installed like French, Israeli and Indian avionics. I doubt such an amalgamation of systems would be accepted by the RuAF for service.

The ones for the RuAF may well have those too … it is more acceptable if you read this article .. Sukhoi asks Europe for fighter help

Sukhoi general director Mikhail Pogosyan has invited European companies to participate in developing Russia’s fifth-generation fighter – the first time Russia has opened the way into its armoury for foreign suppliers since the Second World War, writes Howard Gethin.

Pogosyan says European firms could supply components for the aircraft, highlighting avionics as a likely area of collaboration.

Sukhoi has previously installed French, Indian and Israeli avionics and electronic warfare equipment in Su-30s for delivery to India, but no foreign components have been used on its aircraft intended for use by the Russian forces.

Pogosyan says Sukhoi is formulating the specifications for Russia’s fifth-generation fighter, which it is thought to be provisionally designated the T50.

“Many questions here could be the subject of joint work by the Russian and European aerospace industries,” he says.

Any co-operation would require regulation and international agreement in areas such as intellectual property and to control the proliferation of military technology, a Sukhoi official told the Vremya Novostei daily newspaper.

http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/2005/07/12/Navigation/190/200211/Sukhoi+asks+Europe+for+fighter+help.html

It has been stated by Russian officials umpteen number of times that the PAK-FA *will* be in a class similar to F-22 , and *not* in a class of F-35.

The Mig Design has a project which is in a class similar to F-35

Hmmmm…it appears so.

Names apart…the Russians seem to have an F-22 class fighter and an F-35 class fighter…and India seem to have been offered co-development only for the F-35 class fighter.

But i wonder how they will finance 2 simentaneous fifth generation projects

Check this out >> http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/07rus.htm

As part of its 10-year military and technological cooperation pact signed with India recently, Russia is wooing the Indian aerospace industry for jointly designing, developing and producing a stealth fighter aircraft for the global market.

The proposed fifth generation fighter, to be first inducted into the Russian air force by 2010, is not only set to match the capabilities of the F-35 joint strike fighter, being developed by the US-based Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, but is expected to cost less.

“The ball is now in the Indian court. We are keen that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and other Indian defence R&D organisations join the program,” Sukhoi Aviation Corporation official Aleksey A Poveshchenko told rediff.com in Bangalore on Friday.

[u]”We propose to deliver the first aircraft to the Russian air force by 2010. In case the Indian Air Force is not ready to induct the fighter into its fleet by then, it can join us in marketing it to other countries in view of its projected cost advantage over the F-35 joint strike fighter,” Poveshchenko said.[/u]

Perhaps the V-2000 ( a development of the Mig I-2000) will be this F-35 class fighter.

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And now a few of the F-22 class fighter :