Indian fighter jet to use Russian avionics
February 7, 2013, 10:52 am

The Indian PMF is based on Russia’s prototype fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 jet. [Sukhoi Company]

The new Perspective Multirole Fighter (PMF) is modelled on the Russian T-50 fifth-generation combat aircraft.

“The future plane (PMF) will have not only the same airframe, but also an integrated system of onboard equipment,” Pogosyan said, stressing this was a requirement of the Indian Air Force.

Details of the PMF design will be specified after the relevant contracts with India are signed, he said.

The new fighter jet will have a wide range of advanced features such as stealth, supersonic cruise speed, high manoeuvrability, integrated avionics, and an advanced threat-warning system, according to the russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi.

The fighter jet is being developed on the basis of the Russian perspective aviation complex (PAK FA), of which the T-50 is a prototype, to India’s stringent technical requirements.

Further development of the programme would see the design and development of a two-seat variant and integration of an advanced engine with increased thrust.

Both India and Russia are supposed to cooperate in joint marketing of the aircraft in other countries.

Analysts say India’s choice of Russian avionics is a logical step and in line with previous joint programmes.

“It would be reasonable to assume that the model adopted for India’s Su-30 MKI [an earlier fighter jet purchased from Russia] would be continued with regard to its purchase of Russia’s fifth-generation fighter, based on the Sukhoi T-50 prototype,” said Douglas Barrie, air warfare analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“The Indian Su-30 MKI has some non Russian-standard avionics systems, but the baseline platform, propulsion and sensors are very much Russian, with final assembly of the aircraft in India.

“The PMF will, I suspect, be to all intents the production standard of the T-50, again perhaps with some non-Russian avionics and systems,” he added.

The PMF project began following a Russian-Indian agreement on cooperation in the development and production of perspective multirole fighter jets, signed on October 18, 2007.

In December 2010 Russian arms sales agency Rosoboronexport, India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and aircraft maker Sukhoi Company signed a preliminary design development contract for the new aircraft.

In January, Russia’s prototype Sukhoi T-50 made out its first long-range flight from a manufacturing plant in Russia’s Far East to an airfield near Moscow.

Source: Agencies