Super Sukhoi upgrade back on track with Uttam AESA Radar

Super Sukhoi Upgrade

Sukhoi’s SU-30MKI forms the backbone of Indian Air Force frontline fighter with nearly 260 of them in active service. Known for its manoeuvrability, the fighter jet features 25-year-old technologies that needs a mid-life upgrade for the improved performance, enhanced service life and be combat ready for the modern warfare. While the upgrade of SU-30 MKI with engagement with Russia seems to be highly unlikely, Indian Air Force seems to be going ahead with the upgrade of various components of SU-30 MKI which we will be discussing in detail.

Uttam AESA Radar'

The most important component of a fighter jet is its Fire Control Radar (FCR). The SU 30MKI is currently integrated with N011M Bars PESA Radar having a range of 400 km for search and 200 km for track. The drawback of PESA radar is they are vulnerable to jamming. This is the reason why IAF intends to integrate the indigenously developed Uttam AESA radar with its fleet of SU-30 MKI. HAL and LRDE has already completed the feasibility study and the findings of the same has been accepted by IAF.

As per latest report from the Delhi Defence Review, the ToT of production of Uttam AESA radar is done to HAL. IAF is planning to spare few SU-30 MKI for the Uttam AESA radar upgrade which is expected to be complete in another 2 years.

Uttam AESA Radar is based on Gallium Arsenide technology. The Su-30MKI can accommodate approx. 1200-1300 T/R modules. Unlike most contemporary radars, Uttam features Quad TRM i.e., a single plank that hosts 4 TRMs. It allows the T/R modules to be more densely packed.

UTTAM FCR comes up with other capabilities like, Identification friend or foe (IFF), electronic and communication support measures, C-band line-of-sight, Ku-band SATCOM datalinks, etc., similar to those on the air born early warning systems. This upgrade is going to increase the SU-30 MKI capabilities by many folds.

Dhruti DRWR-118

The other critical updates are RWR, MAWS & ASPJ. There are many upgrades planned but we will be talking about only those are absolutely necessary and on which progress has been made.

The existing Su-30MKI fleet are equipped with DARE developed Tarang-Mk2 RWR. DARE now has developed all digital RWR named ‘Dhruti’ for the Su-30MKI fleet which is based on its experience on D-29 RWR developed for the Mig-29UPG fleet. Back in August 2021, it was reported that the Indian Air Force is going ahead with Rs 1000 crore project for the upgrade of RWR for the fleet of 125 SU-30 MKIs.

RWRs enables to detect radar from other aircraft and missiles that have active guidance. Across the airframe of a fighter, you can see antennas that are placed to alert pilot in case if its fighter jet is being painted or locked by adversary fighter.

Dual Colour MAWS

Analysis of aircraft losses due to enemy action since the 1960s shows that at least 70% of all losses were attributed to passive heat seeking i.e. Infrared (IR) guided missiles. The RWR will not alert against an IR guided
missile. This is where MAWS comes to rescue. DRDO has already developed the indigenous dual colour MAWS – a similar technology used in F-35s and its integration with SU-30MKI is in progress.

Advance Self Protection Jammer

The next upgrade regarding which we will discuss is the Self-Protection Jammer Pods. The Su-30MKI fleet were originally equipped with Russian SAP-518 pods which was later replaced due to poor performance with Israeli Elta EL/L-8222 Airborne Self Protection Jammer pods. DARE has also developed High Band Jammer (HBJ) pod which began its trial in 2019 and also integrated with SU-30MKI. DRDO is also working on a much advance ASPJ (Advance Self Protection Jammer) which will feature Gallium Nitride based solid-state AESA jammer transmitters along with Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM). The DRFM jammers are known for severely degrading adversaries’ radars and missile seekers. The integration of ASPJ with SU-30 MKI is going to greatly boost the SU-30 MKIs electronic warfare capability on par with current generation fighter jets

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