Sukhoi to Build Strike, Recon Unmanned Planes

Russian aircraft maker Sukhoi is to focus on creating reconnaissance and strike unmanned air vehicles (UAV) in the near future, United Aircraft Corporation President Mikhail Pogosyan said at the Zhuhai Airshow China exhibition on Tuesday.

Sukhoi, which has historically designed fighter and ground attack aircraft but now also builds some civil aircraft, is part of UAC, a holding covering most of Russia's aircraft industry.

"UAVs are a strategic avenue for development for UAC, and Sukhoi is focused on creating reconnaissance and strike UAVs. But our firm plans on this are in the future," he said.

Previous UAVs created for Russia's amed forces have been produced by Tranzas and Sokol, in addition to Sukhoi.

 Sukhoi has designs on its website for a series of unmanned aircraft known as Zond, optimised for the carriage of surveillance and synthetic-aperture radars and electro-optical sensors.

In 2011, Sukhoi won a contract to develope a heavy strike UAV with a mass of around 20 tons, Fedutinov said. Another Russian fighter aircraft design bureau, RAC MiG, will also be involved in this program, MiG's CEO Sergei Korotkov told Russian media earlier this year.

MiG showed a demonstrator strike UAV design known as Skat at the MAKS airshow in Moscow in 2007.

St. Petersburg-based Tranzas and Kazan-based Sokol won a tender in October 2011 to create two UAV systems with a mass of one ton and five tons respectively.

Sukhoi displays Superjet 100, Su-35 and Su-32 at the air show in China

Sukhoi Company will present its combat aircraft — Su-35 multifunctional fighter and Su-32 (Su-34 export version) at the Airshow China-2012 international exhibition that opens on November 13 in the Chinese city of Zhuhai. Specialists and visitors of the exhibition will be able to learn the specifications and combat capabilities of the aircraft at the corporate stand of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) in the Russian exposition.

The civic project of Sukhoi — the Sukhoi Superjet 100 medium-range airliner will be presented at the air show for the fist time. The aircraft will be displayed in Yakutia Airlines livery on a static display for the general public and representatives of the regional airlines.

Cooperation with China in the field of military aviation develops successfully. The implementation of the program of Su-type licensed aircraft production is going on, as well as the delivery of spare parts for previously delivered aircraft. The framework established on the basis of long-term cooperation provides for the transition in the near future to a new level of cooperation on major projects.

India in talks with Russia to upgrade Sukhoi combat jet fleet

India has opened talks with Russia to upgrade its fleet of air superiority Sukhoi Su-30s with a new radar and avionics to make the fighters more lethal than what they already are. The upgrades are likely to begin in 2015.

However, a debate is currently in progress between the two nations on India getting full access to all software and equipment design of the new systems that will be integrated on the upgraded Sukhois, a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officer told IANS.

"We have begun talks with Russia on modifying the Sukhois and giving them the latest technologies," the officer said of the combat jets that were first inducted by IAF in 1997.

The planes, considered to be in the heavy category of fighter aircraft, are the most advanced the IAF has and is the frontline plane for all forms of airborne warfare.

"The modified Sukhoi will be an entirely new plane in terms of radar and avionics," said the officer, who is in the know of the discussions with Russia.

"We are currently holding a dialogue with Russia for full access to software and design of equipment to be integrated to the aircraft," he added.

India has raised eight of the 14 planned Sukhoi squadrons till now with the ninth squadron planned for raising in Sirsa, Haryana, in December.

Six months from then, India will raise its 10th Sukhoi squadron in the Punjab sector under the Western Air Command.

This will be the third and fourth Su-30MKI squadron of the IAF to be deployed close to the Pakistan border in two years, after Jodhpur in Rajasthan in October 2011 and Halwara in Punjab in September 2012.

It also plans to raise two more squadrons in the eastern sector, adding to the existing two squadrons there.

Besides, four more Sukhoi squadrons will be raised by 2015, completing the entire 272-plane complement of the fleet.

After the raising of these squadrons, India will start upgrading the fleet beginning with the first 50 Sukhois it had inducted in 1997.

India has till now lost three Sukhoi planes in crashes - the first one in April 2009, the second in November 2009 and the third in December 2011. While two IAF pilots were killed in the first accident, two pilots each bailed out to safety in the second and third crashes.

The twin-seater Sukhois are also being modified for carrying the India-Russia joint venture BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

Indonesia Advises Crew Training Change After SSJ Crash

Indonesia's National Transport Security Committee has recommended to Russia's Sukhoi, maker of the SSJ-100 airliner, that it conduct additional crew training for pilots undertaking demonstration flights, particularly in mountainous terrain, following an investigation into a crash earlier this year that killed 45 people.

The recommendation is another sign that the fatal accident was caused by aircrew error.

An SSJ-100 crashed into a mountainside in Indonesia on May 9 during a demonstration flight, whilst a Russian crew was showing the aircraft to local airline executives.

"We recommend Sukhoi Civil Aircraft look again at their existing procedures and preparation for demonstration flight, and where necessary, introduce changes and also organize additional training for crews carrying out demonstration flights, particulary in mountainous terrain," NTSC said in a document obtained by RIA Novosti.

Last week, Mikhail Pogosyan, head of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, said there was nothing wrong with the aircraft at the time of the accident.

Earlier this month, a Russian Moskovsky Komsomolets claimed the aircraft crashed because of a dangerous maneuver performed by the pilot, citing a source close to the investigation.

Data from the cockpit voice recorder suggested the plane's navigator had alerted pilot Alexander Yablonstev to an approaching mountainside, but he carried on regardless, a source told the Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid.

Yablontsev also appeared to ignore the jet's Terrain Warning and Awareness System, the source said.