Defence ministry inks ₹13,500 crore deal with HAL for 12 Su-30 fighters
The Su-30 aircraft will have an indigenous content of 62.6%, enhanced due to indigenisation of many components to be made by the local defence industry
NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Thursday inked a ₹13,500-crore contract with Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 12 Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft along with associated equipment for the Indian Air Force in a push for the country’s self-reliance drive, the ministry said.
The IAF operates a fleet of 260 Su-30s, and the 12 additional fighters have been contracted to make up for planes lost in accidents.
A ₹7,000-crore deal for 100 more self-propelled K9 Vajra-T guns manufactured by Larsen & Toubro with technology transfer from South Korean firm Hanwha Techwin has also been cleared, HT has learnt.
“The Su-30 aircraft will have an indigenous content of 62.6%, enhanced due to indigenisation of many components to be manufactured by the local defence industry,” the defence ministry said.
The 12 aircraft will be manufactured at HAL’s Nashik division.
“The supply of these aircraft will enhance the operational capability of the IAF and strengthen the defence preparedness of the country,” the ministry said in a statement.
The aircraft manufacturing division at Nashik, set up in 1964, has produced MiG variants and Su-30s under licence.
The army has so far inducted 100 155mm/52 calibre K9 Vajra-T guns under a 2017 contract worth $720 million, and several of them have been deployed in Ladakh after carrying out upgrades to enable operations in the mountains. The guns were originally bought for a desert role.
In September, the defence ministry signed a ₹26,000-crore contract with HAL for 240 aero-engines for the IAF’s Su-30 fighters. HAL will supply 30 AL-31FP engines annually from its Koraput facility in Odisha, with the delivery completed in eight years.
“These aero-engines are expected to fulfil the needs of the IAF to sustain the operational capability of the Su-30 fleet for the country’s defence preparedness,” the defence ministry said at the time.
The engines will be built in Koraput from the raw material stage with technology transfer from Russia, and only some spares, forgings and castings are expected to be imported. By the time the deliveries are completed, the engines will have an indigenous content of up to 63%.
The IAF’s Su-30s will also be upgraded by HAL at around ₹65,000 crore, as previously reported by HT. It will involve equipping the fighters with the indigenous Uttam active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, electronic warfare suites, weapon control systems, avionics and new weapons.
The deal for the K-9 Vajra guns has put the spotlight on the army’s artillery modernisation.
The army plans to enhance its firepower, with a greater emphasis on mobility, precision attacks, range, quick strikes and survivability as it ramps up efforts to buy an array of weapons, including guns, rocket systems and missiles, officials tracking the artillery’s modernisation earlier said.
The linchpin of this capability boost, which will cost thousands of crores, is a five-pronged strategy evolved after an assessment of what the artillery regiments need for battlefield supremacy.
The strategy hinges on equipping all regiments with advanced 155mm artillery gun systems, inducting missiles and rockets with longer ranges and precision, lethal ammunition, reorganisation of surveillance and target acquisition units, and shortening the sensor-to-shooter loop for swift detection and destruction of targets.
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