Few people paid attention to this fact, although the media posted a lot of materials on the working trip of the head of the military department. At the same time, it was noted that the main efforts of the staff of the aircraft building plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (KnAAZ) are focused on setting up the production of fifth-generation aircraft. Meanwhile, the plant not only retains the Su-35S assembly line, but also actively continues the serial construction of these 4 ++ generation vehicles.

Fifth generation fighter

Recall that at the International Scientific and Technical Forum ARMY-2019, the Ministry of Defence issued the UAC a contract for 76 aircraft of the 5th generation Su-57. This order was prepared in accordance with the instructions of the President of Russia made during last year's visit to the GLITs im. Chkalov. It is known that this year the Air Force will receive one aircraft, the next two, then four and seven aircraft. Further, production will go on an accrual basis so that the entire order is completed by 2028.

Looking ahead, the United Aircraft Corporation at ARMY-2019 signed a number of major contracts with the Ministry of Defence for the supply of the latest aviation technology. According to the signed documents, the Ministry of Defence will receive Su-35S multipurpose super-manoeuvrable fighters of the 4 ++ generation, Su-34 fighter-bombers, Su-30SM2 multipurpose super-manoeuvrable fighters, Yak-130 combat training aircraft, Il-76MD heavy military transport aircraft. 90A. A contract was also signed for servicing the Il military transport aircraft.

Inspection of the KnAAZ facilities allocated for the production of fifth-generation fighters took an important place in the plan of the working trip of the Minister of Defence on August 12 this year. Together with the interim governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Mikhail Degtyarev, Sergei Shoigu got acquainted with the production of the Su-57, examined the assembly lines and procurement production.

It was noted that as part of the implementation of this project, KnAAZ underwent modernisation, accompanied by the commissioning of many modern machines and equipment. In particular, the head of the military department was shown progressive solutions for aggregate assembly and new items in the line of machining parts.

At the same time, based on the numbers discernible in selected frames from the video of the press service of the governor and the government of the Khabarovsk Territory, the share of next generation fighters in the KnAAZ production load for the next five years will be relatively low - about a quarter of all marketable products. The main volume will fall on the aircraft of the previous generation - Su-35S.

Generation 4 ++ fighter

Against this background, the statement of the head of the military department about the planned increase in the fleet of aircraft of the previous, fourth generation, sounded intriguing. “By the end of the year, we plan to conclude an additional state contract for the supply of multifunctional Su-35S aircraft. The amount of the contract will amount to 70 billion rubles,” - said Sergei Kozhugetovich at a meeting with representatives of the regional administration and the military-industrial complex.

Combat units of the Russian Aerospace Forces are already operating dozens of such machines, and managed to test them in the conditions of the counter-terrorist operation in the Arab East. The delivery of another fifteen Su-35S is envisaged this and next year.

At the International Scientific and Technical Forum "ARMY-2020" which opened on August 23rd, the pilots of the aerobatics group "Russian Knights" are scheduled to perform on Su-35S aircraft. Four of these vehicles are already at the Kubinka airfield. The group will receive six more aircraft by the end of the year.

The most perfect Flanker

The Su-35S represents the pinnacle of the evolution of the Su-27 family of aircraft of the 4th generation, known in the West under its own name Flanker - a code designation in the NATO bloc reference books. The Su-27 base machine has been produced since the late eighties of the last century. However, its current modification of the 4 ++ Su-35S generation allows it to withstand on equal terms 5 generation aircraft.

Development of the Su-35 in its current form began in 2005, when the world's first fifth-generation fighter, the F-22A Raptor, officially entered service with the US Air Force. By that time, the characteristics of the "raptor" had become known to the Russian military, and they asked their aircraft builders to create an improved version of the Su-27, which could contain the "predator" (which is how the F-22A's own name is translated from English) in a number of typical situations of modern armed conflict.

According to the idea of ​​aircraft designers, the Su-35S was designed as a single-seat fighter of the "4+" generation, designed to fill the niche of a multipurpose combat aircraft until the mass arrival of a fifth-generation winged aircraft to the troops, created under the program "Advanced Aviation Complex of Frontline Aviation" - Su- 57.

Production of the Su-35S began in 2008, and ten years later the number of production copies exceeded a hundred. By the beginning of this year, the figure had increased to one hundred and twenty and continues to grow. The first order of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation was placed in 2009 and provided for the supply of 48 samples of commercial products. The re-purchase of fifty aircraft took place six years later.

Since February 2016, the Su-35S have been part of the Russian aviation group in Syria. Based at the Khmeimim airfield, the aircraft perform combat missions to cover attack aircraft and front-line bombers, and sometimes they themselves deliver high-precision strikes against militants operating in the Arab Republic.

Military-technical cooperation

In addition to the Russian Aerospace Forces, the export configuration of the Su-35S entered service with the Air Force of the People's Liberation Army of China. They received 24 cars during 2016-2018. It is expected that soon the PLA Air Force will make a decision either to purchase an additional batch of Su-35S, or a more advanced Su-57E.

Also, shortly before Shoigu's working trip, aviation enthusiasts photographed four brand new Su-35S without identification marks. They flew through Novosibirsk, where they landed for refuelling. The colouring of these aircraft and the peculiarities of drawing side numbers resemble those that were adopted by the Egyptian Air Force for the MiG-29M, which recently entered service with the Arab Republic.

Discussion of the topic of foreign orders for the Su-35S resumed with renewed vigour when discussing the results of the working trip of the head of the military department. The reason was selected footage from the video of the press service of the governor and the government of the Khabarovsk Territory. They captured Sergei Shoigu at the stand with KnAAZ production plans for 2020-2024.

Of greatest interest is the delivery schedule for military-technical cooperation. Presumably, a couple of contracts are being executed: for thirty Su-35S with deliveries in 2020-2021. and for 32-34 vehicles in 2022-24. Who is the customer is left behind the scenes. List in descending order of probability: Egypt, China, Algeria, Indonesia and Turkey.

Irkutsk Su-30

As you know, both the Su-57 and the Su-35S are produced only in a single version. Meanwhile, in the line of fighters developed by the design bureau named after Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi, there are those with a cockpit for two crew members. They, in particular, are engaged in another large enterprise of the military-industrial complex - the Irkutsk Aviation Plant (IAP).

IAP specialises in the production of the export version of the Su-30MKI, where the suffix stands for "modified, commercial, Indian", and the Su-30SM, created to meet the requirements of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Navy's aviation. True, the aircraft of the latter version are also available in export versions - they are supplied to Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia.

The next modification of the "thirty" will soon appear - the Su-30SM2 with high-thrust engines, unified with the AL-41FM-1, which are installed on the Su-35S. It also differs in the composition of onboard equipment and weapons. The variant was created to meet the requirements of the Russian military, who already have more than a hundred vehicles of early modification at their disposal.

Order for modification "SM2"

On August 12th, an inspection trip to the Irkutsk aircraft plant took place. “The minister checked the progress of production and modernisation of the multipurpose Su-30SM fighters and Yak-130 combat training aircraft for the Russian army,” - a source in the Russian Ministry of Defence said. “Well-proven machines are made here,” - Shoigu said while inspecting the production facilities of the IAP.

During his visit to the Irkutsk aircraft plant, Sergey Kozhugetovich shared his plans to increase the fleet of these aircraft in the Moscow Region with representatives of the media. “We have made a decision and will sign this year, in addition to the existing ones, two government contracts worth more than 100 billion rubles, according to which 21 Su-30SM2 fighters and 25 Yak-130 combat training aircraft will be built,” the minister said.

In addition, an order of more than seven billion rubles will be placed for the repair of combat aircraft of the Su-30SM type. While in Irkutsk, Shoigu said that reducing the cost of a flight hour should be the most important area of ​​work for aircraft manufacturers. And also the transition to a system for ensuring the serviceability of equipment throughout its full life cycle.

Earlier, the Minister of Defence expressed dissatisfaction with the low serviceability of the training aircraft fleet of the Russian Aerospace Forces, after which decisive measures were taken, and the serviceability indicators were significantly increased. This opened up an opportunity for placing an additional contract for the supply of Yak-130 combat training aircraft to the Russian military. Today they already have more than a hundred aircraft of this type at their disposal. In addition, these machines are exported to Algeria, Bangladesh, Laos, Myanmar and Belarus.

Overseas supplies

Aircraft of the Su-30 family are in high demand among non-CIS countries. Irkutsk Su-fighters are in service with the Air Forces of India, Malaysia and Algeria, and Myanmar is ready to purchase them. At the same time, the units armed with the Su-30MKI are the most numerous and combat-ready in the Indian Air Force - twelve squadrons of a total of about thirty fully equipped and combat-ready squadrons fly this type of aircraft.

The MKI modification appeared thanks to Russia's largest partner in military-technical cooperation. At the insistence of India, at the turn of the century, a variant of a multi-role fighter was designed, tested and launched into a large series specifically for its requirements on the basis of the Su-30 interceptor. Having received a request from a foreign customer, the P.O. Sukhoi Experimental Design Bureau developed a multipurpose combat aircraft, where the second crew member became an officer - a weapon operator. He was in charge of managing an expanded arsenal of weapons, primarily missile weapons, and thus took over some of the functions from the crew commander. Since he, in a wide range of situations in the conduct of real combat operations, worked with a heavy load.

This is how the Su-30MKI multipurpose fighter got a start in life. It was the first subtype in the extensive family of flankers to be powered by a deflectable nozzle propulsion system. The introduction of a controlled thrust vector increased the manoeuvrability of fighters in close combat with high G-forces. Subsequently, the export Su-30MKI served as the base for the even more advanced Su-30SM, which entered service with the Aerospace Forces (VKS) and the aviation of the Russian Navy.

According to media reports, the number of such Su fighter jets in combat units is estimated at 250-260 units. Meanwhile, through foreign trade, fifty completely assembled Su-30MKIs in Russia were delivered and another 222 in the form of technological kits for assembly abroad. In total - 272 units.

At one time, experts suggested that, in the next couple of years, the number of Indian Air Force units on "Su" aircrafts to 14. As if to confirm these predictions, in 2019, the Indian military department sent a request to the Russian side for 18 additional kits with an estimated value of $1.1 billion.

The appeal came at the beginning of last year, and by the middle of it Moscow had prepared a response offering the main parameters of the deal. As a result, the parties reached an agreement on twelve aircraft.

As follows from the information posted on the Indian government information portal, on July 2 this year. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the Indian Defence Ministry issued a press release. It reads, in particular: “While the expansion of the MiG-29 fleet by deliveries from Russia together with modernisation is estimated at about Rs 7.418 crore ($ 980 million), the above-mentioned twelve Su-30MKI aircraft will be purchased from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for a total amount of Rs 10,730 crore (about $ 1.35 billion)”.

In short, we are talking about the delivery from Russia of twelve Su-30MKI technological kits for subsequent assembly at the customer's site - the facilities of the HAL corporation in Bangalore.

Enterprises of the Khabarovsk Territory

Aviation plants in Komsomolsk-on-Amur are located in the vast Khabarovsk Territory. Last year, all the regional enterprises of the military-industrial complex under the line of the state defence order spent about 29 billion rubles. This year the figure should be even higher - 33 billion.

Moreover, during his working trip, Shoigu announced the allocation of 630 billion rubles "by the end of 2028 for the implementation of the state defence order in the Khabarovsk Territory."

According to the minister, the Khabarovsk Territory makes a great contribution to strengthening the defence capability of the state and equipping the Armed Forces with modern military equipment. “Dozens of long-term government contracts are being implemented in the interests of the Ministry of Defence,” - Shoigu said. And, of course, we are not only talking about the procurement of aviation equipment.

The minister expressed the hope that the regional authorities will assist in the training and selection of personnel for local defence enterprises. The social sphere occupies an important place in working with the leadership of the Khabarovsk Territory. “First of all, it concerns the employment of members of the families of military personnel, the allocation of places for their children in schools and kindergartens, and the solution of other problems,” - Sergei Shoigu said.

Problems and ways to solve them

Although the state order contributes to filling the regional budget and solving issues of employment of the population, the minister made it clear to local authorities and industrialists: the delay in the delivery of products under the state defence order is unacceptable and is fraught with termination of previously placed contracts. While both aircraft manufacturing plants visited by the minister - in Irkutsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur - are generally fulfilling those assumed, their colleagues at the Amur shipyard (ASZ) previously made a number of delays in the delivery of both new and repaired ships and submarines.

The refusal of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation from previously placed contracts can put the executing plants on the brink of bankruptcy with all the attendant social problems of the city where it is located. And if this happens, the blame will fall entirely on his leaders. According to Shoigu, his ministry will strictly monitor the implementation of contracts and, in the event of violations, tough measures will be taken. The military, of course, have no desire to destroy this or that Russian enterprise. The minister's demand is primarily aimed at strengthening personal responsibility.

Summing up

Summing up the overall result of the working trip of the Minister of Defence with visits to key enterprises of the defence industry, it is important to emphasise the following: the orders already placed and new contracts for the supply of aviation equipment will ensure the loading of aircraft factories in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Irkutsk for eight to ten years in advance. This guarantees them a stable financial and economic situation and will save tens of thousands of jobs. Such support from the RF Ministry of Defence is especially valuable during the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.