The financial aspects of the comprehensive upgrade to the first batch of Su-30MKI jets are being worked out and the process will start as soon as it is approved, a senior official of the Indian Air Force said recently. It can take five to seven years to update the batch of 84 jets, and the IAF has taken up pilot projects with the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in regard to Artificial Intelligencebased engine and asset maintenance solutions, as well as for spares and inventory optimisation, he added.
“The financial aspects are being worked on. Once that is sorted out and the government authorises it, the upgrade will commence. If the government clears it, say by early next year, we should start straight away. They have to do their due diligence for such a big project,” Air Marshal C.R. Mohan, Air Officer Maintenance told The Hindu ahead of his retirement from service on October 31. “I would imagine it would take at least five to seven years. By the time it is fully realised, it takes that time for certifying, testing, modification etc. It is a major upgrade. These are ball park figures and not project figures,” he stated.
The Defence Acquisition Council has already given preliminary approval for the upgrade of 84 Su-30s. The IAF has a fleet of 259 Su-30MKIs, of the 272 contracted and manufactured in India under licence from Russia. Former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari had stated earlier that the 84 jets will see the upgradation of 51 systems with an indigenous content of 78%. The Su-30s will constitute a bulk of the IAF’s fighter strength for the foreseeable future and will remain in service beyond 2055.
While most of the upgrades will be carried out by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), original equipment manufacturer Russia would be involved in upgrading the fly-by-wire system and integration of systems. A majority of the upgrades, including radar and avionics, will be indigenous.
On the total number of jets that would be upgraded, the official said that would be planned based on the residual life. “We might do a limited upgrade for aircraft with limited life,” he said.
AI for inventory
The IAF has embarked on the path of automation and AI with the motto of “minimal human intervention, maximum combat potential” for the maintenance and overhaul of its diverse fleet, and inventory management.
Currently, there is an electronic maintenance management system. For instance, an engine has thousands of parts which are managed by a “hardware tree” currently. What the IAF is looking for, is to make the aircraft talk to the hardware tree, and the digital twin software to give specific preventive recommendations.
“From a parts management point of view, there are multiple types of aircraft, but sometimes the
parts are the same but they have different part numbers,” he noted and said “they are digitally fingerprinting these parts”. “We have started a pilot project, again with IIT-B, which will digitally fingerprint the parts,” the Air Marshal stated.