IAF lists indigenous spares needed for Russian-origin Sukhoi-30 and MiG-29 jets
The list of requirements is in a form of a book and is called ‘Sankalp-2026, a compendium on problem statements of IAF’
Faced with a changed geo-political scenario, the Indian Air Force (IAF), in partnership with the domestic industry, on Thursday, has come up a list of equipment and spares needed to be made indigenously for its largely Russian-origin fleet of fighter jets and helicopters.
The list of requirements is in a form of a book and is called the ‘Sankalp-2026, a compendium on problem statements of IAF’. It has a few requirements for spares of US-origin helicopters and also the Rafale jets from France.
On the Russian fleet of some 340 fighter jets, the document said: “The heaviest focus should remain on sustaining the Sukhoi-30MKI and MiG-29 fleets.” The focus is on replacing Russian avionics with indigenous system, the radar and also integrate Indian weapons like the Astra air-to-air missiles, said the document titled ‘Sankalp 2026’ released by the IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh along with Arun Ramchandani President of the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).
The IAF has some 270 Sukhoi and 70 MiG-29 jets. Separately, the Navy has another 40 marine variants, called the MiG-29K. Apart from the jets, India operates the Mi-17 helicopters, Transport planes IL-76 and AN32.
The Russia-Ukraine conflicts have disrupted traditional military logistics and prompted the IAF to rethink its maintenance doctrines. The conflict has caused supply chain disruptions, scarcity of critical spares and skyrocketing costs.
On the domestically made Tejas jets, the document says “the core focus should be to completely indigenize the avionic and electronic warfare (EW) suites, most notably integrating the indigenous ‘Uttam’ Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.
Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd) Aerospace Advisor SIDM says, “The document is like a ready reckoner for the industry.”
The IAF is targeting critical, high technology spares that in military parlance are called ‘lines replaceable units’ (LRUs) where import reliance still poses a strategic vulnerability.
Aero-engines, Avionics and Electronic Warfare remains the highest criticality area. “While airframes can be built locally, jet engine technology and advanced aviation grade raw materials are major chokepoints,” says the document.
The fast-moving critical spares like bearings, spark plugs and filters are the focus area. IAF is partnering with academia for material testing and developing Al-based health monitoring tools for aircraft to predict failures beforehand and refine maintenance periodicity.
Already the IAF is actively exploring the "Plant-in-Plant" concept with an industry partner. Under this model, private industry partners bring their workforce and operate directly within the secure facilities of the IAF's Base Repair Depots (BRD’s) to accelerate indigenous Repair and Overhaul (ROH) and spare production.
The IAF has established Nodal Technology Centres at various Base Repair Depots to collaborate with IlTs and DRDO. Some 300 projects have been undertaken by Nodal Technology Centres (NTCs) of various BRDs for overcoming supply chain issues from foreign manufacturers for critical spares for BRD supported fleets, now it wants the domestic private industry come in.
Arun T Ramchandani, President of the SIDM, said, “Let me assure the IAF that the industry is prepared to contribute not only in depot level maintenance, but also through predictive maintenance technology, digital engineering, additive manufacturing, composite parts, advanced repair processes and indigenous replacement of critical assets.”
