The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 240 AL-31FP jet engines for Su-30MKI aircraft at a cost of over Rs 26,000 crore. The move is seen as a major boost to government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
The contract was inked by the senior officials of MoD and HAL in the presence of Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane and Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari in New Delhi on September 9. The supply of all 240 engines would be completed over the period of next eight years.
These engines will be manufactured by the Koraput Division of HAL and are expected to fulfil the need of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to sustain the operational capability of the Su-30. HAL would supply 30 aero-engines per annum as per the contractual delivery schedule.
HAL plans to take support from the country’s defence manufacturing ecosystem, involving MSMEs and public & private industries. HAL aims to enhance the indigenisation content up to 54 percent by the end of the delivery programme. This would also help increase the indigenous content of repair and overhaul tasks of the aero-engines.
the IAF's Su-30 MKI is also undergoing an upgrade program worth Rs 63,000 crore. These upgrades include the installation of a Made-in-India active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a more capable infrared search and track sensor (IRST), and new electronics, mission computers, and components.