India’s Fighter Modernization: Add MiG-29s to the List (updated)
03-Aug-2009
The Indian Air force is dealing with the same fighter modernization numbers crisis that affects a number of air forces around the world. Its MiG-21s are retiring fast, and so are the subsequent generation of MiG-23/27 and MiG-25 aircraft. At the same time, India’s locally-developed Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) program has been beset by numerous problems and ongoing delays, raising questions concerning its readiness and ability to begin filling some of that void in time. India’s MMRCA light-medium fighter competition will fill other gaps with 126 imported fighters, but it has yet to produce a winner, let alone a delivery date.
As the timelines for replacements stretch, India’s defense planners are concluding that more upgrades will be necessary in order to keep their existing fleet viable. February 2006 reports discussed a decision to upgrade India’s existing fleet of MiG-29B, MiG-29S, and two-seat MiG-29UB “Baaz” (Falcon) aircraft as well, in order to give them multi-role capabilities and improve their ability to carry advanced weapons. December 2006 reports from MosNews et. al. indicated that a contract has been signed, but it wasn’t until March 2008 that a deal was finalized.
While Russia’s grounding of its own MiG-29 fleet hasn’t stopped India’s plans, the IAF’s own failure to deliver key specifications may be about to create a serious delay…
The Numbers Problem
By 2010, the IAF will have phased out most of its 300-or-so MiG-21s, the 16-18 aircraft in its only remaining swing-wing MiG-23 ground attack squadron, around 100-110 related swing-wing MiG-27M Bahadur ground attack fighters that are not being upgraded, and the MiG-25 Foxbat strategic reconnaissance jets (already phased out).
125 MiG-21 Bis interceptors and 40 upgraded MiG-27ML fighters will remain. India’s updated MiG-21 ‘Bisons’ caused a lot of trouble for American jets at COPE India 2004 & 2005, but are not expected to last beyond 2016.
India continues to field over 100 SU-30MKI aircraft, under a joint agreement with Sukhoi. These aircraft will be the high end of India’s air power, and are competitive with or superior to top-end European fighters and American F-15 variants.At the lower end currently occupied by the MiG-21s, an initial order has been placed for 24 of HAL’s LCA Tejas light fighters. They are currently expected to arrive by the end of 2010, but that will not even begin to dent the fighter gap. Further orders are held up by the fact that key design choices for the full production “Tejas II” upgrade remain in limbo.
With MMRCA unlikely to even produce a contract by the end of 2010, India is forced to look to upgrades of her most modern legacy fighters, in order to maintain competitive strength. The IAF’s Mirage 2000 fleet has been the subject of numerous reports concerning upgrade agreements and supplementary buys, none of which have come to fruition yet.
That leaves India’s MiG-29 fleet of air superiority fighters. Under a proposed set of upgrades, these planes would see a set of improvements that would address their biggest deficiencies, insert important upgrades, and give them full multi-role capability. A total of 54 single-seat fighters and 8 trainers are being refurbished.
Wanting a New Baaz: The Upgrades
IANS reported in December 2006 that India was “finalizing” a proposal to have its fleet of MiG-29 lightweight fighters refurbished for $888 million by the Russian company RSK-MiG, which has a dedicated upgrade set designed to turn older MiG-29 air defense fighters into multi-role MiG-29SMT/UBTfighters. India’s focus on its domestic industries will ensure that its modifications will include their share of unique attributes and equipment, in addition to the standard set – an insistence that is now causing problems for the program.
The 62 upgraded MiG-29s are expected to remain in service for 10-15 years, with their flight-hours lifetimes extended from 25 years/2,500 hours to 40 years/ 3,500 hours.
The planes will be fitted with upgraded weapons and a new avionics suite, including the Phazatron Zhuk-M radar. Phazotron’s Zhuk-M is a derivative of the baseline Zhuk radar, but its acquisition range has increased 1.5 times, with a wide scan and tracking area of + / – 85 deg. in azimuth and + / – 60 deg. in elevation. It also adds terrain following mode, and ground target acquisition including high-resolution modes.
Normally, these moves would accompany weapons upgrades. India’s MiG-29s are already believed to be capable of firing the R-77/AA-12 “AMRAAMski” medium range air-air missile, but photos consistently show the R-27/ AA-10. The new systems will offer certain R-77 compatibility, along with the ability to mount precision air-to-ground weapons. Upgraded electronic warfare systems round out the package, to improve survivability against modern threats.
In terms of aerodynamic performance, India’s MiG-29s will be upgraded with extra fuel tanks in a thickened center spine, but the MiG-29SMT upgrades will continue to suffer from “Soviet short-legs syndrome.” Adding mid-air refueling capability completes the upgrade, offering dramatic changes to the fighters’ deployment range. Unspecified engine modifications may also correct some of the problems experienced with the R-33 engine, such as the visible smoke trails that have already been addressed in the MiG-29M2. Local R-33 production will offer much improved turnaround time, which will hopefully improve the Indian MiG-29 fleet’s poor overall availability record.
This will not quite bring the older MiG-29s up to the status of the MiG-29M2 multi-role aircraft, let alone the thrust-vectoring MiG-29OVT/MiG-35 model that Russia is reportedly offering for India’s MMRCA competition. Nevertheless, India will be left with an aircraft that is comparable to the F-16C as a strike fighter, and air-to-air performance that is arguably superior to all but the F-16 Block 60s with their ultra-advanced AESA radar.
RSK-MiG will be the sole vendor to perform the upgrades and service life extension tasks, delivering the first 6 aircraft from Russia and then supplying upgrade kits. Other components would reportedly come from a range of Indian, Russian, French, Israeli (Elbit has its own MiG-29 ‘Sniper’ upgrade program), and possibly even American vendors, though that list has yet to be finalized. The Americans would represent a new source, but the others all contributed to the MiG-21 Bis upgrade, and the $130+ million MiG-27ML upgrade sources equipment from Russia, Israel, and Britain (Vinten optical pod), and may include other countries as well.
India Defense has more details re: the IAF’s overall upgrade programs, including timeline slippages on the upgrades. DID has noted before that this is not an unusual problem; India’s defense industry is heavily state-owned, and it also has unique systemic problems in its defense procurement apparatus.
A Better Baaz: Program Updates
Aug 2/09: The Hindu reports that India’s MiG-29 upgrade could be delayed by a year or more. The first upgraded MiG-29 was scheduled to fly into India in March 2010, but the entire project is reportedly being held up by IAF non-performance.
India typically insists on including an array of locally-developed electronics in military orders, and the MiG-29 upgrade is no exception. In order to accomplish that, the contract stipulates that the IAF must give RSK MiG the associated list of equipment, dimensions, and specifications. That list has yet to be finalized, leading officials at RSK MiG to tell The Hindu that they now expect a delay of at least 8 months.
Under the contract, RSK MiG is to upgrade the first 6 aircraft in Russia, then ship kits that will allow the IAF’s 11 Base Repair Depot (BRD) at Nasik to handle the other 56 planes. A total of 14 more refurbished MiG-29s were supposed to roll out of 11BRD between April 2010 – March 2011, but the delay at RSK-MiG is likely to translate into a delay of at least a year for Nasik.
India’s Fighter Modernization: Add MiG-29s to the List (updated)