New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is seeking partnership from the Indian industry for the design, development, production and maintenance of an indigenous electronic warfare (EW) suite for the IAF’s SU-30MKI frontline fighter aircraft.

DRDO is in the process of identifying development-cum-production partners from the public as well as private sector having the requisite expertise that can participate as integrators during the design, development, testing, production and long-term post- delivery support phases, according to an expression of interest issued on May 22.

The project is being executed by DRDO’s Combat Aircraft Systems Development and Integration Centre (CASDIC), with some sister laboratories also being involved in the development of a few sub-systems.

“CASDIC is developing an indigenous EW suite comprising a radar warning receiver and pod-based jammer system for SU-30MKI aircraft with contemporary state-of-the-art technologies capable of not only serving the existing threat scenario but also competent enough to adapt to evolving threat situations,” the EOI states.

Major activities during the design and development phase would include fabrication of the aircraft modification kit, sub-system integration of radar warning receiver and jammer pod, system integration with simulated avionics and other onboard systems of the aircraft and performance evaluation.

The stipulated time frame for the design and development phase is 32 months. After successful flight evaluation, the industrial partner would be required to produce at least 25-30 EW sets per year, with the IAF’s total requirement pegged at one set per aircraft.

The IAF has about 260 Su-30s in its inventory, which began entering service in 2002. These Russian origin aircraft now form the mainstay of the IAF’s fighter fleet and are also license-produced by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Over the past few years, the twin-engine heavy, multi-role jet has also been involved in several upgrade projects such as re-equipping with newer missiles, avionics, mission software and other sub-systems from varied Indian and foreign sources to enhance its combat capability.

Among the most significant modifications of the Su-30 is adapting it to launch the airborne version of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile, giving it an enormous offensive punch up to a range of about 500 km.

The Indian Air Force has also initiated a project to carry out life extension studies on the Su-30MKI to determine the feasibility of enhancing its calendar life by at least a decade from 25 years to 35 years.