Su - 30 vs RAAF ALTERNATIVES

Many readers will be asking the obvious question of how the Sukhois stack up against the F/A-18A HUG, the F-35 JSF and possible interim fighters such as the F/A-18E/F. Against all three types the Su-30 derivatives, especially with later engine subtypes, will always have a significant kinematic advantage – there is no substitute for thrust in the kinematic performance game. There is another factor to consider here, which is the superlative 10 tonnes of internal drag free fuel the Sukhoi carries. When not operating at extended combat radii, the Sukhoi driver has more fuel to convert into energy, and that energy can nearly always be used to an advantage. With mutually competitive WVR missiles and Helmet Mounted Sights/Displays for close-in combat, all three types will live or die in a close in engagement with an advanced Su-30MK variant by pilot ability and good or bad luck. The Sukhoi combines high alpha manoeuvre capabilities with excellent thrust/weight performance, and is apt to have an energy advantage entering and prosecuting a close-in fight. A JSF driver opting to engage a thrust vectoring late model Su-30MK in a knife fight may not survive to speak of the experience, unless the Sukhoi driver is unable to exploit his advantage properly. In close-in air combat terms the JSF qualifies as ‘double inferior’ against the later model Sukhois, since the Sukhois have an advantage in both thrust/ weight ratio and in wing loading (interested readers refer R.L. Shaw’s Fighter Combat), and with its canard and thrust vectoring capability will generally be able to gain a firing solution quicker. Because the JSF is designed within the kinematic performance class of the F/A-18 and F-16, it is right in the middle of the performance envelope of aircraft the Sukhoi was designed to kill. In Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat, the Sukhoi will again have a kinematic advantage, which may be exploitable at the bounds of engagement radii, as the Sukhoi can gain separation in and out of the missile envelope of the F/A-18’s and JSF’s faster – it has the extra thrust and combat fuel to play kinematic games both smaller fighters cannot. The BVR game is however dominated by sensor capabilities, both onboard and offboard the fighters, and long range missile capabilities. The F/A-18A HUG is wholly outclassed by an Su30MK with an N011M phased array and R-77M ramjet missile. A late model F/A-18E with minimal external stores and the APG-79 AESA fares much better due to its radar signature reduction measures and better radar power aperture performance, but with external stores its margin of survivability is eroded and it is likely to fall well within the engagement envelope of the Sukhoi and also come to grief (refer radar/missile plot). A post 2010 AESA equipped Sukhoi could almost certainly take on the F/A-18E with confidence as it will have much better power aperture capability in the radar, enough to offset the radar signature reduction measures in the F/A-18E/F, with an advanced IRST to supplement radar data. A clean JSF will have the advantage of a very low Xband radar signature in the forward quarter which will significantly degrade the Sukhoi’s otherwise overwhelming radar power-aperture advantage over other types. However, the JSF is not designed to be a hot supersonic performer and like the F/A-18s will need to generously use afterburner to effect an intercept against a rapidly penetrating Sukhoi. This exposes the JSF to detection and tracking by a newer technology IRST, and engagement by long burn heatseeking or optically guided AAMs such as the R27ET, R-77T or likely future variants with imaging seekers analogous to the AIM-9R and ASRAAM seekers. With the latter seekers an R-77/R-77M acquires many of the capabilities of the RAAF’s superlative ASRAAM, especially jam resistance, but in a long range missile with datalink midcourse guidance. A new two-colour infrared seeker with 10.8nm (20km) acquisition range has been announced by the Arsenal infrared systems house, ostensibly for use on the R-77 series. Professionals might contemplate that these are not 1980s 36T series seekers. Russia and the Ukraine have a competent infrared systems industry – eg Cyclone JSC recently described its QWIP single chip thermal imagers with 128x128 and 320x256 resolution, competitive against the latest EU technology and suitable for missile seekers and thermal imaging IRST detectors. Therefore an advanced derivative of the OLS-30/31 series with capabilities similar to the Eurofighter PIRATE thermal imaging IRST, but with better detection range, will be implementable with Russian hardware in three to five years given the current rate of evolution. In the beam and aft sectors the JSF may also be quite vulnerable to an active or semiactive radar guided missile shot – its beam and aft sector radar signature reduction is Ongoing sales of the Su-30 Flanker family of long range fighters in the region are progressively changing the strategic landscape. This will have a profound long term impact across the region as the baseline in regional airpower capabilities rises. Part 2 of this feature explores some of the longer term issues.