Technical issues dog Sukhoi-30
ALARM BELLS Russian-origin fighter jets recorded 35 engine problems between Jan 2013 and Dec 2014
NEW DELHI: India’s Sukhoi-30 fleet is plagued by engine troubles and is also battling poor serviceability.
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the Russian-origin fighters recorded as many as 35 engine failures/enginerelated problems between January 2013 and December 2014.
Failure of bearings, used to reduce friction between moving parts, was the cause behind engine trouble, Parrikar told Rajya Sabha. As bearings operate under severe conditions, metal fatigue can cause particles to flake off or fragment, leading to complications. Parrikar said India had solved the bearing problem by “arranging better lubrication (to prevent wear and tear), better fitment of bearings and better quality of oil.”
“Out of total 69 cases in the past three years, 33 cases are due to finding of chips in the oil, 11 due to vibration in the engine and eight because of low pressure of lubricating oil,” Parrikar said in a detailed reply.
Five Su-30 fighters have crashed in the past five years, setting off alarm bells in the IAF. The IAF operates close to 200 twin-engine Su-30s, with another 72 to be inducted. But only 110 fighter planes are fully serviceable. Parrikar said the serviceability currently stood at 56-57% but was likely to climb to 70% by the yearend. “Serviceability has improved by 7% in the last 8-9 months to reach 56-57%,” he said.
“The number of mid-air engine failures is not shocking, factoring in the flying hours the fleet has logged. But poor serviceability is a matter of concern. Ideally, it should be around 75% during peacetime,” former IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik told HT.
Parrikar acknowledged India was staring at issues concerning spares and vendor support after the disintegration of Soviet Union.