Salyut to Benefit from Engine Demand As Russians Increase Fighter Exports

Russian combat aircraft are expected to be one of the country's few successful high-tech export areas over the near- to mid-term, with such Sukhoi aircraft as the Su-30 MKK for China and the Su-30 MKI for India helping lead the way. And as aircraft exports grow, so will grow demand for engines, with turbofans of the AL-31F type, from Moscow's Salyut, at the heart of the action.

Su-27/Su-30 family sales are expected to amount to as many as 500 aircraft by 2010, requiring more than a thousand of the engines.

The AL-31F, which has been operational for more than 15 years, still meets the fundamental needs of the air combat marketplace, according to Salyut general director Yuri Eliseev. But the engine, which currently accounts for more than 80% of Salyut's total output, must be modernized to maintain its high export capability.

Salyut specialists are working now to boost maximum augmented thrust from 12,000 to 15,300 kgf, while service life is expected to grow by 30%. By late 2001 development trials of AL-31F with a maximum augmented thrust of 14,000 kgf will start, while in late 2002 the thrust will be increased to 15,000 kgf.

Modernization is likely to involve numerous engine subunits, including the use of new automatic control systems. Temperature operating modes will likewise be improved. New swivel nozzles for vectored thrust will make possible considerably improved aircraft maneuverability. Here in Paris, Salyut is demonstrating an AL-31FN-based engine with a fully-variable swivel nozzle from the Klimov Design Bureau in St. Petersburg. Such an engine can be mounted on various light single-engine fighter platforms, promoters say.

Among the military aircraft engines now in series productiion by Salyut, the double-flow turbojet family based on the AL-55 stands out as the most promising. Those could be used for new trainers such as the MiG-AT. The 2,000- to 3,000-kgf thrust AL-55 weighs between 355 and 445 kg and has specific fuel consumption of 0.71 to 1.65 kg/kgf. An AL-31F derivative, it can have a conventional or a swivel nozzle completely interchangeable with the French turbofan LARZAC 04R20, but is said to be superior to it in terms of power supply and a number of parameters in a wide range of flight modes.

Another advanced engine expected to expand Salyut's export product line in coming years is the D-436 turbofan. D-436 T1 engines are used to power Tupolev Tu-334 aircraft, which may carve out a prominent position in the short-haul aircraft market. The D-436TP variant is used on the Be-200 amphibian, another Russian product expected to win significant export business. Work is also underway at Salyut's Moscow facility to prepare for production of D-27 turbofans for the new An-70 military transport aircraft.