Lyulka-Saturn unveils engines at the Paris Air Show for advanced trainer light strike applications

Published: 6/17/1999

For A.Lyulka-Saturn, the Moscow based engine manufacturer, the unveiling of two new aircraft engines, the Al-55 and Al-31FP, proved to be something of a let down, given the crash of the SU-30MK, powered by the AL-31FP, during display on June 12th 1999. This was followed by an unholy row between the organisers of the event and the Sukhoi bureau - in this case, led by Mr Mikhail Simonov, Chief Designer - as to who was to blame for the accident. The Al-55 engine has been developed to power the new generation of Russian training aircraft, of the MiG-AT and Yak-130 types currently using Slovakian and French power plants. With a thrust of 2,000 kilograms, the Al-55 is designed for supersonic speeds. To ensure a high level of manoeuvrability, the engine can be fitted with the vectoring technology demonstrated on the AL-31F in the Su-30. The Al-55 is considered by Saturn to be a match for the best western engines of its type, at the considerably lower price of between $500,000 to $600,000 for a serial production engine. The company claims that, if provided with an afterburner, the Al-55 can also be used on the planned Yak-141 light attack aircraft. The Al-31FP engine, with afterburner and controllable thrust vector, is designed to provide power for the latest high manoeuvrability fighters, including the Su-30MKI planes that are being delivered to India. Saturn states that the base price of this engine is about $3 million. The Salyut factory in Moscow, which produces the engine, is reported by Itar-TASS as having orders from foreign customers to keep serial production of the Al-31F and its derivatives going for 15 or even 20 years. While a little sceptical of such claims, Concise concedes that actual and rumoured orders from India should keep the plant busy for the foreseeable future.

Article ID: 603