MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The Defense Ministry plans to buy a batch of upgraded AL-31FM1 air engines for Su-family warplanes from the Salyut machine-building production enterprise in 2007, a source in the defense industry told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
"Facilities of Moscow-based Salyut are ready for mass production of those engines," the source said.
According to him, AL-31FM1 production for the Air Force "is included in the draft state defense order for next year." "The order for the first batch of AL-31FM1 engines for the Russian Air Force will be placed with Salyut in early 2007," he said.
The upgraded Al-31FM1 engine has a service life that is twice as long as that of the engines currently in the Russian army's inventory. Its thrust is one tonne higher than that of previous modifications. The engine's installation boosts combat efficiency of the aircraft by more than 15 percent and decreases the cost of the engine's life cycle by more than 30 percent.
Army General Vladimir Mikhailov, Russian Air Force commander-in-chief, said in October 2006 that he approved the state commission act on commissioning the upgraded Al-31FM1 engine, designed and built by the Salyut machine-building enterprise.
The signing of the act "means the completion of all bench and flight tests of the Al-31FM1 engine," he said. "The importance of this event can hardly be overestimated, because it is the first time since 1985 that a new engine for Su-family planes has passed state tests," he stressed.
The Al-31FM1 engine has broad export prospects, Mikhailov stressed.
According to him, Salyut's focus on developing a fifth-generation engine is absolutely correct. "The engine, its components and elements are upgraded gradually, efficiency of its specifications is growing, and we are making headway," he said.
Mikhailov recalled that engines of the AL-31F family power Su planes, in particular, Su-27, Su-30 and Su-33.