The MKI is a superior fighter. It has a better radar, better avionics and superior mauverability. Amongst the improvements areCanards along with the appropriate leading-edge wingroot extension. The canards can move from +10 to -50 degrees and provid much improved control authority at high angles of attack.
New "AL-31FP" engines with 142.2 kN (14,500 kgp / 32,000 lbf) afterburning thrust each, and two-dimensional thrust vectoring. The exhausts can move 15 degrees above and below the central thrust line.
A new FBW system that makes the best use of the canards and thrust vectoring.
Russian-built weapons control systems, including a new Tikhonravov NIIP Bars (Panther) N011M multimode radar; an OLS-301 optronic sighting system; and a Sura-K helmet-mounted sight. There was really no choice but to use the Russian systems in these cases, as they were tied closely to the airframe and armament. Changing them would have been difficult and expensive, and as they seemed capable enough, there was no need to do so.
The Bars N011M radar has an electronically steered phased array antenna and a range of 150 kilometers (93 miles). In air combat, it can track 15 targets simultaneously and engage four of them at once. In surface attack, it can spot and track ground or naval targets, and guide terrain following flight. The electronically steering beam can track air and ground targets simultaneously.
A cockpit display system developed by Sextant Avionique of France, with the front cockpit featuring a wide-angle HUD and three 12.7 x 12.7 centimeter (5 x 5 inch) color flat panel displays; and a 15.2 x 15.2 (6 x 6 inch) color flat panel display and three 12.7 x 12.7 centimeter color flat panel displays in the rear cockpit. Sextant Avionique also integrated a Totem inertial navigation system / global positioning satellite receiver system.
A central processor system supplied by DRDO of India.
A countermeasures system supplied by Elta of Israel and built around the Elta EL/M-8222 jammer system. The Su-30MKI is also able to carry the Israeli Rafael Litening external targeting pod.
In comparison, the Chinese MKK varient has the following additions to the base MK design
The Su-30MKK is a two-seater multirole aircraft with inflight refueling, twelve stores attachments, and the capability of carrying the latest Russian AAMs and smart weapons, but it does not have the canards or vectored-thrust engines of the IAF Su-30MKI. The Su-30MKK has a modernized Russian-built avionics suite, including:
A Tikhonravov NIIP "N001VE" radar, an updated export version of the original N001 radar with air-to-air, air-to-ground, and navigation modes.
An OLS-30 optical sensor system and Sura-K helmet-mounted sight.
An L-150 Pastel ELINT set to provide radar warning and emitter targeting capabilities. Incidentally, one of the few distinctive recognition features of the Su-30MKK is that the tailfins have been increased in height and have flat, not angled, tips, with antennas for the Pastel set mounted in near the top rear of the tailfins.
An A-737 satellite navigation receiver, compatible with both the US GPS and Russian GLONASS satellite navigation systems, linked into a comprehensive navigation system. The Su-30MKK also carries modern radios, a datalink, and a video recorder system.
A glass cockpit, with a wide-angle HUD and two 15.8 x 21.1 centimeter (6.2 x 8.3 inch) flat panel displays for the pilot, and two similar flat-panel displays for the back-seater.
The avionics is linked together with considerable processing power using a digital databus scheme, with the aircraft's fire-control system integrating the radar, optical sensor system, helmet-mounted sight, and IFF interrogator. The Su-30MKK also has slightly increased internal fuel tankage, as well as stronger landing gear and airframe reinforcement to handle increased takeoff weight.
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