On November 30 Kazakhstan’s Deputy Commander in Chief of the Air Defence and head of the principle armaments division Yerzhan Nildibayev acknowledged that his nation had chosen to accumulate Russian Su-30SM fighters over a competing supply from France to provide Rafale jets. He added that the Kazakh Defence Ministry deliberate to accumulate ten Su-30SMs in 2023-2024, emphasising that the Su-30 had a greater “quality-price” ratio in comparison with the French plane. France’s Dassault Aviation has been selling the Rafale to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for a number of months, with each international locations fielding older lessons of Soviet fighters which are anticipated to be phased out of service within the coming years – particularly Kazakh MiG-27 strike fighters and Uzbek Su-27 air superiority fighters. The Kazakh Air Pressure is already thought-about by far probably the most succesful in Central Asia, and obtained its first Su-30SMs in 2015 with three separate contracts for the plane already having been signed offering a present fleet dimension of 23 fighters. The advantages of increasing utilization of fighters from a category already in service, over integrating fully new plane which require totally different coaching, spare elements, infrastructure and weaponry, already positioned the Su-30SM better off in bids for additional contracts. Alongside Su-30s, the spine of the Kazakh fleet is at present fashioned by 32 MiG-31 interceptors break up between two squadrons, which have for much longer engagement ranges and carry considerably bigger radars than the Su-30.
Kazakhstan’s determination to pick the Su-30 over the Rafale follows an analogous determination by Algeria within the mid-2000s, when the French plane was equally strongly marketed to the nation however failed to achieve vital curiosity. The Su-30SM is carefully associated to the Su-30MKA acquired by Algeria, with each produced on the Irkutsk Aviation Plant and based mostly on the Su-30MKI ‘4+ technology’ fighter design initially developed to fulfill Indian Air Pressure specs. These Su-30s combine thrust vectoring engines and phased array radars offering a far superior efficiency in air to air fight over cheaper Su-30 fashions produced on the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant, and combine numerous applied sciences from the cancelled Su-37 air superiority fighter. One of many main advantages of the Su-30 for each very massive international locations far wider space it may well cowl, as whereas the Rafale has a comparatively lengthy vary for a light-weight fighter it was nonetheless far shorter than heavyweights such because the Su-30 or F-15. The realm the Algerian Air Pressure must cowl is roughly equal to the areas of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and Greece mixed, whereas Kazakhstan’s territory is 14 p.c bigger nonetheless.
The Su-30 can’t solely fly a lot additional and with a a lot higher weapons load, however its situational consciousness can also be significantly higher with its radar being roughly twice the scale of the Rafale’s RBE2. The Su-30SM variant makes use of the extra fashionable N011M Bars phased array radar with a most detection vary 400 km. The Rafale’s comparatively weak M88 engines – the weakest for any fighter in manufacturing on the earth – additionally prohibit its velocity and operational altitude. The Rafale’s main benefit stays its a lot decrease operational prices and upkeep wants as a a lot lighter fighter class, though that is partly compensated for by the Su-30’s a lot decrease acquisition value. Newer variants of the Rafale additionally combine extra superior sensors and air to air missiles which are extra comparable in sophistication to these on Russia’s Su-57 fifth technology fighter, though these applied sciences are anticipated to be made obtainable in improve packages for the Su-30 in future.
Longstanding developments amongst Western arms suppliers to impose embargoes on spare elements and in any other case search to limit how their belongings can be utilized overseas, is an extra main downside of the Rafale. one other is the French fighter’s lack of compatibility with Kazakhstan’s current Russian and Soviet tools and sure incapability to function in joint networks with Russian forces. With Kazakhstan and Russia carefully integrating their air defences, which elevated additional with the creation of a joint Collective Safety Treaty Group air defence community in November, integrating very brief ranged and non-compatible French fighters into the community would have been extremely troublesome. The significance of interoperability with Russian forces was highlighted in January 2022 when Astana requested the Russian Navy be deployed to assist native forces countering a brief lived Turkish-backed insurgency which noticed native safety forces take vital casualties.
