OREANDA-NEWS. August 8, 2012. FSUE “Gas-Turbine Engineering RPC “Salut” made the first public display of the enhanced AL-31F M2 engine at the venue of “Machine-Building Technologies – 2012” International Meeting.

The AL-31F M2, which is the second phase updrade of the basic engine, features a considerably higher thrust at all power settings, including up to 14 300 kgf at the special power setting. The engine's assigned life has also been significantly increased up to 3 000 hours.

The new engine modification is equipped with a dedicated digital automatic control system of FADEC type, capable of fully catering for hydraulic and mechanical actuation control of the main engine circuit and adaptable to any aircraft with both analog and digital controls.

“The AL-31F engine upgrading process entails no changes of its overall size and is aimed at keeping the options open for the re-engining of the entire Su-27 aircraft fleet both for the Russian Air Force and foreign customers without having to additionally modify the airframes and engine nacelles, which would otherwise mean additional costs”, says Vladislav Masalov, Director General of Salut. “The flight performance of Su-27 family aircraft can be significantly improved once they are powered with these engine upgrades with bettered characteristics.”

The AL-31F M2 engine on-ground bench tests and altitude tests in the climatic test bench of TsIAM Research Institute have proven the engine conformity to the specified parameters. The longevity tests are currently underway to prove the targeted life performance. Meantime, the flight-test engine examples are in the works.

“Apart from having a 1 000 kgf higher thrust, the engine will feature lower specific fuel consumption versus its predecessor”, notes Gennady Skirdov, General Designer, adding that “the improvements have encompassed the low pressure compressor, combustion chamber and high pressure turbine.”

The first phase of the AL-31F upgrading program was completed in 2006. The engine thrust at special power setting had then been increased to up to 13 500 kgf and the assigned life extended to 2 000 hours. The AL-31F M1 engine (Series 42) is installed on Su-27SM and Su-27SM2 aircraft operated by the Russian Air Force.