Russia offered India the latest 'Izdelie 177S' engine for modernizing its fleet of Su-30MKI fighters. However, the republic was not impressed by the offer, according to the IDRW agency.
Sources in the Indian Air Force stated that the 177S "is still under development and has not reached operational readiness." They expressed the opinion that such an engine would need years of testing before it goes into production.
Instead, India intends to gradually improve the AL-31FP to increase its resource and service life beyond the manufacturer's stated limits. However, there is a nuance here – this will require Russia's permission, otherwise the engines will fall under warranty restrictions.
Recall that the 177S engine was first shown at Aero India 2025. ODK noted that thrust in afterburner mode reaches 14.5 tons. The declared resource is 6 thousand hours, which is 3 times more than previous generation power plants.
Roman Gusarov, editor-in-chief of Avia.ru, explained to 'Pervy Tekhnichesky' that the 177S will be useful in creating a prototype of a domestic supersonic airliner. This will require replacing the hydromechanical control system with an electronic one.