Saturn AL-51

In the 1990s, the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in the disruption of funding and lengthy delays of the Mikoyan Project 1.44 for the MFI (Mnogofunksionalni Frontovoy Istrebitel, "Multifunctional Frontline Fighter") fifth-generation fighter program along with its engines, the variable cycle 18–tonne (177 kN, 40,000 lbf) class NPO Lyulka-Saturn AL-41F, internally designated izdeliye 20.{{cite web |last=Velovich |first=Alexander |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/al-41-engine-problems-are-over-says-lyulka-saturn-25271/ |title=AL-41 engine problems are over, says Lyulka Saturn |work=Flight International|date=1 August 1995}} In 1999, as the MFI and LFI programs were gradually being abandoned, the Russian Defence Ministry initiated the more affordable PAK FA next-generation fighter program to replace the MiG-29 and Su-27. The competition was announced in April 2001, and Sukhoi submitted its T-50 proposal with a pair of 14.5-tonne (142 kN, 32,000 lbf) class Lyulka-Saturn AL-41F1, internally designated izdeliye 117, for the PAK FA.{{cite web |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/new-al-41-unveiled-at-maks-2001-/39275.article |title=New AL-41 Unveiled at MAKS 2001 |work=Flight International|date=27 August 2001}}{{cite web |url=http://archive.russia-today.ru/2009/no_12/12_from_backlog_01.htm |title=Виктор ЧЕПКИН (Victor CHEPKIN interview), "Сатурн" выходит из-за туч |work=Russia Today |date=June 2008 |accessdate=2012-09-21 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616231722/http://archive.russia-today.ru/2009/no_12/12_from_backlog_01.htm |archivedate=2010-06-16 }} Sukhoi was selected as the winner of the competition in April 2002 and in April 2004, it signed a contract with Lyulka-Saturn, now NPO Saturn, to develop the AL-41F1.Butowski 2021, p. 27 Despite its name, the engine is actually a highly uprated and improved variant of the earlier-generation Lyulka AL-31, originally designed for the Su-27. While the AL-41F1 used the same basic architecture as the AL-31, it had 80% new parts and applied technology from Lyulka-Saturn's original AL-41F, which was too large for the T-50.{{cite web |url=https://nplus1.ru/material/2019/03/06/engines |title=Плазменный мотор |work=nplus1.ru |date=6 March 2019}}{{cite web |url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/833099 |title=Подробнее |work=Kommersant |date=10 December 2007}}

Although Sukhoi specified the AL-41F1 in the contract, the bureau anticipates that its T-50 design, eventually designated the Su-57, would be the basis for a family of stealth combat aircraft, with future variants employing more powerful engines. Following a competition between NPO Saturn and MMPP Salyut, the former was selected to develop the new engine, a clean-sheet design designated the izdeliye 30, that would equip the improved Su-57M variant in the mid-2020s.{{cite web |url=http://marker.ru/news/365 |title=Creating an engine for the fifth generation fighter |publisher=Marker(JSC)(RU) |first=Ivan |last=Cheberko |date=8 April 2010 |access-date=23 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113083852/http://marker.ru/news/365 |archive-date=13 January 2016 }}{{cite web|url=https://naukatehnika.com/novyj-dvigatel-dlya-su-57.html|title=Новый двигатель с плазменной системой зажигания для Су-57. "Изделие 30" и искусство компромиссов|website=naukatehnika.com|date=19 March 2019|access-date=15 June 2019}}{{Cite web|title=Russian Su-57 With Fifth-gen Engine Expected Beyond 2025|url=https://www.defenseworld.net/news/26933/Russian_Su_57_With_Fifth_gen_Engine_Expected_Beyond_2025#.Xvknmd6lY0M|access-date=2020-06-28|website= defenseworld.net}} Compared to the AL-41F1, the new powerplant will have increased thrust, lower costs, better fuel efficiency, and fewer moving parts; the engine also has glass-fibre plastic inlet guide-vanes (IGV) and a new nozzle with serrated flaps to reduce the aircraft's radar signature. Those features, along with subsequently improved reliability and lower maintenance costs will improve the aircraft performance and reliability.{{cite web |last=Butowski |first=Piotr |url=https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/future-su-57-next-generation-engine-uncertain |title=Future Of Su-57 Next-Generation Engine Uncertain |work=Aviation Week |date=6 January 2020}}{{cite web |url=http://defense-update.com/20171217_su-57_production-2.html |title=Russian Air Force to Receive the First Production Su-57 in 2018 - Defense Update |date=17 December 2017 |website=Defense-update.com |access-date=18 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171221004346/http://defense-update.com/20171217_su-57_production-2.html |archive-date=21 December 2017 |url-status=live}} The izdeliye 30 is designed to have fewer stages than the AL-41F1 and be up to 18% more effective. Full scale development began in 2011 and the engine's compressor began bench testing in December 2014.[http://www.ruaviation.com/news/2012/11/15/1341/ "The testing of a new engine intended for PAK FA will be started in 2014". - Russian Aviation] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023113508/http://www.ruaviation.com/news/2012/11/15/1341/ |date=23 October 2014}}, RuAviation.com, 15 November 2012. Retrieved: 19 November 2012. The first test engines were completed in 2016.{{cite web |url=https://rg.ru/2017/09/26/reg-pfo/stali-izvestny-sroki-pervogo-poleta-su-57-s-novymi-dvigateliami.html |title=Стали известны сроки первого полета Су-57 с новыми двигателями |work=Rossiyskaya Gazeta |date=26 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926175310/https://rg.ru/2017/09/26/reg-pfo/stali-izvestny-sroki-pervogo-poleta-su-57-s-novymi-dvigateliami.html |archive-date=26 September 2017 |url-status=live}} The new powerplant is designed to be a drop-in replacement for the AL-41F1 with minimal changes to the airframe.Kozlov, Dmitry. [http://vpk.name/news/93188_presskonferenciya_npo_saturn.html Press conference of "Saturn"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020082411/http://vpk.name/news/93188_presskonferenciya_npo_saturn.html |date=20 October 2014}} (RU). AviaPort.ru (RU), 16 July 2013. Retrieved: 21 May 2014.

First flight of the engine on an Su-57 prototype occurred on 5 December 2017 with the second prototype (T-50-2, bort no. 052).{{cite web |url=http://tass.com/defense/979265 |title=Russia's Su-57 fifth-generation fighter makes first flight with new engine |website=Tass.com |access-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206215954/http://tass.com/defense/979265 |archive-date=6 December 2017 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/video-russia-flies-first-su-57-fitted-with-new-prod-443899/ |title=VIDEO: Russia flies first Su-57 fitted with new Product 30 engine |date=5 December 2017 |website=Flightglobal.com |access-date=8 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208174913/https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/video-russia-flies-first-su-57-fitted-with-new-prod-443899/ |archive-date=8 December 2017 |url-status=live}} However, the engine’s development has seen a sluggish flight test pace; originally planned to enter service in the early 2020s, the izdeliye 30’s planned introduction has been delayed to the mid-2020s.{{cite web|url=https://tass.com/defense/1096595|title=Russia's Su-57 fifth-generation fighter performs 16 test flights with new 2nd stage engine|website=TASS|date=6 December 2019|access-date=11 December 2019}}{{cite web |last=Butowski |first=Piotr |url= https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/future-su-57-next-generation-engine-uncertain |title=Future Of Su-57 Next-Generation Engine Uncertain |work=Aviation Week |date=6 January 2020}} In 2023, the engine was given the designation AL-51, with the base variant as the AL-51F-1.{{cite web |last=Butowski |first=Piotr |url=https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/russias-fighter-engine-development-slow-going |title=Russia's Fighter Engine Development Is Slow Going |work=Aviation Week |date=24 July 2023}}

In early December 2024, the first known testing of AL-51F-1 with a new 2D thrust vectoring nozzle was done using the second prototype of T-50. The 17-minute test flight saw Sukhoi chief test pilot Sergei Bogdan flying the T-50-2 prototype from the M.M. Gromov flight test center, in Zhukovsky.[https://theaviationist.com/2024/12/11/russian-su-57-spotted-with-flat-2d-thrust-vectoring-nozzle/ Russian Su-57 Spotted With Flat 2D Thrust Vectoring Nozzle]

The AL-51F-1 is a two-shaft low-bypass afterburning turbofan engine. The architecture is a three-stage fan driven by a single-stage low pressure turbine and five-stage high pressure compressor driven by single-stage high pressure turbine. Unlike its AL-41F1 predecessor, the engine has glass-fiber plastic IGVs and convergent-divergent nozzles that use serrated flaps to reduce its radar signature as well as 19% higher thrust-to-weight ratio, 6.4% better specific thrust, and 9% lower specific fuel consumption; estimated thrust is {{cvt|107.9|kN|lbf}} dry and {{cvt|166.8|kN|lbf}} in afterburner.{{cite web |url=https://www.kai.ru/documents/11956846/12124733/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8C+10.11.21+%D0%B3.pdf/9d0b504a-b7e3-4c12-9ff9-a24c41a23132 |title=AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINE - THE CROWN OF ENGINEERING THOUGHT |date=10 November 2021 |website= |publisher=NPO Saturn, UMPO |access-date= |page=8}} The AL-51F1 has full authority digital engine control (FADEC) to ensure its reliability in various operating conditions.Butowski 2021, p. 89

• Sukhoi Su-57M (planned)
• Sukhoi Su-75 Checkmate (planned, derivative)

{{jetspecs

|

|ref= Key Aero, Aviation Week, NPO Saturn and UMPO

|type=Two-shaft turbofan engine

|length=~{{convert|4.9|m|in|abbr=on}} (comparable to AL-41F1)

|diameter=~{{convert|1.28|m|in|abbr=on}} (comparable to AL-41F1)

|weight={{convert|1450|kg|lb}}

|compressor=3-stage low pressure, 5-stage high pressure

|combustion=Annular

|turbine=Single stage low pressure, single stage high pressure

|fueltype=

|oilsystem=

|power=

|thrust=

• {{convert|11|tf|kN lbf|0|abbr=on|lk=on}} dry thrust
• {{convert|17|tf|kN lbf|0|abbr=on}} with afterburner

|compression=

|aircon=

|turbinetemp=

|fuelcon=

|specfuelcon=

|power/weight=

|thrust/weight=7.45:1 on dry thrust, 11.5:1 on afterburner.

}}

{{Aircontent

|see also=

• Saturn AL-41
• Saturn AL-31

|related=

|similar engines=

• Pratt & Whitney F119
• Xian WS-15

|lists=

• List of aircraft engines

}}

{{reflist|group=N}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Butowski |first=Piotr |title=Su-57 Felon |location=Stamford, UK |publisher=Key Books |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-913870-44-7 |url=https://shop.keypublishing.com/product/View/productCode/KB0043/Su-57%20Felon}}

{{Lyulka aeroengines}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saturn izdeliye 30}}

izdeliye 30

Category:Low-bypass turbofan engines