MRF launches tyres for Indian Air Force's Sukhoi aircraft

CHENNAI: India’s second largest tyre maker, MRF Tyres, has become the first Indian company to launch tyres for the Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi aircraft. The company, on Saturday, launched MRF Aeromuscle, which would be used for Sukhoi 30 MKI’s main wheels.
The project, which began in 2008, has been anchored by the Indian Air Force (IAF), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, The Center for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), The Rubber and Chemical Merchants Association (RCMA) Nasik, Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA).The tyres have been designed by MRF and are being manufactured at the company’s factory in Hyderabad.
MRF’s tyres will work out 40% cheaper for the IAF. Today, there are about five global manufacturers making aircraft tyres and the IAF currently uses Russian tyres on the Sukhoi.
This is MRF’s second project in the aviation space. It has been making tyres for Chetak Helicopters of the IAF and for HAL, and has now started work on making tyres for the MIG aircraft and the aircraft for the Indian Navy, the company’s executive vice-president Koshy Varghese said. The company currently gets about 1% of its turnover from the defence segment. It is not commercially viable but we are looking at the long term, Varghese said. With this long-term view, the company is also looking to set up a dynamometer to test the tyres that are being manufactured for the defence centre, and is looking to get some funding from the Government for this, he said.