India gives up FGFA fighter to buy Su-57?
It is likely that the Indian Air Force will sign a contract to purchase Russian Su-57 stealth fighters while the FGFA joint venture project is at a dead end.
The Russian-made Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighter will be delivered to its Aerospace Forces by the end of 2019, President of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Yuri Slyusar announced.
Although Russia is currently expected to buy all 15 Su-57s, it seems that Moscow will find a potential customer in India - which will own a Su-57 squadron with a number even larger than the Russian Air Force, National Interest magazine reported.
The option of selling the state-of-the-art Su-57 fighter to foreign partners to get foreign currency to reinvest in production is not a bad solution for Russia at this time, when the Su-57 mass production program is facing the biggest problem of stable capital.
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| Graphics of the FGFA stealth fighter jointly developed by India and Russia. |
The reason India is mentioned is because New Delhi has been deeply involved in Russia's 5th generation fighter program, specifically the FGFA fighter, which is considered a modified version with a two-person cockpit of the Su-57.
However, the fate of the FGFA project is currently facing a great risk of being terminated because India has announced its withdrawal from the program for many reasons, most notably the skyrocketing cost and the aircraft's technical and tactical features not meeting initial expectations.
New Delhi had considered purchasing the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter from the US, but due to the S-400 Triumf contract, that prospect became distant when Washington, although exempted from the CAATSA Act, quoted the F-35 price at a level that India would find difficult to accept.
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| India to buy large numbers of Russian Su-57 stealth fighters |
The current situation makes it difficult for India to wait much longer to own the 5th generation fighter, when its biggest rival, China, has started mass production of the J-20 and also plans to sell the J-31 fighter to Pakistan.
To avoid being outclassed by two powerful enemies, the Indian Air Force needs to quickly put into combat duty large numbers of stealth fighter squadrons. To avoid falling behind schedule, their only option at the moment is the Su-57.
In the past and present, India is the country with the most T-90 main battle tanks, and they are also the first country to deploy the Kalibr supersonic anti-ship missile. This situation is due to Russia's policy of selling advanced defense products to friends to get money to reinvest in its own equipment, so it is likely that the Su-57 will follow the path that the two weapons have outlined.
