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India Concerned About Fifth-Gen Fighter Work Share With Russia
By Jay Menon
Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

October 21, 2013
NEW DELHI — Indian government officials are expressing concern over the country’s work share in its Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) collaboration with Russia.

“We have a major opportunity in the FGFA program,” Indian air force (IAF) Deputy Chief Air Marshal S. Sukumar says. However, “at the moment it is not very much in favor of Indian development. We are flagging it through the government. It should be much more focused towards indigenous development capability.”

India’s work share in FGFA research and development and other aspects of the multi-billion dollar project at the moment is only around 15%, even though New Delhi is bearing 50% of the cost. The total program is expected to cost India about 1.5 trillion rupees ($25 billion).

Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony is expected to discuss the progress of the FGFA program and the IAF’s concerns with Russian defense authorities during his visit to Moscow on Nov. 15.

“Apart from the cost factor of the FGFA project, the defense minister is expected to take up the issue of India’s share in the project, since it will have an impact on the country’s indigenous capabilities to develop such an advanced fighter aircraft,” a defense ministry official says.

India and Russia signed a preliminary design contract worth $295 million for the FGFA in December 2010, and the design phase of the joint venture program was completed in June. Currently the final design and research and development contracts are under negotiation between the two countries. “These talks are expected to be concluded next year,” Sukumar says.

The final design contract now being negotiated is pegged at $11 billion, with India and Russia sharing $5.5 billion each towards the cost of design, infrastructure build-up, prototype development and flight-testing. Each fighter is expected to cost over $100 million.

The IAF intends to buy around 300 stealthy FGFAs, made jointly by Russia’s Sukhoi and India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The fighter should be ready for induction from 2020 onwards.

The aircraft is a derivative project from the Russian single-seat Sukhoi T-50 or PAK FA being developed for the IAF. Currently, four T-50 prototypes have performed more than 200 test flights since January 2010. The Russian air force plans to begin inducting the fighter in 2015.

S. Subrahmanyan, managing director of MiG Complex at HAL, recently expressed confidence that the first jointly designed prototype will be ready in 2015 and the induction of FGFA could begin as early as 2019.

HAL will get three Russian prototypes for re-design and testing in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and will hand over the first series-produced aircraft to the IAF in 2017, Subrahmanyan says.

India had initially pitched for 166 single-seat and 48 twin-seat fighters, but the IAF now plans to stick with single-cockpit fighters to reduce costs and protect stealth features.


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TerraN_EmpirE said:

Trouble brewing?

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asif iqbal said:

This means one carrier operational at all times for the Indian Navy, huge advance in naval capability even although the aircraft they carry will be limited

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Hindustan Times said:

India is expected to acquire on lease a nuclear submarine from Russia, a deal for which may be finalised during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit there starting on Saturday.

The move to acquire the second nuclear submarine from Russia comes two months after the Navy's frontline Russian- origin Kilo Class INS Sindhurakshak submarine sank at the Mumbai harbour after an explosion suspected to have occurred in its torpedo section.

A proposal in this regard was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the Prime Minister in its recent meeting. The deal is expected to cost India more than Rs. 6,000 crore, highly-placed government sources told PTI.

The Indian Navy is already operating one Akula II Class nuclear submarine – Nerpa. The over 8,000-tonne warship was inducted in April last year at the Visakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command and renamed 'INS Chakra'.

Under the project, India is planning to finance the construction of an old Akula Class submarine 'Irbis' in Russia, which could not be completed during the 1990s due to the lack of funds after the break up of the erstwhile USSR.

The two countries have been holding negotiations in this regard for quite some time and they were concluded recently. The construction of the submarine is expected to take at least three to four years.

India's submarine fleet, which is getting old, is in the process of being retrofitted and modernised at a time when the Chinese Navy is expanding its nuclear submarine fleet.

Even though India has been diversifying its source-base for procuring weapon systems, Russia has been the only country from where it has acquired strategic systems such as nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers.

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Jeff Head said:

While it is true that in strict numbers the two Indian carriers are limited (20 Mig-29Ks for the Vikramaditya and 24 Mig-29Ks for the Vikrant), the aircraft are much more capable than what the Indians have had in the past with their Harriers, and other regional carriers do not have any great numeric advantage either.

Either of the two Indian carriers will have to be considered a potent threat by any of the other regional navies.

The Liaoning will carry 24 SU-33s. I expect that their first indigenous carrier will offer a similar number, perhaps even 30, but probably no more than that. So there is not much disparity there in terms of the next real regional competitor.

Outside of the US, in fact, no other carrier will have a significant edge. The UK carriers could...but they are not planned to carry even that many. The French have not carried more than 24-30 fighter/attack aircraft aboard the CDG.

So there are really no other carriers that would have a significant edge outside of the US.

We can argue the various merits of the SU-33 vs. the J-15, vs. the Rafael, vs. the F-35B, vs. the Mig-29K, because when it comes down to it, that's the difference we are talking about. All of them have similar AEW capabilities at present and unless one of them embarks something like a Osprey with AEW capabilities, that does not appear about to change in the near future.

Now, with the US you have an air wing of 24-30 F/A-18E/Fs, 12-18 F-35Cs, 6 EA-18Gs and 5 E-2Ds. Those numbers and that mix would make a significant difference against any of the others. But those others in and of themselves are going to be pretty well matched.

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Jeff Head said:

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Akulas are very good SSNs. Having two of them will be a big plus for the Indians and will allow them to always have one at sea...and two at sea for long stretches in between maintenance.

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Hindustan Times said:

Indian Navy on Wednesday inducted the fourth generation advanced jet trainer aircraft 'Hawk 132', which has led to a jump in the operational versatility.

"'Hawk 132' was inducted into the Navy at a ceremony held at the Naval Air Station INS Dega at Visakhapatnam," the Navy said in a release.

The aircraft was built by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with Transfer of Technology from M/s British Aerospace, UK.

"Four aircraft have been delivered to the Navy, marking the beginning of seventeen such fighter trainers to be acquired over the next few years," the release said.


'Hawk 132' is equipped with advanced and reliable navigation systems and has the capability to deploy an impressive array of weaponry including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground rockets, bombs and guns.

"It can also carry two extra fuel tanks under the wing, which extends its considerable strike range," the release said.

The HOTAS (Hands on Throttle and Stick) system on the control column and throttle allows the pilot to make weapon selections without moving his hands from the controls.

"'Hawk 132' is a proven aircraft operating with over 24 nations around the world. The Indian Air Force is also operating these aircraft for training of their pilots," the release said.

The induction of this highly capable aircraft will provide the much needed fillip to the training of combat pilots in the Navy by bridging the gap between basic flying training and advanced fighter flying.

"The Hawk will provide ab initio naval pilots with an ideal platform to hone their skills before they graduate to flying high performance aircraft and carrier based fighter jets, thereby making them available operationally in a shorter span of time," the Navy said.

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The US Navy's T-45, Goshawk, advanced naval jet trainer
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