The Hindu : National : India, Russia to work on advanced fighter plane

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India, Russia to work on advanced fighter plane

Vladimir Radyuhin

It will have superior manoeuvrability and supersonic speed
Mass production may begin in both countries in 2015

MOSCOW: India will join Russia in practical work to develop the fifth-generation fighter plane later this year after the two sides sign research and development contracts.

“We have made good progress since concluding an inter-government agreement in 2007 for the joint development and production of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft and are ready to sign detailed contracts this year for implementing the programme,” said Mikhail Pogosyan, CEO of the Sukhoi aircraft building company, which is the chief contractor of the fighter on the Russian side.

Sukhoi partners with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the project.

The fifth-generation advanced multi-role fighter is expected to begin flight tests in Russia before the end of 2009 and go into mass production in both countries in 2015. Russia and India are planning to build two versions of the plane for their Air Forces each — a single-seater and a two-seater.

Speaking to The Hindu ahead of the Aero India-2009 air show, Mr. Pogosyan said the Russian and Indian versions of the new fighter would closely match each.

“We have now reached a broad agreement with our Indian partners on technical requirements for the new aircraft. The Russian and Indian versions will be very closely integrated. This is extremely important for bringing down production costs.”

Even though India joined the project five years after it was launched in Russia, Mr. Pogosyan said HAL and other Indian contractors would be able to make a 50 per cent input as envisaged by the inter-government agreement.

“We are confident our Indian partners will contribute their technologies to enhance the plane’s capabilities. Considering that the programme will continue for over 50 years, there will be many opportunities to balance our contributions.”

The new Indo-Russian fighter will have super manoeuvrability and stealth features, will carry high-precision weapons in its fuselage and fly at supersonic cruising speed. Mr. Pogosyan said some technologies developed for the fifth-generation fighter were already being installed in modernised versions of fourth-generation planes, including the Su-30MKI, which India was manufacturing under Russian licence.

Mr. Pogosyan called for extending Indo-Russian interaction in combat aviation to civilian aircraft.

“The global aviation market, once dominated by warplanes, has now shifted in favour of civilian aircraft. It is therefore essential that we join forces in building new advanced passenger planes.”

At Aero India-2009, the Sukhoi company will display a scaled model of the SSJ-100 (Sukhoi SuperJet) regional airliner, the first passenger plane Russia has built in 20 years. Mr. Pogosyan who, in addition to his Sukhoi post, was appointed head of the MiG aircraft corporation last month, will also present in Bangalore the new MiG-35 fighter, which competes with the U.S., Swedish and French planes in the Indian tender for the acquisition of 126 light fighters.

“Demonstration flights by MiG-35 at AeroIndia-2009 will be a very important phase in the plane’s participation in the Indian tender,” Mr. Pogosyan said.

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