India Reiterates Interest in Su-57 Purchases - Large Scale Acquisition Under FGFA Possible

The Indian Air Force’s chief of the Air Staff Birender Singh Dhanoa has reiterated the service’s longstanding interest in acquiring Su-57 fifth generation air superiority fighters from Russia. He stated that the country would be more willing to acquire the aircraft after they were seen in service in the Russian Air Force - with only prototypes currently operating. While advanced prototypes have reportedly been used in combat, with four deployed to Syria in early 2018, the entry of the platform into serial production is likely to increase India’s faith in the design. Facilities in Russia for mass production of the jets were confirmed as ready in June 2019, and Russia announced consecutive plans for acceleration of production and acquisition of the jets in June and July with multiple squadrons set to be fielded by the mid 2020s. It has been reported that production facilities were built with the intention of manufacturing fighters at a considerably higher rate than Russia itself plans to induct them - with several prospective export clients having shown considerable interest in the design.

India has been offered two paths for acquisition of the Su-57 - purchasing aircraft from Russian production lines or entering into a more complex contract to produce the aircraft under licence and integrate indigenous technologies under the FGFA program or one like it. With the FGFA deal stalling in 2018, although still not terminated despite widespread claims by Western news outlets which were later debunked, Indian officials indicated that they would be interested in acquiring the aircraft directly from Russia. It remains unclear, however, whether the FGFA deal will be revived for licence production of the jets, with many indications that this is under consideration. It is possible that India will acquire its first Su-57 fighters from Russia directly, and consider larger scale acquisitions and domestic production only after evaluating their performance firsthand. India has pursued large deals for licence manufacturing of Russian jets in the past - from the MiG-21 and MiG-23 to the Su-30MKI, a fourth generation predecessor to the Su-57 of which over 250 are currently in Indian service. With the Su-30MKI still in production in India, and the Air Force showing considerable faith in the design’s capabilities for the time being, it appears that Indian interest in the Su-57 is part of a longer term plan for modernisation and is not seen as an imminent priority. The fact that the Su-30MKI still retains a considerable advantage over all jets in the Pakistani fleet, and is a match for the majority of jets in Chinese service other than the J-20 and Su-35 -  neither of which have been deployed near India’s borders - is likely behind Delhi’s lack of urgency. It is also possible that India is awaiting the integration of the first sixth generation technologies onto the Su-57 airframe before acquisition - with a number of these currently being tested on prototypes from artificial intelligence to laser weapons and hypersonic ballistic missiles. Thus contract may not be signed until the early 2020s.