Indian Aerospace Giant Gives Update on Russian Su-57 Stealth Fighter License Production Plans

Chairman and Managing Director of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Dr. D.K. Sunil has provided details on ongoing plans for the license production of the Su-57 fifth generation fighter in the country, 14 months after it was confirmed that talks for such a deal were underway. “I think presentations have been made regarding the Su-57 to the Air Force team by the Russian team regarding the capabilities of the aircraft. We have had one estimation of the capacity of our Plants for the Russian equipment. A committee of Russians has also studied and said that roughly 50% of the facilities can be used for producing this aircraft, but some new investments will be required,” he observed. The Su-57 began deliveries to Algeria, the aircraft’s first client, in late 2025, with the aircraft having already been brought into active service.

Further elaborating on procurement plans, Sunil observed: “We are awaiting the Russian quotation about the investment. Then we will approach the Air Force that these are the kind of numbers required to produce these aircraft and these are the timelines.” Indian media outlets have reported that Russian defence agencies have been conducting internal analyses to determine the capital required for Su-57 production in India, with the goal of reducing costs, shortening timelines, and leveraging existing infrastructure, in particular facilities for the manufacture of the older Su-30MKI ‘4+ generation’ fighter of which over 220 were built in India. In February it was reported by local media that the Indian Defence Ministry was considering the near term procurement of 40 Su-57s to rapidly enhance the combat capabilities of the Air Force’s most capable frontline units, which would be followed by a license production deal. This would mirror the procurement of 50 Russian-built Su-30MKI fighters before deliveries from local production lines could commence. 

The Indian Defence Ministry in January 2026 confirmed that talks for the license production of the Su-57 had reached an advanced technical stage, with the Russian Defence Ministry in June 2025 reported to have made an unprecedented offer to provide full access to the aircraft’s source code as part of a license production deal. This would place Indian Su-57s entirely in a league of their own among fighters of their generation in their levels of customisability and the degree to which they can integrate indigenous technologies. This bears a strong contrast to France’s current serious restrictions on technology transfers and source code access for its much lighter and older Rafale ‘4+ generation’ fighter, which has been a major factor preventing a license production deal from being reached. 

In December 2025 Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev alluded to the possibility of  a fully joint program to develop a new Su-57 variant being pursued, providing India with ownership of key technologies. Commenting on the possibility of a deeply customised Su-57 variant being brought into service, Indian Air Force Group Captain M. J. Augustine Vinod noted the following month that the combination of the Russian airframe and engines with local avionics and other subsystems could be particularly potent. “When you combine the exceptional aerodynamics of Su-57 and the Indian avionics and software to it, you have an airplane much better than the F-35,” he claimed. Indian sources have widely speculated that a miniaturised variant of the  Virupaksha AESA radar currently under development for the Su-30MKI could be integrated onto a local variant of the Su-57.