Options For Joint Russian-Indian Development of Su-57 Fifth Generation Fighter Laid Out By Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has laid out a potential plan for the joint future development of the Su-57 fifth generation fighter by Russia and India, following multiple reports from officials in both countries that cooperation on the program is currently under negotiation. Speaking at a press conference on June 4, the president observed: 

“As far as the Su-57 goes, at one point we proposed to our Indian friends to work together on this technology. It's fifth generation technology I think it's the best in the world as of now. But back then, our Indian friends said: ‘Go ahead on your own, and then we will see — maybe we'll join.’ The aircraft could have been our joint project. We built it independently, but we are ready to work with India in this field — to supply this aircraft and to keep developing it. We don't have any issues with it, any limitations. The same goes for air defence systems.”  

The Russian president’s statement was made just hours after the announcement that a new enhanced engine for the Su-57 would become available “soon,” and closely following reports from Western and Ukrainian sources that operations by units equipped with the new aircraft had intensified in the Ukrainian theatre. A reported leading demand from the Indian Defence Ministry has been for the development of a twin seat variant of the Su-57, with the development of the Su-57D variant, which recently made its first flight on May 19, highlighted by multiple Russian sources as having been intended to strengthen the aircraft’s position on foreign markets. The Su-57 was first confirmed to have been delivered to foreign clients in November 2025, when it became operational in the Algerian Air Force, with the state intermediary agency for Russian defence exports Rosoboronexport subsequently confirming that multiple countries have placed orders.

While it remains uncertain which countries other than Algeria have already ordered the Su-57, India, Iran, North Korea and Vietnam are all considered very likely clients in the near term. The Indian Defence Ministry in January 2026 confirmed that talks on a deal to produce the Su-57 under license had reached an advanced technical stage, following widespread reports from local sources that the Ministry was considering the near term procurement of 40 Su-57s built in Russia to rapidly enhance the combat capabilities of the Air Force’s most capable frontline units. This would occur before license production could begin to provide heavily customised variants on a much larger scale from a later date. It is possible that an ‘off the shelf’ procurement deal has already been reached, but that an agreement license production and possible joint development of a customised variant is still under discussion. 

President Putin’s indication that a new variant of the Su-57 could be developed jointly follows an offer made in December 2025 by the director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev for a fully joint program to develop a new Su-57 variant customised for Indian requirements. Such cooperation would go above and beyond a license production deal and include an extensive sharing of technologies. The Russian Defence Ministry was June 2025 reported to have made an unprecedented offer to provide full access to the fighter’s source code, which would pave the way to a joint program and provide the Indian Air Force with a far greater level of autonomy over its aircraft than any other client for fifth generation fighter aircraft has ever received. 

Commenting on the possibility of license production of the Su-57 in India, Chairman and Managing Director of the state-run firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Dr. D.K. Sunil observed regarding the state of talks. “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.” “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,” he added. Indian facilities for the manufacture of the older Su-30MKI ‘4+ generation’ fighter, of which over 220 were built under license in the country, are reportedly being considered for conversion to production of the Su-57.