Indo-Russia joint stealth fighters programme flies into turbulence

A team from Russia8217;s Sukhoi Design Bureau and Irkut gave a detailed classified presentation to the Defence Ministry on Thursday on its fifth generation fighter concept...

A team from Russia8217;s Sukhoi Design Bureau and Irkut gave a detailed classified presentation to the Defence Ministry on Thursday on its fifth generation fighter concept, but discrepancies have already begun to surface between New Delhi and Moscow over the proposed multi-billion dollar joint programme to develop and produce advanced stealth fighters for both countries in the next decade.

In essence, South Block has communicated to Moscow that the Russian fifth generation fighter programme, designated PAK-FA, is already at an advanced stage of design, which effectively negates the aspect of 8216;8216;joint-development8217;8217; and has asked it to come up with a more 8216;8216;equal8217;8217; proposal.

The Sukhoi-led consortium8217;s concept, based on the PAK-FA, is being pitched vigorously to India as part of a protocol signed by the two countries in 2004 to build a fifth generation fighter.

In fact, the government plans to tell Moscow in December at the sixth meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Government Commission that if billions of dollars are to flow from the Indian side for the joint project, Moscow needs a partner because its budget will not allow it to develop alone, then the IAF and HAL must be on board from scratch, so that the aircraft platform incorporates IAF operational needs as well.

The fifth generation joint project is still a futuristic one, though it was clear from Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee8217;s comments in Parliament today, that the government is taking strong note of lessons learnt from the Light Combat Aircraft LCA programme for its other proposed project, the Medium Combat Aircraft MCA.

8216;8216;For expediting development work on MCA, government may consider collaboration with friendly countries,8217;8217; he said. The Aeronautical Development Agency ADA in Bangalore has already begun to conceptualise the MCA, possibly as India8217;s fifth-generation platform. The only operational fifth generation fighter right now is the American F/A-22 Raptor, with the F-35 Lightening II set to make its first flight this year.

At the most basic level, the wish-list that the IAF has for a fifth generation fighter, which should ideally begin flying operationally between 2015-2020, includes comprehensive stealth, a single engine, supercruise capabilities, an active electronically scanned array AESA combat radar and swing-role capabilities that allow seamless switching between air-to-air and air-to-ground modes inflight. This of course is in addition to the capability to operate entirely beyond visual range BVR of the enemy and perform short take-offs and landings.