India and Russia intend to invest in the development of a fifth-generation fighter with $ 6 billion each as collateral. This fighter in its level should be one step ahead of the American F-22 Raptor, which now dominates the sky.
Senior sources in the Indian Ministry of Defense confirmed that after several years of painful negotiations, the parties have completed the preliminary design of the vehicle (PDC - preliminary design contract). This is a key document that will allow the parties to finally start developing the aircraft.
“The negotiators have done their job and the government will probably consider this document this month,” the ministry said. If the document is given the green light, the contract will most likely be signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to India in December.
Ashok Nayak, chairman of the board of directors of the national aircraft corporation HAL, said that if the respective shares of the parties in participation in this program are approved and the preliminary design contract is signed, the design of the aircraft will be completed within 18 months. According to him, full-scale development and creation of a fighter can take 8-10 years.
The Russian and Indian Air Forces plan to purchase approximately 250 fighters each at a cost of $ 100 million. Thus, each side will have to spend another $ 25 billion.
These astronomical numbers became even more relevant when the US was forced to close the F-22 program last year due to its extremely high cost - each machine costs $ 340 million because F-22 technology was deemed critical to the US technological superiority, the aircraft was developed and produced exclusively in the United States. As a result, the Pentagon abandoned further purchases of F-22s, limiting itself to 187 fighters - half of the amount that was planned to be purchased based on the 2006 plan.
“Even if the United States cannot afford to operate alone under the fifth generation fighter program, Russia certainly cannot. Russia had no choice but to try to co-opt India as a partner in the program,”said a senior Indian Air Force officer.
Eight years ago, Russia proposed to India to develop a fifth generation fighter, but it was not clear in which directions the joint development should go. In 2005-2007, when India began rapprochement with the United States, negotiations slowed down. Progress resumed in November 2007 when Russia and India entered into a government agreement on this program.
But HAL sources say that even after the signing of this agreement, the Russian negotiators at every stage were waiting for instructions from the country's top leadership on which top-secret technologies should be used to work with India.
“For the first time, Russia agreed to conduct advanced military development with another country, but before each step, Russian negotiators waited for what they called presidential decrees on how to work on this top-secret program,” the source said. Thus, it took almost three years for the approvals before the parties entered into negotiations on the general contract and on a separate non-disclosure agreement. In March 2010, a tactical and technical assignment for joint development was signed.
Meanwhile, since January 2010, Russia has been testing a prototype of a fifth-generation fighter under the PAK FA program (a promising aviation complex for front-line aviation). This prototype was created taking into account the requirements of the Russian Air Force.
HAL officials believe India's share in the design of the aircraft will be around 30%. Basically, the Indian side will participate in the creation of the latest electronic equipment, such as a control computer, avionics, cockpit displays and electronic warfare systems. In addition, India will have to redesign the single-seat PAK FA into a two-seater preferred by the Air Force. Like the Su-30MKI, the Indian Air Force wants one pilot to fly the plane while the other manages sensors, network systems and weapons.
