Su-57E Negotiation: India says No Radar, No Deal

2 comments

1. The headline is a bit misleading here. What India wants is essentially not a Su-57E but a Su-57 airframe and engines and some Russian weapons but a majority of its avionics and weapons systems will be the stuff India has developed for its AMCA program.

   Russia may not want to do this because it means admitting that their products are not necessarily top of the line. But then Russia also needs the money and they have no other customers.

   This is actually very appealing for India as this will essentially be an Indian platform (except for its Engines) and it will be very easy to integrate this with the existing fleet as well as the future fleet when Tejas MkII and AMCA are eventually inducted.

   It would now be interesting to see what happens to MRFA. Recent investment moves by Dassault in the Indian market seem to suggest India is on the verge of putting a 114 Aircraft order for Rafale. Will Dassault and France also agree to such level of integration of Indian avionics?

   Or, if Russia agrees to these changes, will Su-57E replace Rafale in MRFA?

2. I am seriously doubtful of the capabilities of the Su57 as a 5th generation fighter but it might prove to be better than current 4.5th generation options if the Indian military can integrate these airframes with their homegrown technology. Could be a “ehh, good enough” stop gap for J35s (again, seriously doubtful of its capabilities as a 5th gen option) which Pakistan is deemed to acquire soon at dirt cheap rate. Mr. Kremlin doesn’t have any other customers and it would seriously need a decent chunk of cheddar considering they got their asses kicked by Ukraine this past month. Interesting to see how this will play out.

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