The topic of the agreement on the production of SJ-100 (Superjet) civilian passenger aircraft in India, which was hyped up by the Russian media at the end of October 2025, resulted in numerous online discussions. Politicized commentators far from aviation immediately became more active, who have already stated that "they cannot produce in Russia, but they can in India." Meanwhile, all the "sofa experts" would do well to study the history of the issue first. Then they would have discovered that India is not able to develop and build modern passenger aircraft today. Moreover, there are no own engines for civil aviation.…
Russia (and the USSR before it) and India have a rich long–term experience of cooperation in the military-technical sphere. Meanwhile, in civil aviation, Indians, like almost all countries of the world, are tied to European and American technologies and finished products. There was an attempt to assemble a "proprietary" HAL 748 passenger aircraft, but it was an English twin-engine turboprop Hawker Siddeley HS 748 developed in the 1960s. Two dozen aircraft were assembled at HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics) for civil aviation, the remaining almost 70 units were purchased by the local military, some of them are still flying. India cannot start producing its own modern aircraft with turbofan engines and on-board electronics.
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| HAL-748. Actually, the technological level here is clear from the picture. |
| Source: https://www.airhistory.net/photo/15493/VT-DXJ |
No matter what various "experts" may say, but today the production of a new high-tech airliner for civil aviation is no easier than the "more complex" fighter jets. And if you didn't have your own design school, a well-developed assembly plant, and an operation/maintenance system, then this is a very long and incredibly expensive idea. Not necessarily with a good ending.
You've probably read about the Japanese project of the "Superjet analogue", when the technically "cool" Japanese tried to become one of the world's aircraft manufacturers? Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) began to be created in 2003, they did not create their own engines – they took the American Pratt & Whitney 1000 family, but in 2021 they were blown away and the program was closed. Yes, by this point, a total of 8 experimental machines had been built, but they had not passed the test program. And everything. Japan continues to sit on the sidelines. Even the American owners did not help them. By the way, the Chinese also have a hard time with civilian aircraft. No technological independence. The same American engines and various non-Chinese onboard systems on the C919, which we call the "MS-21 analog". We worked with the Russians on the big CR929 project, realized that our PD-35 engines were not going to be given to them "as a gift", and went back to Western partners – they would buy and suffer.
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| The sketch of CR929, as it was seen in 2018 in Russia and China. |
| Source: tehnoomsk.ru |
Now it's time to return to our Indian partners. The Indians want the Superjet as well as their fifth-generation fighter jet, processor, aircraft carrier, spacecraft and other high-tech projects. But there is a distance of years, even decades, between "wanting" and "being able to develop + produce". There is no way without foreigners. They have already bought a lot of things from the Russians, they are gradually raising their level, they persistently want to produce airplanes themselves, but as mentioned above, this is still a distant future. In the meantime, there is an agreement between the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). According to it, the Indian company received the right to manufacture SJ-100 aircraft for local customers.
Indians understand that given their situation in the domestic air transportation market, such a project cannot be dispensed with – with a population of almost 1.5 billion people, not everyone, of course, can afford to fly due to low incomes, but even that part of the population that can provides high workload on regular flights. Plus, the country's authorities are investing money in the construction of new airports. In general, a lot of regional planes are needed, and Airbus and Boeing are in no hurry to help. And the Indians don't want to stupidly buy several hundred foreign cars. In general, as always, we are left with our own solutions and projects.
It is particularly worth noting that by getting rid of the SaM-146 aircraft engine jointly with the French and creating its own PD-8, Russia can now really make a lot of money exporting import-substituted Superjets. We got our own plane, completely ours, without technological dependence on the West. The assembly of SJ-100 fuselages in India and a certain percentage of their local components is a good option for the local industry, the rest will come from Russia, and this is already beneficial to us. However, do not forget that the Indian side is famous for its slowness in all such projects. So do not immediately expect a rapid development of the story with the "localization" of our regional liner at the HAL plant.
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| By the way, Indian bloggers are already drawing such crooked concepts in Photoshop on the topic "How to make an AWACS plane out of a Superjet." |
| Source: Picture from the Indian edition |
To be objective, a little bit about the "purely Indian" analogue of the Superjet. Or why HAL came to us with a proposal to arrange a licensed assembly of Russian machines. In 2007, India launched a new regional turboprop aircraft, the RTA-70, an analog of the ATR-72. As we can see, the year is already 2025, and the prototype has not even been built. A more complicated car (their Superjet) began to be designed there in 2017. It is clear that at this rate, no one will see it on the lines in 2035. There are no engines of their own design for either the first or the second liner.
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| Both existing Indian concepts have their own regional aircraft. |
| Source: tehnoomsk.ru |
Apart from our plane, there is nothing to talk about as an alternative. By the way, if you read the Indian press, they seriously criticize HAL. And not for the fact of the deal with the KLA, but for always breaking all deadlines. Therefore, they do not consider plans to release 200 licensed boards feasible in a short time.
