TSAMTO: Su-57's participation in the air show will be one of the most important events for India
MOSCOW, February 10 - RIA Novosti. Igor Korotchenko, director of the Center for Analysis of the Global Arms Trade, believes that the participation of the latest Russian fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet in the Aero India 2025 exhibition in Bangalore will be the main military-technical sensation of this event and one of the most important events for India.
Rosoboronexport will organize a single Russian exposition at the XV International Aerospace Exhibition Aero India 2025, which will be held from February 10 to 14 at the Yelahanka Air Force Base in Bangalore, where, in particular, the Su-57 will be presented.
"Participation in the flight program of the Bangalore Airshow of the latest Russian fifth-generation Su-57 fighter will be the main military-technical sensation of this event and one of the most important events for India... We expect that during the flight program, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the Indian Air Force will get acquainted with the Su-57. And during possible negotiations, decisions may be made on the start of joint development of a Russian-Indian fifth-generation fighter," Korotchenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
As the expert explained, India is faced with the need to provide its Air Force with a fifth-generation fighter jet, given that one of its main geopolitical competitors in the region, China, already has about 300 of its own fifth-generation J-20 fighters, and the second, Pakistan, has announced its plans to purchase an export version of the J-20 to equip its The Air Force. And since it is objectively impossible to implement its own developments in a fairly short period of time, India faces a choice on the basis of which aircraft to create its own fleet of fifth-generation fighters - the Russian Su-57 or the American F-35.
Among the advantages of the Su-57, the expert highlights the opportunity to propose a project based on it in a two-seat version of this machine, which is a mandatory requirement of the Indian Air Force. In addition, as part of the Make in India program, Russia is ready to transfer the full range of technologies and competencies to India for further launch of production at HAL Corporation enterprises. The Su-57 is a twin-engine aircraft capable of carrying out both strike missions and achieving air supremacy at the same time, which is also a key requirement for the Indian Air Force.
Unlike the Russian aircraft, the F-35 is single-engine and designed only for strike missions, Korotchenko explains. And the main vulnerability of the F-35 is that the export versions of its avionics have pre-installed "bookmarks" that can be activated at any time by an external electronic signal, which will make it impossible to use it in combat - if the United States so desires.
According to the expert, India, having a first-class political and economic status, is already beginning to seriously give way to China militarily. Therefore, it is now that a "window of opportunity" opens for New Delhi to make a fundamental decision.
"Either upgrade the status to the level of a first-class military power through equal cooperation with Russia on the fifth-generation fighter program based on the Su-57 platform and previous many years of successful experience, or become militarily dependent on the United States with the prospect of India further losing its independent geopolitical status and integrating it into the orbit of American interests as one from satellites," concluded Korotchenko.
