NEWS
After a break of nearly a year, India and Russia have resumed dialogue on the much delayed fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) project. As per sources in the Ministry of Defence, in the second week of February this year, a high level Russian delegation arrived in Delhi to restart negotiations on the FGFA project. India has already pumped in about $290 million into the project, but it got delayed because the Indian Air Force (IAF) had some issues. Russia has made a new offer on the delivery of Sukhoi T-50 (PAK FA) fighter jets to India under the joint FGFA initiative. Under the new offer, India will have to pay $3.7 billion, instead of $6 billion, for the technological know-how and three prototypes of PAK FA fighters.

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The Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), as the name suggests, is a futuristic combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF). This aircraft has been under development jointly by Sukhoi of Russia and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the last six years. It is planned to be a twin-seat derivative of the Russian T-50 PAK FA, a fifth-generation combat aircraft already under development for the Russian Air Force and currently in the test-flight phase. The IAF had projected the requirement of a twinseat version of the Russian combat aircraft as according to their operational doctrine, advanced long-range multi-role aircraft must carry a crew of two, one of whom would be the pilot and the other would function as the Weapon Systems Operator (WSO). Later the IAF accepted a mix of both single and twin-seat platforms.

The project was initiated in early 2007 with a study jointly by teams from India and Russia. As stated at that point in time by Mikhail Pogosyan, General Director of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, the funding, engineering and intellectual property rights were to be shared equally between the collaborating parties India and Russia. Customised for the IAF, the FGFA is planned to have significantly advanced features as compared to the T-50 PAK FA which is to include stealth characteristics, super-cruise capability, advanced sensors, networking capability and the latest avionics to support its combat role.

A preliminary design contract between the two parties was drawn up and a memorandum of understanding was signed in December 2010. The time frame for the development of the FGFA was defined as ten years and India’s share of the development cost was pegged at $6 billion. However, HAL’s work-share in design and development was fixed at 25 per cent and was to include critical software including the mission computer, navigation systems, cockpit displays and countermeasure dispensing (CMD) systems. As per the initial plan, the IAF was to get a total of 214 FGFA consisting of single and twin-seat aircraft, the latter to be assembled in India by HAL. However, in October 2012, the total order was cut down to 144 aircraft.

Unfortunately, the FGFA project encountered several impediments from both the parties involved. For some reasons, in July 2015, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced its decision to drastically reduce its purchase order for the PAK FA to just 12 aircraft, equivalent of one squadron and instead procure the less expensive Su-35S, a proven platform already in production. This statement from the Russian MOD was a jarring contradiction to the statement in May 2015 by the Russian Air Force Commander Viktor Bondarev who stated that the military was ready to buy as many PAK FA fighters as the industry could produce.

Analysts believe that a combination of factors such as the tardy pace of development of the PAK FA, heavy cost overruns and the grim financial situation in the country compelled the Russian MOD to recast its plans. There has been delay in the induction of the PAK FA in the Russian Air Force and end 2015, a contract was signed for 50 additional Su-35S.

Action on the part of the IAF and the Indian aerospace industry also created hurdles that slowed the project down. Just before his retirement, Ashok Nayak, the then Chairman of HAL, stated that the IAF had projected a requirement to make as many as 45 improvements in the PAK FA for it to come up to the expectations of the service. The other issue that appears to have been a stumbling block is the ratio of work-share of HAL vis-à-vis the financial liability of the government, both of which were to be shared equally. However, in reality while the Indian side was expected to bear 50 per cent of the cost, the work-share of HAL was pitifully low thus depriving the aerospace industry of any advantage from the project that was valued at $30 billion.

The power plant for the FGFA has also been a subject of dispute with Sukhoi. Currently, the T-50 is powered by the NPO Saturn AL-41F1, which only is an upgraded version of the AL-31FP engine that powers the Sukhoi-30MKI. The IAF’s requirement is to have a modern and more powerful engine to give the FGFA super-cruise capability. Development of a new engine will add to delay.

After nearly a year of stalemate, the two sides have met to resolve the contentious issues and move forward. The need of the IAF for the FGFA has become far more acute on account of the cancellation of the contract for 126 Rafale jets.