Projected as long-term strategic partnership spanning from the mid-1960s, in reality what cements Indo-Russian ties is India’s large scale purchase of Russian military equipment. With a level of sophistication lower than that of contemporary western equipment, Russian hardware is fairly advanced, rugged and eminently suitable for Indian conditions. In Cold War days, military equipment from Russia was available to India on extremely favourable financial terms. On a number of occasions, large orders for military equipment from India helped sections of the Russian defence industry to survive. In the initial period of supply, Soviet equipment was found to be rugged and dependable, though a far cry from being sophisticated and technologically competitive, says former Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani, adding, However, the Indian psyche of being able to adapt to existing conditions, made the IAF overcome these challenges, and exploit the systems to its advantage.

Glitches in Russian product support surfaced as early as the early-1980s. With the IAF progressively inducting systems involving higher technology, the problems assumed serious proportions. In a typical case, the Comptroller and Audit General of India on March 31, 1993 published the results of an in-depth study on the operational performance and reliability of the MiG-29. The report stated that there were extensive problems encountered in operational and maintenance of the MiG-29 fleet due to the large number of pre-mature failures of engines, components and systems. A total of 139 engines—a staggering 74 per cent—had to be withdrawn prematurely and transported to the Soviet Union at great cost as the local facility for overhaul was not ready. Lack of critical components and spares resulted in cannibalisation (whereby a faulty aircraft was stripped of its functioning components to equip other aircraft) and even grounding of some aircraft.

In the early 1990s, even as India convulsed with economic upheavals, the Soviet Union disintegrated. This further compounded problems, especially for the IAF which was heavily dependent on the hardware of Soviet origin. In the aftermath of the break up, the Indian government was forced to deal with several nations instead of the single entity, Republics of the Soviet Union. Major problems with availability of spares and repair facilities had an adverse impact on the IAF’s operational capability, especially from 1991 to 1995, recalls Air Marshal Bhavnani. The situation gradually began to improve from 1996 onwards. The IAF learnt a major lesson from its thrust of putting all its eggs in one basket.