India's defence minister A K Antony will push Russia to increase the momentum on the joint development of two key military aircraft programmes - the fifth-generation fighter aircraft and multi-role transport aircraft - during annual meetings with his counterpart in Moscow.
The joint design and development of the two has slipped as relations between the two countries cooled in the past few years, say industry sources. Antony will give "high priority" to discussions on these two issues during his visit, says the defence ministry.
India is joining the programme as a development partner, but industry sources say their officers and scientists are not getting as much access as they would have liked. They say the programme is likely to face serious challenges and delays, with the first flight already postponed from 2008 to the end of 2009 and likely to slip further.
Antony will press New Delhi's interest in completing the fifth-generation fighter development by 2016, as originally planned, to induct aircraft into the air force in 2017.
New Delhi also hopes to review the progress on the multi-role transport aircraft programme, and hopes shortly to conclude a joint venture company agreement to design, develop and produce the 15-20t-class aircraft.
In addition, the modernisation of India's older Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters will be brought up during the meetings.
The 1988 India-Russia Inter Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation agreement set out the framework for their defence relationship until 2010. An agreement to extend by another 10 years from 2011 to 2020 is likely to be signed when Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh visits Moscow in December, says the ministry.
However, while Russia has been India's main arms supplier for decades, their relationship has been rocky in recent years. As a result, New Delhi has been looking west for weapons and has been assessing a wide array of options in all of its global tenders. In recent years, it has signed major contracts with Boeing for the P-8I Poseidon and Lockheed Martin for the C-130J - a first for both companies.
Source: Flight International
