Russian Su-57 or American F-35? India is weighing which fifth-generation fighter should protect its skies.
During Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House, President Donald Trump announced that the United States could increase military sales to India, implying that New Delhi could be offered the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
“We’ll be increasing military sales to India by billions of dollars. We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters,” Trump told reporters, according to Reuters.
Trump’s sales pitch involving the multirole fighter came after Russia offered its Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO reporting name “Felon”) to India during last month’s Aero India 25 air show and exhibition.
New Delhi hasn’t committed to either aircraft to date.
Still, the Russian ambassador to New Delhi, Denis Alipov, suggested Moscow would be ready to offer excellent terms for the Su-57. In an interview with the India Today TV network, Alipov also touted the capabilities of the Sukhoi aircraft and the benefits that could come with any deal.
“We are offering our fifth generation fighter. We have the best machine, Sukhoi-57. We just showed it at Aero India last month in Bangalore. It is very competitive,” the ambassador explained, per Russian state media outlet Tass.
“We are offering not only to sell but to co-produce. We offer technology sharing. We offer an industry with the creation of necessary industrial facilities for production. We are open to configuration changes. So this is a very lucrative deal that we offer to India.”
Russia Pulling Out All Stops For the Felon
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has taken the Su-57 on a road show, including an exhibit at the inaugural Egypt International Airshow in September and then at the fifteenth China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition. At the former, the Felon overshadowed a larger-than-expected Chinese presence.
Throughout, the Russian fighter was infamously mocked on Chinese social media after it arrived at the Zhuhai airport in the Guangdong province.
The flight demonstration at Aero India was likely an attempt to reset the narrative around the Su-57. By most accounts, the aircraft remains a crowd pleaser able to pull off maneuvers no sane fighter pilot would ever hope to need to use in combat. It aroused plenty of cheers from the crowd while the pro-Kremlin military bloggers praised the Felon’s capabilities.
Russian state arms seller Rosoboronexport has continued to sell the aircraft to India. New Delhi has remained among the largest buyers of Russian military hardware, and Moscow would like to maintain close ties with it.
Rosoboronexport ratcheted its sales pitch by noting that the fifth-gen fighter could be domestically produced in India at the same facilities where the licensed version of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI is now being manufactured.
“In case of a positive decision by the Indian side, the production of the Russian fifth-generation Su-57E fighter jet can be started at the factories currently producing the Su-30MKI fighter within a short time,” Rosoboronexport said.
Felon Or F-35, Is A Deal Close?
Is India even close to making a deal for a fifth-generation fighter?
Current speculation is that India desperately wants and needs additional fighters. Even as it has increased domestic military hardware production, a fifth-generation fighter is likely beyond its current reach.
Yet, neither the F-35 nor the Su-57 is likely to solve the problem. The BBC described this F-35 vs. Su-57 dogfight as primarily driven by media hype rather than reality.
Though Russia is willing to offer more than the United States would or could, including transferring specific technology, Moscow has struggled to produce the Su-57 in large numbers. As long as the war in Ukraine continues, that isn’t going to change, and even if the war ends tomorrow, Russian production will take years to ramp up.
On the other hand, Lockheed Martin has had orders lined up for years, and New Delhi couldn’t expect the F-35 to arrive any sooner than the Su-57.
“It is unlikely that the F-35 will be offered for co-production to India – any acquisition will likely be a straightforward sale,” Ashley J. Tellis, senior research fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the BBC.
“This is unlikely, among other things, to sit well with Modi’s emphasis on making in India and the significant end-user monitoring in the event of an F-35 sale will likely not be welcomed by India either.”
While Russia needs to find buyers for the Su-57 beyond Algeria, India likely sees the Su-57 for what it is: an advanced 4.5+ gen fighter that dazzles crowds at air shows, but such aircraft don’t win wars.
Ultimately, New Delhi’s most likely course of action is to find a way to make a domestically produced fifth-gen fighter affordable. Good luck on that.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Shutterstock/YashSD.
