Another nail in the coffin for India’s Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft

The bilateral relations between Russia and India have stood the test of time. But, the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) tells a different story. Negotiations have been stuck for 11 years and the latest developments now indicate that India might want to shelf the project for good due to the costs involved.

Home to the fourth largest airforce in the world, India takes its aircrafts quite seriously. It’s no joke to shell out $30 billion (₹2 lakh crores) for a FGFA. And Russia, having the second largest airforce globally, doesn’t want to give up its secrets just yet.

What’s the problem?

The current bone of contention is devising the appropriate cost sharing formula. But, in the past issues have ranged from sharing information about the technology that goes into development to the number of aircrafts that will be produced.

According to reports, the project could be binned altogether because the Air Force is no longer keen on chasing a project that’s become so expensive. And, this isn’t the first time.

But then again, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has been pitching furiously to get in on the ground level of the FGFA project.

It should be noted, that overall, it’s more than just about the cost. India is adamant about the fact that they want equal partnership over the intellectual property of the FGFA. It’s not out of ego, as per reports, but being sought so that the aircrafts can be upgraded as and when there is a requirement for adjustments.

That being said, Russia is just as stubborn in saying that they aren’t ready to share critical technology.

These sequence of events already led to reports of the project being scrapped back in April. Aside from costs and intellectual property, officials said it was primarily due the fact that they were left unimpressed with the Su-57, which is essentially the foundation for further development of the FGFA.

(Representative image of the Su-57 prototype, on which the FGFA is based.)