Seems like Russia bagged the biggest ever Indian deal for 250 Pafka/FGFA Aircraft
NEW DELHI: India will eventually spend over $25 billion to induct 250 advanced stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), on way to being co-developed with Russia, in what will be the country's biggest-ever defence project.
With a potent mix of super-manoeuvrability and supersonic cruising ability, long-range strike and high-endurance air defence capabilities, each FGFA will cost upwards of Rs 450 crore or around $100 million.
This will be in addition to the huge investment to be made in co-developing FGFA with cash-strapped Russia, as also the huge infrastructure required to base, operate and maintain such jets in India.
"We are looking to induct 200 to 250 FGFA in phases from 2017 onwards,'' confirmed IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik on Monday. As reported by TOI earlier, New Delhi and Moscow are looking to ink the FGFA preliminary design contract when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev comes visiting here in December.
Though the Indian FGFA will based on the Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA, which flew for the first time this January at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur facility in Siberia, it will be built to IAF's specifications. It's already being touted as superior to the American F/A-22 `Raptor', the world's only operational FGFA as of now.
ACM Naik said the 30-tonne FGFA will be a "swing-role fighter, with very advanced avionics, stealth to increase survivability, enhanced lethality, 360 degree situational awareness, smart weapons, data-links, high-end mission computers'' and the like.
Along with 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft, which India plans to acquire in a $10.4 billion project, 270 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted from Russia for around $12 billion and 120 indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, the FGFA will be the mainstay of India's air combat fleet for the foreseeable future.
Even as the Army revises its war doctrine to factor in the worst-case scenario of a simultaneous two-front war with Pakistan and China, is IAF also preparing for the same?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-to-spend-over-25-billion-to-induct-250-5th-gen-stealth-fighters/articleshow/6685002.cms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi/HAL_FGFAIts interesting to note that the IAF does not want the Russian version of the PakFa but an Indian version that will have Indian,American, French and Israeli Avionics.
Russians always made superior airframes, the West always had the Edge on avionics.
The main difference between the Russian Pakfa and its Indian FGFA derivative, apart from the Avionics would be that the Indian FGFA will be a two seater, as opposed to the Russia PakFa. India Air force doctrine holds that two seat aircraft have an inherent advantage over their single seat cousins.
According to the reports, India will have a 50% stake on the manufacturing of both the Russian and Indian versions and would contribute to the development process in the area of Composites avionics and cockpit design. There have been quite a lot of such Joint ventured Between Russia and India in the recent years as cash strapped Russian development programs get Indian funding via Joint ventures. The recent Brahmos missile venture is a good example of this.
The Real reason that Russia got this deal is that this deals includes full TOT (transfer of technology, as do almost all Russian Deals with India).Maybe America could look for joint ventures with other nations. I bet there would be quite a few countries willing to fund Joint development/production projects in the US.