Indian Air Marshal (ret.) Highlights Strong Argument For Su-57 Stealth Fighter Procurements
South Asia , Aircraft and Anti-Aircraft
Amid rising speculation over a possible contract for the sale of Russian Su-57 fifth generation fighters to India, a retired senior officer in the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Anil Chopra, has provided insight into how the aircraft may meet the service’s requirements for next generation combat aircraft. India was previously a partner in the Su-57’s development, and was set to receive extensive technology transfers and joint ownership of the program, although it eventually pulled out of the deal which is widely considered to have been overly ambitious. The Indian Defence Ministry has nevertheless continued to show a strong interest in either purchasing the Su-57 off the shelf, or in producing them under license, with discussions on a license production deal reported to be underway in February 2023. The Su-57’s appeal to is likely to have been increased by the entirely unique level of combat testing it has been put through in the Ukrainian theatre, with operations having included air defence suppression, air to air combat, and operations in heavily defended enemy airspace, as well as a range of precision strike missions using both internally and externally deployed missiles. Significant increases to its production scale since 2020 have made large scale export orders appear increasingly viable, with the first contract for export confirmed in November 2024 to have already been signed and Algeria widely speculated to be the most likely client.
Regarding India’s need for a fifth generation fighter, Marshal Chopra highlighted that Pakistan was likely to operationalise the Chinese J-35 stealth fighter, an export derivative of the FC-31 design, by around 2029, and that India’s own fifth generation fighter being developed under Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program was only expected to reach a prototype stage within 11 years. “Realistically – it may take more time,” he added, which would leave Pakistan with a lead of over a decade in fielding such aircraft. India’s previous Tejas fighter program notably saw delays of several decades in its development, with this precedent fuelling speculation that the AMCA may not enter service before the mid-2040s. Chopra further cited the rapid growth of China’s fleet of J-20 fifth generation fighters as a leading cause for concern, warning: “By 2035, China could have around 1,500 J-20s when India optimistically plans to induct the AMCA.” He notably did not mention the fact that China had begun flight testing demonstrators for a sixth generation fighter program in December 2024, which could cut short J-20 production and replace the aircraft with an even more capable successors.
Chopra noted the existence of “a school of thought that India may need to acquire an interim imported fifth-generation aircraft,” adding that the United States was “currently unwilling to provide the F-35,” and that Delhi “remains cautious about the U.S. tendency to exert pressure and abandon allies when its own interests diverge with theirs, as well as potential U.S. expectations for India to distance itself from Russia.” “Choosing a reliable partner country that won’t impose undue pressure is crucial,” he added. The extensive controls the United States imposes on how its fighters are utilised is considered a further factor that has ruled them out of being seriously considered. With the F-35 being the only fifth generation fighter in production outside China and Russia, this leaves the Su-57 as the only other option. The Russian fighter was “progressing toward maturity,” Chopra noted, highlighting that the fighter’s lifecycle costs were stated to be comparable to those of the Su-27, Su-30, and Su-35, in contrast to America’s F-22 and F-35 fifth generation fighters which are significantly more costly to sustain than their fourth generation predecessors. This makes the Su-57 highly affordable.
Regarding the Su-57’s potential, Chopra cited work in Russia towards “continuously integrating new weapons with the aircraft,” development unmanned stealth aircraft to serve as complementary ‘wingmen’, and integration of the AL-51F engine, which he stated benefitted from “glass-fibre plastic IGVs and convergent-divergent nozzles that use serrated flaps to reduce its signature as well as 6.4% better specific thrust, 19% higher thrust-to-weight ratio, and 9 % lower specific fuel consumption” compared to the currently deployed AL-41F1 engine. “India must invest more and take a task-force approach for developing the LCA Mk2 and AMCA, it needs an interim solution to make good numbers and reduce capability gap with China. Options are limited, and acquiring a few Su-57s remains a viable interim choice,” he concluded.
Chopra effectively summarised many of the prevailing arguments in favour of an Indian Su-57 procurement, with the fighter having been designed specifically to operate alongside and with support from networks of ground based air defence systems such as the S-400 - a system which India is currently by far the largest foreign operator of. The Indian Air Force faces a major shortfall in the number of operational fighter squadrons, with only 30 fielded out of a target of 42, while many fighters such as the MiG-21bis and Jaguar attack jet scheduled for retirement in the near future. This has provided a further argument for procuring the Su-57. The possibility of major technology transfers accompanying a license production deal, much like that which saw India produce over 350 Su-30MKI fighters from the early 2000s, also remains significant, with such Russian support expected to be highly beneficial for the AMCA program.
Ukraine already demonstrated it can detect and have weapons-lock on to the SU-57.
ReplyDeleteSO.. SU-57 claimed Stealth prowess are largely Russki smelly fart.
F-35 drawbacks are cost, and India's dislike for the restrictions US placed on its deployment.