Putin clears decks for Indo-Russian aircraft venture!

Putin clears decks for Indo-Russian aircraft venture:

President Vladimir Putin has cleared the decks for the joint development of an Indo-Russian fifth generation fighter aircraft that can compete with the US Joint Strike Fighter, expected to be commissioned in 2010.

During his visit to India in December, the Russian president is expected to make an offer to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for pooling the efforts of the two strategic partners, official sources said.

Putin reportedly discussed the matter with ‘Sukhoi’ Aircraft Corporation during a visit to the Sukhoi Design Bureau on Sunday.

At the Design Bureau meeting, dedicated to Russian Air Force’s 90th anniversary, Putin was accompanied by his foreign policy aide Sergei Prikhodko.

The Chief Designer of Sukhoi, Mikhail Simonov, said there was “full technical ground” for an Indo-Russian joint development of the aircraft. “The decision has to be taken at the political level in India,” he added.

Sukhoi downed its closest rival MiG and won the right to develop the fighter in a Russian government tender. Putin has allocated $1.5 billion for the development of the new fighter, much less than the $22 billion of JSF.

The aircraft could be developed with smaller allocations due to the low labour costs in India and Russia, Sukhoi officials said.

China was also keen to join the project, but Moscow cold-shouldered its giant neighbour due to security concerns. The project involves sharing of highly sensitive, futuristic defence technologies.

In fact, the idea of a fifth generation fighter was evolved after Sukhoi’s successful project for India, the Su-30MKI (I for India) multi-role fighter, top officials at the Bureau said.

“Today, Su-30MKI is the best fighter in the world and no other country, including the US, can field any aircraft to challenge it,” claimed Alexander Barkovsky, leader of the MKI project.
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link: http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/aug/19rus.htm