Two examples: the recently launched LCA Tejas Mk.1A – whose carrier version was rejected as inadequate by the Indian Navy – has been an ongoing project for 30 years. But when? After all, Indian development and procurement processes can certainly be called ‘byzantine’ – they can be measured in decades.
SEE ALSO: How to win and manage defence contracts They would say India is better off developing their own stealth jet in the form of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). Without them, decision-makers did not want to invest funds into a still unfinished system. Those elements are indispensable for the country’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. Why did India leave the Su-57 programme?Īfter eleven years and development shares of 330 million euros – plus further billions of dollars requested by Russia – I ndia was said to be fed up with Russia’s refusal to share both blueprints and source codes. Now the question arises as to whether Russia will, on its own technological and financial input, move forward into serial production. It had always budgeted Indian resources to reach completion. After a decade of work, there is said to be too little technical maturity and unfinished subsystems, too much money for too little ‘Made in India’ results and – in view of 12 ‘missing’ squadrons – too few aircraft to cover the requirement within an acceptable timeframe.
With India dropping out, the programme has lost share investment.
But now Russia’s T-50 / Su-57 project – launched in 2010 – has suffered a potentially decisive setback. Everything you need to know about the Su-57īesides the US and China, only post-Soviet Russia has managed to get a stealth-optimized fifth-generation fighter aircraft up in the air.