By Robert Farley
The Indian Air Force looks away from Russia for its fifth-generation fighter needs.
The announcement in the Business Standard that the Indian Air Force was less than interested in continuing its relationship with Russia over the PAK FA came as a major surprise. Notwithstanding Indian interest in generation 4.5 fighters such as the Rafale, collaboration with the Russians on the PAK FA was intended to deliver India a fifth generation stealth fighter, as well as a variety of technology transfers. The Indian Air Force had a multitude of complaints, ranging from poor technology to bad engines to sloppy construction.
One lesson is that all advance defense programs have trouble, including the Russian ones. The endless series of difficulties with the F-35 are less the exception that the rule (even granting that the F-35′s troubles may be truly exceptional). We know less about these difficulties because the Russian procurement system isn’t nearly as open to scrutiny as the American one. Russian secrecy doesn’t approach that of Soviet times (Sukhoi recently published a set of patent applications associated with the stealth features of the PAK FA), but it’s not surprising that the problems with the PAK FA have emerged as result of collaboration with India. Indeed, this development lends further support to the idea that the real disciplinary force in fighter acquisition and innovation will be the increasingly sophisticated export market.
Read the full story at The Diplomat