Agence France-Presse, Russia and India will collaborate on building a new fifth generation fighter plane, the Indian defense minister confirmed here Oct. 17.
“We are collaborating on the BrahMos missiles, on a new fifth generation combat plane and on a multipurpose transport plane … demonstrating the strategic nature of Russo-Indian cooperation,” Arackaparambil Kurian Antony said at a high-level meeting in Moscow.
For his part, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov pointed out the importance of military cooperation between the two countries currently shown in the joint construction of the Su-30 MKI fighter plane and the T-90 tank.
The Su30-MKI, the export version of the Su-30M, is a two-seater multipurpose fighter plane.
Russia accounts for 70 percent of Indian military equipment but late deliveries, especially of tanks, and commercial disagreements have forced New Delhi to also use other suppliers including Britain, France, Israel and the United States.
In fact India is no longer content simply to purchase arms but now favors joint productions thanks to the transfer of technologies.
