Putin’s Brics visit: Su-57, Super Sukhois fighter jets, S-500 on Russia’s defence offer list

During Putin’s three-day stay, Russia is going to have wide-ranging defence talks about these defence proposals

NEW DELHI: With Russian President Vladimir Putin landing in New Delhi on Friday, Moscow has come up with a list of defence proposals for India, including joint production of Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets and over $11-billion upgrade of the Su-30MKI fleet into “Super Sukhois”. In Friday’s talks with Putin, PM Modi said that besides discussions on various topics like trade, infrastructure, energy, technology, there were talks about defence too.During Putin’s three-day stay, Russia is going to have wide-ranging defence talks about these defence proposals. Besides Su-57 jet and Su-30MKI upgrade offers, the Russian side is expected to “push for proposals for additional S-400 air-defence systems, Pantsir-S1M point-defence system, radars and strategic submarines”, defence sources told TOI. Russia has also been pushing India to consider its S-500 air-defence system, an upgraded version which can target missiles across a range of 600 km as compared to S-400’s 400-km limit. For S400, Russia is offering to establish a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India, potentially in partnership with an Indian company.With only three countries ,— US, Russia and China — in the world possessing the 5th-generation stealth fighter jet technology, “Su-57 jet is a ‘natural choice’ for India,” state-owned Russian news agency Sputnik’s India chapter said on Friday. As India had conveyed its disinterest in acquiring Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets from the US, the only option left for India is Su-57 jets as India’s own AMCA project will take a long time and the first maiden flight of AMCA is not expected before 2029-30. With India’s fighter squadrons down to an alarming level of 29 and AMCA still a distant dream, India has been considering Su-57 jets but wants a better package from Russia with a complete transfer of technology, missile package and make-in-India offer.India is also discussing a massive upgrade for its nearly 260 Su-30MKI fighters, starting with an initial batch of 84 jets. The $11 billion “Super Sukhoi” programme involves new AESA radars, modern avionics, enhanced electronic-warfare capabilities and new engines. Reports also indicate that India plans to acquire roughly 300 R-37M missiles from Russia via direct purchase or future domestic manufacturing arrangements.