Sukhoi may truly be in the driving seat (431 words)

Published: 6/11/2001

The development of the Russian fifth generation fighter seems to be on the verge of receiving the support of the Indian Government, after the meeting of the joint commission on military and technical development (VTS) between the two countries, attended by Ilya Klebanov, Deputy Prime Minister and Jaswant Singh, Indian Minister of Defence. There is, however, some confusion over exactly which aircraft is being discussed, as many of the media reports from India cite the S-37 Berkut, generally believed to be a development and concept aircraft for the final fighter, due to fly in 2006. According to the requirements given to a consortium of producers, led by Sukhoi, the new fifth generation fighter is to be a lighter fighter to compete with the Joint Strike Fighter. Anatoly Kornukov, Head of the Air Force, has described the S-37 as “merely an experimental aircraft”, with the clear implication that it would not be the basis of the new fifth generation fighter, which is due in service in 2010-2011. The various reports, which include the English language Moscow Times and the Times of India, are, however, quite specific in the use of the S-37 designation. This has prompted speculation that Sukhoi is now in firm control of the programme, having eliminated a small threat from MiG and may be endeavouring to pull the programme in a direction it favours, which is continued development of the S-37, despite air force objections. Sukhoi's leverage in this respect is through the funding that the Indians can bring to the programme and potential sales of the aircraft to other parties, such as China. The argument is that, if Russia is to keep its commanding share of the world combat aircraft market, it will have to have partners/customers to provide the development funding essential to complete the multi-billion dollar programme. It would therefore seem likely that the Indians would have a say in what emerges as the final aircraft specification. They are unlikely simply to accept what is offered to them in the form of the Russian Air Force requirement. In the past, this has been demonstrated by the development of the Su-30MKI, a substantial development of the basic Su-30 concept, through a collaboration of Simonov, Chief Designer and the Indians. It is too early to tell if the varied reports of the last few days mark a struggle between Sukhoi - with complete control of the fighter export market - and the military, as to which aircraft will be built and for whom.

Article ID: 2579