In a move to address a long-lasting concern of India with respect to Russian-origin military equipment, the two countries on Friday signed two long-term supply agreements for the Sukhoi fighter aircraft fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to address issues of life-cycle support and maintenance.
The deals were signed between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from India and the United Aircraft Corporation and United Engine Corporations of Russia at the first India-Russia Military Industrial Conference in the national capital.
“Since most of our defence platforms and weapon systems are of Russian-origin, their maintenance and life-cycle support is extremely important for us from the point of view of our defence preparedness,” Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said after inaugurating the conference. Observing that India has the third largest armed forces in the world, Mr. Jaitley said, “We are also one of the largest importers of defence equipment and this definitely is not a label we are happy with.”
This agreement covers about 57,000 spares and components related to the Su-30 aircraft, a defence official said.
Direct agreement
The deal follows a Russian legislation permitting its companies to enter into direct agreement with foreign companies for long-term support agreements. Currently, procurement of spares is a long and cumbersome process as India cannot deal directly with the Original Equipment Manufacturers but designated intermediaries like Rosoboronexport. Officials said they were exploring the possibility of Russian OEMs allowing licence manufacture of the spares locally by Indian vendors.
India has contracted 272 Su-30 fighter jets from Russia in various batches and has so far inducted over 230 jets. However, their serviceability rate has been an issue of constant concern with availability rates dropping below 50% at one point and has improved to over 60% over the last couple of years.
