Russia India collaborate on new generation fighter plane

Russia and India will collaborate on building a new fifth generation fighter plane, the Indian defence minister confirmed here Wednesday.

“We are collaborating on the BrahMos missiles, on a new fifth generation combat plane and on a multi-purpose 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 Defence 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 multi-purpose 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.

Moscow, Thursday, AFP