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Russia's Su-57 Outshines US F-35 in India's High-Stakes Race for 5th-Gen Warplanes
Russia and India have a very good track record of cooperation in licensed aircraft production at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's (HAL) factories, Igor Korotchenko, a military analyst, and the editor-in-chief of the Russian National Defence magazine, told Sputnik India.
Several hundred units have been produced, including around 260 licensed Su-30MKI aircraft. Thus, India and Russia have a strong history of technological partnership, including the transfer of relevant technologies and the organisation of production directly in India of key components for modern fighter jets, he mentioned.
Notably, the Russian Embassy in India has confirmed that the Su-57 will be showcased at AERO India 2025, India's premier exhibition for military aircraft. Meanwhile, the American F-35 fifth-generation fighter will not be present at the show.
"This decision is likely due to the expectation that Russia may present a flying prototype of the Su-57 at the Indian exhibition after its demonstration in China. Clearly, the Americans are in a very unfavorable position in this context," Korotchenko stressed.
The F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter with a single engine and its primary purpose is strike capabilities. In contrast, the Su-57 is capable of both strike functions and achieving air superiority; it is larger and can carry a much wider range of weapons in its internal bays, including air-to-air, air-to-surface missiles, and those of short, medium, and long-range, the Russian expert specified.
The American fifth-generation fighters have software and hardware "backdoors," which can be externally triggered to prevent the F-35 from taking off and carrying out combat missions, if such a decision is made in the US. This means that if India were to use these fighters in a military conflict that does not align with US strategic interests, or in case of deteriorated bilateral relations, the US has the ability to disable complex weapons and military equipment supplied for export, he explained.
"No other country will offer India such a proposal," Korotchenko expressed.
Moreover, Russia could enter into a partnership with India in unmanned aviation development, he added. Based on existing R&D work, this could lead to a partnership where Indian Su-57s, while performing their designated missions, would also act as platforms to control unmanned aircraft, solving tasks in conjunction with the Indian version of the fighter, the aviation specialist elucidated.
"These would not be simple quadcopter drones, but fully functional machines that, in collaboration with the Indian Su-57, could carry out various mission objectives against enemy targets. The Su-57 would act as the lead platform, while Indian heavy-class strike drones would be the subordinate platforms," Korotchenko concluded.
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https://sputniknews.in/amp/20250204/russias-su-57-outshines-us-f-35-in-indias-high-stakes-race-for-5th-gen-warplanes-8733107.html
BY Игорь Коротченко
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