Information about the practically formalized decision of the Indian Ministry of Defense to abandon the joint project with Russia for the development and production of a fifth-generation fighter. The headlines of the articles make it clear that the reason for the refusal is Russia’s technological backwardness.

As happens in such cases, for each audience this news message has its own zest, creating the desired perceptual effect. For Western audiences, this is a demonstration of superiority over “aggressive” but backward Russia.

For the Russian public, who are primarily skeptical of the authorities, this is another reason to declare the failure of the current leaders of the state. For their opponents from the pro-presidential camp and conservative, nationally oriented forces, this is a significant blow to their pride.

In addition, there are also citizens of other countries cooperating or thinking about cooperating with Russia in the military-technical sphere. For them, the main message is obvious. If such a large arms importer as India considered the developments of leading Russian aircraft manufacturers unpromising, then what can we say about these and other less technologically advanced and, judging by the conclusions of journalists, unconditionally outdated weapons with the label “Made in Russia”?

Of course, one cannot help but admit that in a number of technological areas, including in the military-industrial complex, Russia is experiencing certain difficulties. This open secret is not particularly hushed up even for top level Russian leadership.

However, the peremptory nature of such news suggests a slightly different background than simple information about the failure of a military contract.

Is there something wrong

This news originally appeared on October 21 on the pages of the American publication Defense News. The article reports that the command of the Indian Air Force expressed claims to the country's Ministry of Defense regarding the prospects of joint development of a fifth-generation fighter with Russia.

According to a source not named by Defense News, the Indian military believes that the FGFA project is deliberately inferior American plane F-35. In particular, claims were made regarding the engine design, low performance of stealth technologies and suboptimal aircraft profile.

Based on this negative assessment, Air Force representatives allegedly recommend that the Indian leadership withdraw from the joint project with Russia.

Now let's take a broader look at the situation.

Firstly, the Western, Indian and Russian media that published this news refer exclusively to Defense News. There are no links to any other sources, much less official Indian authorities.

Secondly, the American publication refers to anonymous representatives of the Indian Air Force who are dissatisfied with the Russian project. The only person named is a retired officer and now an expert V. Thakur (Vijainder K Thakur), who did not support the main idea of ​​the article, but, on the contrary, mentioned the positive aspects of the Russian-Indian project and, in particular, the prospects for installing future aircraft with a more advanced engine.

Thirdly, the opinion of the head of the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), T. Suvarna Raju, stated on the pages of another publication, the Indian Business Standard, went unnoticed. HAL is a major partner on the Indian side and sees the development of the new fighter as an excellent opportunity for India to gain the latest technological solutions in the production of military aircraft.

Look for who benefits

In order to dispel emerging doubts about the correspondence of the information presented by Defense News to the real situation, let us turn to earlier reports from the same publication on this topic.

On August 9 of this year, that is, just two months ago, Defense News published an article indicating that India was inclined to continue a joint project with Russia to develop a fifth-generation fighter. The material cited the words of the Indian military and experts supporting the development of the FGFA.

By the way, among them was the already mentioned V. Thakur.

It is difficult to allow a double interpretation of the Indian position,

after all, the material contained a direct quote from an official representative of the Indian Ministry of Defense, who said that a special committee led by retired Indian Air Force Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman recommended that the MoD continue the project.

And after such a short time, it turned out that the opinion of the Indian military had completely changed. Given that Indian authorities are notoriously slow to make large-scale decisions, it is difficult to imagine that the fate of a multi-billion dollar project could change so quickly.

So what could have caused such material to appear? I dare to suggest that the reason for the current excitement around Russian-Indian cooperation in the aviation sector is not related to the real disagreements between the partners, which, it is worth recognizing, took place throughout the entire 10 years of the implementation of the FGFA project. The real reason is different.

This is a banal competition for one of the largest arms importers.

Similar attempts to discredit Russia by the United States are being observed more and more often. If in Europe Washington’s main emphasis is on “protecting” the European market from energy and gas dependence on Moscow, and quietly promoting its shale gas, then in India, in addition to supplying energy resources (where the United States also wants to get involved), the goal is to crush the multi-billion-dollar arms market .

And, I must say, in the last few years the Americans have been very successful in this. They already occupy second place in arms supplies to India.

But even bigger contracts are at stake. For example, discussions are in full swing on the supply of American MQ-9 Reaper (or Predator B) drones worth more than $2 billion, followed by possibly the more powerful Predator C Avenger for $8 billion.

Following the recent significant reduction in the contract to supply India French fighters Rafale The battle for a potential contract for the supply of about 100 aircraft has once again flared up in earnest. In addition to the French, Swedes, Russians and Americans are also active.

One of the main requirements of the Indian side for future fighter aircraft suppliers is the transfer of production technologies.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India program is forcing foreign manufacturers to share their secrets.

In this regard, Russia has a certain advantage, because T-90 tanks are already being produced in India and the assembly of Ka-226T helicopters is beginning.

America decided to respond symmetrically.

First Obama and now Trump are promoting the F-16 from Lockheed Martin and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet from Boeing to the Indians. Moreover, the F-16 should displace the Russian MiG and Su on the ground, and the Super Hornet should become the main carrier-based aircraft for the future Indian aircraft carrier, the construction project of which is being discussed in the Indian leadership.

We must pay tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit of overseas manufacturers. To please the Indian Prime Minister and fit into the technology transfer program, the Americans are proposing to completely move one of the F-16 production plants to India.

True, they do not particularly focus on the fact that the plant worked mainly for export and after the completion of the contract for the supply of aircraft to Iraq, it will be forced to reduce production. Instead of resolving the issue of loading the enterprise, its owners decided that it would be more profitable to simply sell it to India and receive considerable royalties in return.

What does FGFA have to do with it? Of course, the F-16 and F/A-18 fall short of the requirements of fifth-generation aircraft. But the United States has one more trump card up its sleeve. This is the F-35, actively promoted to allies in Europe and Asia. It is clear that, despite the pretentious statements about a privileged partnership, there will be no talk of transferring this technology to India. However, the already mentioned deployment of production of F-16 and F/A-18 could brighten up Indian discontent.

If the answer to the question of who benefits from such an article in Defense News becomes clear, then it’s worth thinking about why they started talking about it right now. But there are no special problems here either. On October 25, Secretary of State Tillerson visited Delhi.

It is clear that in anticipation of his visit, creating a certain negative attitude towards competitors is a tempting idea. The fact that prospects for military-technical cooperation will be discussed during the negotiations hardly came as a surprise to anyone.

Moreover,

The US is actively demonstrating against whom it wants to be friends with India.

Tillerson’s speech a few days before his tour of Asian countries leaves no doubt that Washington wants to attract India to the anti-Chinese bloc it is putting together in Asia.

Stepping on Delhi's sore spot of Indian-Chinese contradictions, Tillerson, essentially abandoning diplomatic etiquette, openly voiced the goal of the American-Indian partnership as counteracting Chinese expansion.

In this regard, along with attempts to discredit Russian weapons, we can expect an intensification of the campaign against Russia as a reliable partner of India.

The logic here is simple. Russia in last years has been actively drawing closer to China, which, in turn, is strengthening its alliance with Pakistan. Therefore, India needs to be convinced that Russia is playing on the side of Delhi's two main adversaries.

And how can you then buy weapons and expand partnerships with such a country? In this regard, Washington is ready to offer itself as the most successful alternative; fortunately, the Americans have enough problems in relations with Beijing, Moscow and Islamabad for India to start from the formula “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

To summarize the above, we can confidently say that before our eyes another scene is unfolding from the already familiar performance called “Promoting American Interests” by all available means.

The appearance of the article in Defense News is not accidental and is clearly custom-made. The statement about a sharp change in position regarding the Russian-Indian project to develop a fifth-generation fighter is most likely due not to the emotional hesitation of the leadership of the Indian Air Force, but to a banal order.

An indirect confirmation of this can be the fact that both articles with diametrically opposite conclusions were written by the same author, who used the same words of Indian experts, first with a plus sign, and two months later with a minus sign.

Once again, the end justifies the means, and an artificially inflated scandal is used to win the competition. And what is this if not an element of information warfare?

India, which is armed with Su-30MKI fighters Russian production, stated that it has a number of significant complaints about these machines. Such information is contained in the report of the Indian audit agency Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). According to the 218-page document, Russian aircraft are not reliable enough to operate.

According to auditors, the airworthiness of Su-30MKI fighters is 55-60% instead of 75% indicated in the manufacturer’s documents.

From the report of the Indian regulatory authorities it follows that a significant part of Sukhoi fighters are constantly in a state where they cannot be flown for technical reasons. The CAG claims that on an average of 210 Su-30MKIs constantly operated by India, 115 to 126 fighters are constantly grounded due to the need for their technical monitoring and repair. “This affects the combat effectiveness of air units equipped with machines of this type,” the auditors’ report notes. Moreover,

According to official Indian data, six Sukhoi aircraft have been lost since the start of operation.

CAG experts have already sent their findings to the Indian Parliament for the deputies to review.

According to the Indian side, the most common problems on Su-30MKI fighters are the electrical remote control system and the radar detection warning receiver.

“In total, since the start of operation, 35 engine failures of this fighter have been recorded, including incidents related to the breakdown of the power plant. The Indian Air Force has currently changed the rules for carrying out maintenance work on the Su-30MKI,” Defense News quoted a representative of the Indian Ministry of Defense as saying.

The contract for the supply of Su-30MKI fighters to India was concluded in 2002. Initially, under the terms of the agreement, Russia must transfer 272 aircraft of this type to Delhi. However, then India agreed with Moscow that some of the aircraft would be produced at Indian enterprises under a Russian license, and engines with thrust vectoring would be installed on them. On Indian territory, the fighters were assembled by the local state company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

CAG experts say the main reason for frequent breakdowns of the Su-30MKI is the lack of components for the aircraft, most of which are produced in Russia.

Now Delhi is negotiating with Moscow to open enterprises on Indian territory for assembling the necessary spare parts. According to Defense News, the Indian Defense Minister discussed the possibility of localizing the production of units for the Su-30MKI during a visit to the Russian Federation in November of this year. In the near future, on December 24-25, the Prime Minister of India will arrive in Moscow on an official visit. Among the topics he is expected to discuss with the Russian leadership will be cooperation between the two countries in the defense-industrial sphere. It is possible that during the visit of the head of the Indian government the issue of creating enterprises in India for the production of components for Russian “dryers” will be raised.

The manufacturer of the Su-30MKI aircraft, in an interview with Gazeta.Ru, refused to comment on the situation with aircraft maintenance in India, citing the fact that the company is not a subject of military-technical cooperation and does not have direct contract for servicing “dry” aircraft on Indian territory. They also refused to provide a comment.

A Gazeta.Ru source close to , noted that to a large extent, the problem with the units for the Su-30MKI for the Indians arises due to “bureaucracy, which was also created by the Indian Ministry of Defense.”

“The process of submitting an application for a particular spare part is very long, and the time from its submission to the delivery of components can take many months. First, the application goes to the FS MTC, then Rosoboronexport gets involved in the issue. And he is not interested in supplying small quantities of spare parts, but is interested in large contracts. The Indian side often needs small batches of components,” said the publication’s interlocutor.

According to him, speed up the process of supplying spare parts to Russian fighters, which is in service with the Indian Air Force, Sukhoi and Irkut could have direct contacts with the Indian defense department. “It is possible to create a service center on Indian territory, where a complete set of components for 2-3 aircraft would be stored. It could be done in the form of a joint venture. By the way, representatives of the Sukhoi Corporation and UAC recently spoke about this during the visit of Indian journalists to Moscow. But the question now is who will finance this service center, because even “disassembled” 2-3 cars cost tens of millions of dollars. It seems to me that India is more interested in this. And Delhi, as practice shows, likes to save on everything,” noted Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor.

A Gazeta.Ru source in the system of military-technical cooperation noted, in turn, that the shortage of spare parts for the Su-30KI from the Indian military arose due to an increase in the number of vehicles that New Delhi purchased from Moscow.

“Roughly speaking, when you operate 10 fighters, you may only need 2-3 technicians to service them. But if you have 20 fighters, then you need to increase the number of engineers, including Russian ones.

There is also a problem with the supply of components, but I want to point out that for such big park 60% airworthiness is a good indicator, it is not so far short of the declared 75%,” said the publication’s interlocutor.

“Recently, information appeared in the German newspaper Der Spiegel, with reference to the technical service responsible for aircraft maintenance, that only half of the 103 Eurofighter fighters available in the German Air Force cannot take off due to various technical problems", recalled the interlocutor of Gazeta.Ru.

According to him, the appearance of the CAG report in the press is largely connected with the upcoming visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Moscow. “This is how representatives of the Indian Air Force want to draw the politician’s attention to their problems,” he said.

Su-30MKI- an export version of the two-seat multirole fighter Su-30 developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It can carry up to 8 thousand kg of missile and bomb load, and is also armed with a 30-mm GSh-30-1 cannon.

In 2015, in the UK, as part of the international exercise Indrahanush (Rainbow), training battles were held between the Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the British Air Force and the Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force. Indian pilots defeated the British Air Force with a score of 12:0. Currently, the Su-30 MKI is in service with Angola, India, Vietnam, Iraq, Algeria, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, China and Uganda. Since the start of production of this type of aircraft in 1992, nine of these aircraft have been lost as a result of various flight accidents.

The scandalous story of the sale of a defective batch of MiG-29K carrier-based fighters, which Russia supplied to the Indian Navy between 2004 and 2010, continued. In August 2016, Newsader, citing a government report from Indian controllers, talked about a monumental failure that befell the Indian Navy: almost all aircraft purchased from Moscow intended for use on aircraft carriers turned out to be unsuitable not only for combat, but also for routine sorties. According to the author of the Defense-Aerospace publication, the systems of military aircraft purchased from Russia turned out to be literally “riddled with problems.” This conclusion sounds especially depressing due to the fact that the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB were put into service as the only strike air force for the Indian aircraft carrier fleet.

As it turns out from the Defense News material published the day before, the Indian Navy has lost hope of fundamentally correcting the problem and therefore has actually decided to abandon the use of the MiG-29K. The problem is not only that each of their landings on the deck literally looks like a “plane crash” (this is the wording used by the author of DN), after which they have to remove the engine and send the plane to the workshop. Indian officials are also outraged by the fact that Russia refused to provide free maintenance and repair of its low-quality goods: Moscow's Indian partners regarded this step as a violation of business ethics. Now New Delhi has announced a global tender for the purchase of carrier-based aircraft. Leading Western powers became interested in the proposal.

As DN says, Navy India continues to face acute problem repair and maintenance of 45 Russian-made MiG-29K aircraft. These aircraft, supplied by Russia under a contract, remain the only carrier-based fighters on the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier. This was stated by a high-ranking official of the Indian Navy, whose statement is quoted by the publication.

"The MiG-29K is required to be reliable during operations. Currently, its landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier almost looks like a hard landing. The fighter requires frequent repairs. Due to such landings, structural defects constantly appear," the official said.

Meanwhile, the package of services under the contract worth $2.2 billion did not include aircraft maintenance, the publication notes.

“Today they are completely dependent on Russia for all their maintenance,” said an Indian Ministry of Defense spokesman for the Navy. “The Indian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly worked through these issues with the Russians. Although the Russians have sent teams of specialists, we have not seen any solutions.”

Arun Prakash, retired admiral The Indian Navy and former chief of service is even more critical.

“The truth is that the Indian Navy actually financed the development of this aircraft (which the Russian Navy now uses as well - DN). If the Russians had any conscience, they would have ensured that every flaw would be corrected. eliminated without additional payment,” the publication quotes him as saying.

Indian state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is unable to remedy the situation, according to a Defense Ministry spokesman, explaining that without technical assistance from the manufacturer, it is “hardly possible to make changes” to the vehicles.

HAL is currently seeking funds from the Indian Navy to overhaul 113 engines on MiGs, including sourcing spare parts for them.

According to an MoD official, the government would prefer to enter into an agreement with the Navy, Russia and HAL to carry out structural improvements to the MiG-29K fighter jets.

DN explains that the root of all problems remains the same hard landing on the deck, due to which the entire aircraft is gradually destroyed: every time after landing on an aircraft carrier it is necessary to completely remove power plant MiG-29K fighter.

As DN emphasizes, in fact, the point is that each such landing for the MiG is “practically a plane crash.”

“After every operator landing, the aircraft’s components break down or stop working. After this, we are forced to send the fighter to a workshop for repair or replacement of a part, which often has to be imported from Russia,” Prakash said.

Last year, a report by the independent audit agency, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, found that the MiG-29K was accepted into the fleet despite numerous inconsistencies and anomalies.

“Since their introduction into service in February 2010, 40 engines (62 percent) of the MiG-29K twin-engine fighters have been removed from service due to design defects,” says the report (details of which are presented below).

Early last year, the Indian Navy entered the global market to procure 57 multi-role fighter jets to be used on future aircraft carriers. As DN points out, India is essentially abandoning the MiG-29K fighters. A number of leading Western manufacturers have already shown interest - the American Boeing with its Super-Hornet, the French Dassault with its Rafale M, the Swedish Saab with its Gripen Maritime. However, the Russians did not refuse to participate in the tender: they are still ready to offer India their MiG-29K, despite the history of a gigantic failure.

Officials from the Indian Navy and the Ministry of Defense would not comment on the fate of the procurement program.

Last November two deck Russian aircraft crashed during a military operation in Syria, where Russia has been intervening since September 2015 on the side of the Bashar al-Assad regime. One plane fell into the water before reaching the deck. Another fell into the sea right from the deck during landing: the brake cable could not stand it.

Last year, Russian experts predicted such a development of events. In particular, the newspaper VZGLYAD already wrote then that “similar aircraft will be based on the Russian aircraft carrier cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov,” so “one can assume that the Russian version of the MiG-29KR will encounter similar design flaws.” As it turned out later, these fears were correct, considering that two aircraft were lost.

“Riddled with problems”: details of the devastating report

According to the report mentioned above, the main flaws of the machines were problems with the airframe, the RD-33MK engine and the fly-by-wire control system. Overall, the efficiency of the MiG-29K (the main indicator of efficiency) was assessed at levels from 15.93 percent to 37.63 percent, and the MiG-29KUB - in the range from 21.30 percent to 47.14 percent. This fact means a significant reduction in service life, which was initially stated by the manufacturer to be within 6 thousand hours.

At the same time, 40 out of 65 (that is, 62 percent) of the supplied RD-33 MK engines were found unusable, since defects in the mechanisms seriously reduced flight safety. Ultimately, by August 2015, the total number of failed and decommissioned aircraft engines from the Russian Federation amounted to 46 units. It was concluded that the reliability of the RD-33 MK was in question.

Airframes that failed during deck operations also caused no less criticism. The shortcomings did not disappear even after numerous repairs and modifications made by Russian manufacturers at the request of the Indian side. The speakers concluded that this problem negatively affects the possibility of long-term deployment of aircraft.

The fly-by-wire control system also left much to be desired: in the period from 2012 to 2014, Indian experts assessed its reliability as extremely low - ranging from 3.5 to 7.5 percent.

Claims were also made against the training simulator program designed to teach Indian pilots to fly Russian aircraft: experts came to the conclusion that it was completely unsuitable for performing the assigned tasks.

The total number of aircraft of the above type that the Indian armed forces have decided to acquire is 45 units. These aircraft have been in operation in India since September 2014. The prospects for their operation are not yet entirely clear in light of the identified deviations.

It should be noted that currently, as part of Western sanctions, the United States and its allies have introduced a ban on the supply of military and dual-use goods to the Russian Federation.

Material prepared

Media: India has decided to abandon Russian aircraft in favor of the Ukrainian An-178

© antonov.com

India is no longer interested in the Russian Il-214 aircraft, which took 17 years to develop. But the country will focus on the Ukrainian An-178, reports TV channel 24.ua.

It was planned that the Il-214 was supposed to replace the obsolete An-12 aircraft, which are used in the Indian Armed Forces and Russian troops. Work on it began back in 2000, and in 2007 India joined its development.

It is reported that the Ilyushin Aviation Complex, NPK Irkut and the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics worked on the development of the aircraft. But during this time the plane was not created, and it exists only in a mock-up. Therefore, India decided to suspend its participation in this project.

The aircraft that India needed had to have a payload capacity of about 20 tons, and also be suitable for use on high-altitude unpaved airfields. As a result, last year India signed an agreement on joint development a similar aircraft with the Ukrainian corporation Antonov, which already has a flying prototype of the An-178 transport aircraft.

Let us add that earlier the Ukrainian state concern Ukroboronoprom stated that in the production of the An-178 it was possible to completely abandon Russian components.

Let us recall that in 2016, the general director of the Il company, Sergei Velmozhkin, announced that the joint project between Russia and India to create the Il-214 military transport aircraft was frozen. On Friday, March 17, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov announced the final stop of the project.

The scandalous story of the sale of a defective batch of MiG-29K carrier-based fighters, which Russia supplied to the Indian Navy between 2004 and 2010, continued, reports Newsader with a link to Defense News.

Back in August 2016, almost all aircraft purchased from Moscow intended for use on aircraft carriers turned out to be unsuitable not only for combat, but also for regular sorties: the systems of military aircraft purchased from Russia turned out to be literally “riddled with problems.” Now it turns out that the Indian Navy has lost hope of fundamentally correcting the defects and therefore has actually decided to abandon the use of the MiG-29K.

The problem is not only that each of their landings on the deck literally looks like a “plane crash”, after which they have to remove the engine and send the plane to the workshop. Indian officials are also outraged by the fact that Russia refused to provide free maintenance and repair of its low-quality goods: Moscow's Indian partners regarded this step as a violation of business ethics. One senior Indian Navy official stated:

“The MiG-29K is required to be reliable during operations. Now his landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier looks almost like a hard landing. The fighter requires frequent repairs. Due to such plantings, structural defects constantly appear,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the package of services under the contract worth $2.2 billion did not include aircraft maintenance.

Arun Prakash, a retired Indian Navy admiral and former service chief, was even more critical:

“The truth is that the Indian Navy actually financed the development of this aircraft (which the Russian Navy now uses as well). If the Russians had any conscience, they would guarantee that every shortcoming would be corrected without additional payment. Every time an operator lands, aircraft components break down or stop working. After this, we are forced to send the fighter to the workshop for repairs or replacement of parts, which often have to be imported from Russia...”

Now New Delhi has announced a global tender for the purchase of carrier-based aircraft. Leading Western powers and a number of leading Western manufacturers became interested in the proposal - the American Boeing with its Super-Hornet, the French Dassault with its Rafale M, the Swedish Saab with its Gripen Maritime.

It's funny, but the Russians did not refuse to participate in the tender: they are still ready to offer their MiG-29K to India, despite the history of a gigantic failure.

It is known that in November last year, two carrier-based Russian aircraft crashed during a military operation in Syria. One plane fell into the water before reaching the deck. Another fell into the sea right from the deck during landing: the brake cable could not stand it.

It is also interesting that the Indian military also made complaints about the training simulator program designed to teach Indian pilots to fly Russian aircraft: experts came to the conclusion that it is completely unsuitable for performing the assigned tasks...