New Delhi is ready to reconsider its cooperation with Moscow for the joint manufacture or purchase of the fifth generation Russian Su-57 fighter jet after the aircraft is commissioned and tested by the Russian military, Birender Singh Dhanoa, the chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, said.
Dhanoa said in an interview with the Russian Armed Forces' official newspaper, Krasnaya Zvezda, that India would make a decision on the Su-57 jet after seeing it in action in Russia, and after Moscow presents the new aircraft in New Delhi.
Under the existing contract, the first Su-57 jet will be introduced into service in Russia later this year, while the second item will be finished in 2020.
In mid-February, Russian state corporation Rostec's director for international cooperation, Viktor Kladov, said that India had shown great interest in the Su-57 jet. The interest of foreign buyers in the Su-57 confirms that the serial production of this modern multi-role fighter should begin as soon as possible, he stressed.
Anatoly Punchuk, deputy director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), said that Russia is ready to resume works with India on the fifth generation fighter jet based on Su-57 technology, however, "the decision to temporarily suspend this project was made by India".
The Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jet, formerly known as Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation (PAK FA), is a single-seat, twin-engine multirole 'stealth' aircraft designed for air superiority and attack roles. It is equipped with an advanced avionics system and airborne active phased-array radar, as well as with a variety of high-precision weaponry. The jet carried out its maiden flight in 2010 and is still reportedly being tested by the Russian military
