With India inking deals worth over $10 billion, Russia remains one of the top most weapon suppliers besides a time-tested, trusted strategic and Defence partner. The signing of three major contracts during the annual summit talks between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi come at a time when India has procured weapons from other countries including US, France and Israel.
The deals signed on Saturday indicate that Russia will continue to remain a strong and robust partner of India in terms of Defence procurement as the Indian armed forces still have more than 70 per cent inventory of Russian and erstwhile Soviet Union in its inventory. Moreover, India and Russia are now engaged in talks hastening the process of joint design and production of fifth general fighter aircraft (FGFA). Once this project comes through, the IAF will buy nearly 250 such jets thereby giving the IAF an edge over its arch-rival Pakistan and China. It is rapidly modernising its air force and India needs state of the aircraft to deal with emerging challenge.
The S-400 'Triumf' air defence system deal for five sets worth over six billion dollars will hugely enhance IAF capabilities to secure the Indian airspace as the S-400 system can track down and hit a target including aircraft or incoming missile at a range of more than 400 km. The Russian system can fire three types of missiles besides creating a layered defence shield to confuse the enemy radars. Moreover, the S-400 can engage more than 36 targets simultaneously. China has already placed an order for ten S-400 systems and will start inducting them by the end of next year. Defence Acquisition Council(DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had given the approval for procuring this system in December last year.
Besides this big contract, India and Russia signed another contract worth over four billion dollars for four stealth frigates. While two frigates will be procured from Russia, the remaining two will be built in an Indian dockyard. However, the dockyard will be selected through a competitive process.
These frigates are Admiral Grigorovich class(Project11356) guided missile warships. Each ship weighs over 3,600 ton and can be fitted with Brahmos supersonic cruise missile capable of hitting a target at more than 290 kms. The frigates are a derivative of six Talwar class frigates built by Russia for the Indian Navy between 2003 and 2013.
The third deal for 200 Kamov-226T light utility helicopters worth over one billion dollar is also crucial as the present Chetak and Cheetah helicopters of the same class are in the last phase of their operational life. These small helicopters are the lifeline of troops posted in Siachen glacier besides other remote posts in ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh in the north-east.
The public sector Hindustan Aeronautics limited(HAl) will manufacture the Kamovs in collaboration with Russia here as part of the 'Make in India' policy. The Army and IAF urgently need these light helicopters to maintain its troops in remote locations. In fact, the procurement of light utility helicopters was hanging fire for more than eight years due to various issues including corruption.