Indo-Russia arms joint venture to cost approx $35 billion
18 July 2013 12:30 AM GMT
The Indo-Russian joint venture on the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) will end up costing the country two-and-half-times more than the originally estimated cost to be roughly about $15 billion. In effect the country would effectively pay close to $ 35 billion for the project.
The fighter aircraft will be a variant of the T-50 the Russians are flying as a foil for the American, F-22 Raptor that has already been mothballed on the issue of cost and the need. At the recent Air Show in Paris, the Russians announced that they have identified the right engine for the aircraft.
The Indian side is simultaneously having an internal audit, the sources say, along with the contract negotiations talks with the Russians. But knowledgeable sources say that the level of technological transference in the Russian FGFA project is so high that the cost borne 'by the country appears insignificant.'
He pointed out that the Americans manufacturers of the F-22, the Lockheed MarinCorporation, did not even share crucial details with the ‘cousins across the pond’ the British across the Atlantic.
The Indo-Russian project is also delayed. According to recent reports, the prototypes that were begun to arrive in India in 2014 will now be delayed. But Russian source say that India has diluted its demand for a two seater aircraft to a single seater.
New Delhi has already paid about $ 400 million to the Russians on the basis of the initial offering. That happened in 2012. The project was supposed to get go 2010. But the inevitable delay happened.
The fighter aircraft will be a variant of the T-50 the Russians are flying as a foil for the American, F-22 Raptor that has already been mothballed on the issue of cost and the need. At the recent Air Show in Paris, the Russians announced that they have identified the right engine for the aircraft.
The Indian side is simultaneously having an internal audit, the sources say, along with the contract negotiations talks with the Russians. But knowledgeable sources say that the level of technological transference in the Russian FGFA project is so high that the cost borne 'by the country appears insignificant.'
He pointed out that the Americans manufacturers of the F-22, the Lockheed MarinCorporation, did not even share crucial details with the ‘cousins across the pond’ the British across the Atlantic.
The Indo-Russian project is also delayed. According to recent reports, the prototypes that were begun to arrive in India in 2014 will now be delayed. But Russian source say that India has diluted its demand for a two seater aircraft to a single seater.
New Delhi has already paid about $ 400 million to the Russians on the basis of the initial offering. That happened in 2012. The project was supposed to get go 2010. But the inevitable delay happened.
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