India Offered Path to Quick License Production of Su-57: Landmark Deal Pending

Russian state arms export conglomerate Rosoboronexport on March 7 issued a statement highlighting that India could quickly begin license production of Su-57 fifth generation fighters through modernisation of the existing production line in the country for the older Su-30MKI ‘4+ generation’ fighter. The firm lauded its collaboration with Indian defence contractor Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to produce the Su-30, observing: “if the Indian side makes a positive decision, the factories currently assembling the Su-30MKI could be swiftly adapted to produce the Su-57E.” India previously produced at least 222 Su-30MKIs under license, and following the Su-57’s debut appearance in the country at the Air India 2025 aerospace exhibition in February, it was confirmed that a similar license production deal for the new fighter was under consideration. India faces pressure to begin fielding fifth generation fighters quickly, due largely to neighbouring Pakistan’s plans to begin fielding advanced Chinese supplied FC-31 stealth fighters in 2029. Delhi has neverhteless also sought to reduce imports of complete military equipment and increase its focus on domestic license production, which has made a reliance on Russian-built Su-57s undesirable. Reassurances that the Su-57 could begin license production in India quickly could thus significantly increase its attractiveness.

It is highly likely that should a deal be reached, India will procure at least a small number of Su-57s ‘off the shelf’ from Russian production lines before transitioning to license production. This would mirror its procurement of 50 Su-30MKI fighters before domestic production was initiated. Expediting the initiation of license production could minimise the number of ‘off the shelf’ procurements. The possibility has also been raised that India could launch a joint program to develop an enhanced and heavily customised variant of the Su-57, possibly under a different designation such as the ‘Su-60,’ with license production of the standard Russian design potentially paving the way to this.

Russian sources have widely reported that customisation options for foreign clients are already under development within the Su-57 program, most notably a twin seat variant which is expected to be strongly favoured by the Indian Air Force. The Su-57 is considered to be India’s only viable option to field a fifth generation fighter before the mid-2030s, with two of the other three fifth generation fighters currently in production worldwide, the J-20 and FC-31, being produced by China with which the country maintains a number of territorial disputes. The fourth, the American F-35, is considered politically unviable due to the extensive controls the United States imposes on how its fighters are utilised, as well as the limited level of trust between the two states in particular after Washington threatened India with economic sanctions over its defence procurements in the past.

The Indian Defence Ministry has long shown a strong interest in procuring the Su-57, with discussions on a license production deal reported to be underway in February 2023. A leading cause for hesitation was reportedly the slow rate at which the Su-57 was brought into service, as while over 200 of the fighters were intended to be operational in the Russian Air Force by 2025, only approximately 40 are estimated to currently be in the fleet. The fighter has since been put through an entirely unique level of combat testing in the Ukrainian theatre, however, with operations having included air defence suppression, air to air combat, and operations in heavily defended enemy airspace, as well as a range of precision strike missions. This is expected to have assuaged such concerns. Significant increases to the Su-57’s production scale since 2020 have made large scale export orders appear increasingly viable, with the first contract for export confirmed in November 2024 to have already been signed after which Algeria was confirmed in February to be the client. The scheduled integration of the AL-51F engine by 2027 is expected to further increase the Su-57’s appeal, and will not only significantly increase the power available for avionics and improve the fighter’s flight performance, but will also significantly reduce operational costs.