Auditors from Delhi said that Russian fighters are not sufficiently reliable in operation. Arun Prakash, Retired Indian Navy Admiral and Former Chief of Service, Even More Critical When Guns Are Fake

India is gradually phasing out Russian weapons in favor of American, European, and Ukrainian ones. Russia, unable to carry out import substitution, supplies technically outdated, and even low-quality weapons, from aircraft to submarines, to the most important market for it. At the same time, Russians do not even want to pay for repairs.

Ukrainian enterprises are gradually strengthening their positions in the Indian market, thus taking away Russian companies certain segments. This, of course, irritates the Kremlin, which is trying, with the help of international and some Ukrainian media, to campaign to discredit our country. It is important for Moscow to strike at the reputation of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex and, if not to pick up the lost contracts, then at least not to let Ukrainians go there.

Russian weapons are scrapped

Russia continues to lose its position in the global arms markets, and all this is happening for a number of reasons.

The Kremlin cannot stand the fact that Ukraine is not only opening up new arms markets for itself, but also displacing a Russian manufacturer from there. Therefore, Moscow organizes: in order to hit the reputation of a domestic manufacturer. And there are plenty of examples of such activities - from Turkey to India.

We will now talk about the latter in more detail, since Russia began to rapidly lose its positions in the most important arms market for it - the Indian one, and it loses to absolutely everyone there - both to global giants, such as the United States, and to such players - akin to Ukraine.

Cold shower for the Kremlin

After coming to power, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forward a new concept, which was very simply called “Do in India!”. “I tell the world: do it in India! Sell ​​anywhere, but produce here! We have both skill and talent for this!”, - campaigned the head of the Indian government.

The tasks that Modi set for himself were extremely simple: to diversify arms supplies, most of which were carried out by Russia, to get technology in order to then sell cheaper analogues on world markets, reaching the level of sales of $ 3 billion annually, and most importantly - strengthen your security system.

For this reason, Modi opened domestic market for Americans, French, Israelis - in general, for Russian competitors. And here the problems began for Moscow.

Russian defense enterprises began to lose tender after tender. So, the Indians preferred the American attack helicopters AH-64E "Apache" to the Russian Mi-28. Another failure - a loss in the competition for the supply of heavy transport helicopters: the Mi-26 lost to the American CH-47F "Chinook". It is known that the American P-8 anti-submarine aircraft pressed the Russian Tu-142s, and the Il-476 transport aircraft lost to the American C-17 Globemaster aircraft.

In general, Russian aircraft are uncompetitive, and you can find a lot of evidence for this. Let's remember how, during the announcement of the competition for the fourth generation fighter, the Indians simply took and deleted the Russian MiG-35 from the short list. There were several reasons: firstly, the aircraft had avionics and a power plant from the last century, and secondly, the ship was not only not accepted for service, but was not even produced in small batches. In other words, the Russians tried to sell the technology not of a production car, but of an ordinary prototype.

The competition was won by the French, having agreed to supply 36 Rafale fighters for nine billion dollars; however, New Delhi did not require permission from Paris for licensed production.

The situation is similar with fifth generation aircraft. Now the Indian government is unequivocally hinting to Moscow that it sees no prospects in the project of such a Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) fighter, created jointly with the Russian Federation on the basis of the Su-57.

Ten years have passed since the launch of this project, but the final contract for the design of the aircraft has not been signed: at first, the Indians complained about weak engines, then they made claims to the fighter’s radar and its stealth system.

Now New Delhi is thinking about acquiring American F-35s. The need for the Indian Air Force in this case may be 126 fighters in various modifications.

Note that in April 2017, the F-35 almost completely defeated the Atlantic Trident during the exercises. best fighters fourth generation. Their pilots did not even have time to understand what had happened to them. By 2020, the price for them may reach 80 million dollars - which is acceptable for Indians.

The Russians have no choice but to offer to create the fifth generation Su-35 for the needs of India, the modernization of which will cost less. common project on the Su-57.

So the head of the Russian "Rostec" Sergey Chemezov has already stated: “We are negotiating and have signed a protocol of intent on the Su-35. Now we are developing ideas for this contract and are working on creating a production base for the fifth generation aircraft.”.

The problem is that the standard design of the Su-35 matches the characteristics of a fifth-generation fighter, except that it does not have stealth properties. The fifth generation Su-35 variant is likely to be nothing more than a modification of this 4++ generation fighter, albeit with stealth characteristics.

In general, the Kremlin is trying once again to deceive the Indians, and not the first time. And we will definitely say about this, but for now we will only note that the Indians, of course, will gladly buy an American latest fighter and probably won't even be asked to sell technology to them.

The Kremlin, if it wins somewhere, is only due to the sale of those same technologies - in other words, the surrender of its national interests.

This is already happening with the BrahMos, a Russian-Indian supersonic cruise missile based on the Russian Onyx anti-ship missile.

The other day India came out on international arena with the news about R & D (Research and Development Work) on this rocket. This means only one thing: Moscow is ready to give away the technology for its creation and help in its subsequent improvement.

In fact, this path will only lead to the fact that in five to ten years Russia will not only lose a major buyer in the face of India, but will also create a competitor for itself.

At the same time, the share Russian weapons in the Indian market is falling uncontrollably: in the last two years alone, it has lost almost a billion dollars in the Indian direction. And this means that the United States has either already entered, or will soon enter into a leading position in this market.

Just recently, United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in India, who brought with him a proposal for the localization of F-16 multi-role fighters. In addition, New Delhi wants to build the largest aircraft carrier in the history of the country, Vishal, together with the Americans. The Indians have also purchased the USS Trenton (LPD-14) helicopter carrier, and the Air Force has already ordered 22 MQ-9B UAVs worth $2-$3 billion.

It is noteworthy that the Russians have nothing to answer: for last year not a single defense contract was signed between the governments of Delhi and Moscow. However, instead of developing a new concept, the Kremlin chose a different path - to trade in junk.

When instead of a weapon - a dummy

In fact, the Indians are already even afraid to buy weapons from Russia - after all, every time you get a pig in a poke.

Back in December 2015, the Indian audit agency CAG presented an expert opinion on the operation of Su-30MKI fighters purchased from Russia. The auditors have advised that, on average, of the 210 fighter jets operated by Indian pilots, between 115 and 126 are permanently on the ground due to breakdowns. And according to the Indian Ministry of Defense, six vehicles have been lost since the start of operation.

In August 2016, it became known that Russia again sold defective fighters to India: this time we are talking about MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB aircraft, the deliveries of which began at the end of 2014. The audit showed that 62% of Russian engines were found to be unusable. At the same time, Moscow, despite significant defects in the planes, refused to service them for free.

But there are problems not only with aircraft, but also with ground vehicles.

India intends to get rid of the fleet of T-72 tanks in the next ten years, replacing them with more new model main battle tank(OBT). The Russians would like to offer their T-90S. However, after what happened in the Army international games in Alabino, nothing shines for Moscow.

During the competition for tank biathlon two tanks of Russian design and Indian assembly T-90S "Bhishma" - the main and spare - are out of order. As a result, the Indians were removed from the competition. At the same time, the Indian military had previously complained that tanks could not work for a long time when high temperatures due to problems with the radiator. It is clear that after the incident, the Russians did not engage in the modernization of armored vehicles.

It's risky to buy from the Kremlin and marine equipment. Let's not recall the story of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, built on the basis of the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Gorshkov, a ship that, after sea trials in 2012, was under repair for another year. Recall another story that happened last year, when the Russian-made nuclear submarine Chakra, leased to Indian Naval Forces India, too, is out of order.

In New Delhi, they blamed Moscow and asked the Russians to hold repair work, arguing that they were originally sold an obsolete submarine. They, as usual, refused.

Now Russia is trying at exorbitant prices to sell its Indian partners anti-aircraft missile systems S-400. The price of one complex is two times higher than that which was laid down in the Chinese contract. However, the Indians are in no hurry to buy the S-400. There are two reasons: firstly, the price, and secondly, their availability Chinese side- Indian competitor.

That is why the Indians are negotiating with other countries on the supply of air defense systems. Just last year, India ordered from Israel for the needs ground forces and the Navy's Barak 8 air defense system, worth $2 billion, which will be installed, among other things, on Indian aircraft carriers. Perhaps not the best world analogue, but it is reliable and safe. And most importantly, predictable.

India chooses Ukraine

However, the Kremlin is irritated most of all not by the Americans, whom they cannot compete with, but by the Ukrainians who are gaining ground in the Indian market.

India is one of Ukraine's major trading partners in the field of military-technical cooperation. Only from 2015 to 2017 Ukraine annually fulfilled contracts worth 120-140 million dollars. Over the past year, Ukrainian manufacturers were able to sign contracts worth 35 million dollars, and the prospects are opening up more and more.

Spetstechnoexport completed the main part of the contract for the repair of An-32 aircraft for the Indian Air Force. 40 aircraft that were supposed to be repaired in Ukraine have already been repaired. And another 64 aircraft should be supplied with upgrade kits.

As Director of the Center for Research on the Army, Conversion and Disarmament Valentin Badrak pointed out in an interview with Commander-in-Chief: “This proved that the design school in Ukraine has not only survived, but also has a tendency to develop. Although the Indian side does not frankly say that it has abandoned the MTA project (construction of a military transport aircraft Multi-role Transport Aircraft), but in fact Russia has this refusal. The Ukrainian side can complete such a project without any problems.”.

Moreover, the Ministry of Defense of India and a number of companies of this country have already signed 15 memorandums with the Ukrainian side on the production of transport aircraft, on the long-term supply of gas turbine units for Indian military ships, etc.

Spetstechnoexport, together with the private company Spaitech, continues to participate in a large tender for $100 million for the supply of unmanned systems of this company for Indian border guards. By the way, this is the first tender for UAVs of this magnitude, in which a Ukrainian company participates.

Now the Ukrainian enterprise has fulfilled the contract with the HAL corporation dated 2013 for the supply of beam holders. And immediately, in February 2018, the Indian Ministry of Defense again requested these products for a sum of 3 million dollars.

It is for this reason - because of the trust in the Ukrainian manufacturer - that the Indian side continues to order Ukrainian products and services.

Therefore, against this background of positive trends for Ukraine in the Indian market and negative for Moscow, it is already clear where the articles and information campaigns, by discrediting Spetstechnoexport, the main Ukrainian player in the Indian market, by the same holders.

The problem is that the Indians did not complain about the holders, but these holders are a problem for the Russians. After all, they are necessary to equip Russian Su-30MKI aircraft. And this means that the Russians cannot provide full-fledged technical support for their cars, which carries yet another reputational risk.

And all this is happening against the backdrop of India's complete refusal to place the same BrahMos missiles aboard the Sukhoi. They want to create a new air-to-surface missile and put it on this plane. The engine must be made in India.

This is what "Make in India" means. The Russians gave the developments to BrahMos and practically got a competitive, cheaper product. Time will pass, and the Indians will produce their Su, and not only the 30MKI type. And Ukraine will help them in this, thanks to the existing potential, both scientific and industrial.

That is why everything that is happening now around the contract for the supply of beam holders looks very suspicious and ridiculous - it is clear to everyone who exactly benefits from this, and who does not spare money to inflate it all to the scale of "another fire".

New sanctions and the failure of import substitution

At the same time, in the light of new US sanctions and the failure of Rogozin's import substitution program, the situation with the production and export potential of the Russian Federation in the defense industry will only worsen and worsen every day - from the inability to fulfill existing contracts to the refusal of customers from new contracts.

Recall that the sanctions list includes leading enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex such as Uralvagonzavod, the Kalashnikov concern, industry corporations USC, UEC, UAC and others. For the first time, the Samara concern Bazalt appears on the list, which supplies ammunition abroad for previously sold Russian equipment.

The list as a whole covers more than 30 key management companies of the Russian defense industry. In the future, the list may be subject to changes and additions.

The reactions of the Moscow press and the expert community to the next wave of sanctions contain nervous bravado and assurances that the “talents” of Russian business have already gotten the hang of circumventing sanctions. Allegedly, in settlements with clients, Russian enterprises easily maneuver past American payment systems, banks and insurance companies.

But the whole point is that carriers, transit countries and importers of Russian weapons do not maneuver this way. Many of them have no need to run from the threat of having their accounts frozen. Moscow is well aware of this circumstance, and they see what a powerful blow the next wave of sanctions is inflicting on the Russian defense industry.

Appeared quite real threat that the circle of importers will shrink, and only regular customers will remain the main consumers of Russian weapons - the Syrian regime of Assad, the DPRK, Iran, as well as various terrorist organizations, which in Moscow are pathosly called "banned on the territory of the Russian Federation", implying that outside the territory of the Russian Federation things with them are more than normal.

The rest of the buyer states, under the conditions of sanctions, will not risk buying Russian products even at bargain prices, that is, almost for nothing. Having calculated a similar effect from sanctions pressure, the US authorities seem to have taken into account the recommendations of the “father of the peoples” Joseph Stalin, who was again beloved in today's Russia, who assured that “revenge is a dish that should be served cold.”

India, which is armed with Russian-made Su-30MKI fighters, has stated that it has a number of significant claims against 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 sufficiently reliable in operation.

According to the auditors, the airworthiness index 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 the Sukhoi fighters are constantly in a state where flights cannot be carried out for technical reasons. CAG states that, on average, out of the 210 Su-30MKIs constantly operated by India, between 115 and 126 fighters are constantly on the ground due to the need to carry out their technical control and repair. “This affects the combat effectiveness of air units equipped with machines of this type,” the auditors’ report says. Furthermore,

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

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

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

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

The contract for the supply of Su-30MKI fighters to India was signed 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, while they would be equipped with thrust-vectoring engines. On Indian territory, the fighters were assembled by the local state-owned company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

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

Now Delhi is negotiating with Moscow to open factories on Indian territory to assemble 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 Russia in November 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 that he is expected to discuss with the Russian leadership will be cooperation between the two countries in the defense industry. It is possible that during the visit of the head of the Indian government, the issue of creating in India enterprises 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 the maintenance of aircraft in India, citing the fact that the company is not a subject of military-technical cooperation and does not have a direct contract for the maintenance of "dry" in Indian territory. Refused to comment and in .

A source of Gazeta.Ru, close to, noted that, to a large extent, the problem with the units for the Su-30MKI among the Indians arises due to "the bureaucracy, which was also bred 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 joins the issue. And he is not interested in the supply of small batches of spare parts, but is interested in large contracts. The Indian side, on the other hand, often needs precisely small batches of components, ”the source said.

According to him, direct contacts between Sukhoi and Irkut and the Indian Defense Ministry could speed up the process of supplying spare parts for Russian fighters in service with the Indian Air Force. “It is possible to create a service center in 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 here the question is already who will finance this service center, because even “dismantled” 2-3 cars are 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, ”said the interlocutor of Gazeta.Ru.

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 Delhi purchased from Moscow.

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

There is also a problem with the supply of components, but I want to note that for such big park 60% airworthiness is a good indicator, it is not so much short of the declared 75%, ”the source said.

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

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

Su-30MKI- export version of the two-seat multi-role fighter Su-30 developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It can carry up to 8,000 kg of missile and bomb load, and is also armed with a 30-millimeter GSh-30-1 cannon.

In 2015, in the UK, within the framework of the international exercises "Indrakhanush" ("Rainbow"), mock fights 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-30MKI is in service with Angola, India, Vietnam, Iraq, Algeria, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, China and Uganda. Since the start of production of aircraft of this type in 1992, nine of these aircraft have been lost as a result of various flight accidents.

Media: India 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, the 24.ua TV channel reports.

It was planned that the IL-214 was supposed to replace the obsolete An-12 aircraft, which are used in the Armed Forces of India 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 the layout. Therefore, India decided to suspend its participation in this project.

The aircraft that India needed was 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 the joint development of such an aircraft with the Ukrainian corporation Antonov, which already has a flying prototype of the An-178 transport aircraft.

We add that earlier the Ukrainian state concern "Ukroboronoprom" said that in the manufacture of the An-178 it was possible to completely abandon Russian components.

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

The scandalous story with the sale of a defective batch of carrier-based MiG-29K fighters, which Russia supplied to the Indian Navy in the period from 2004 to 2010, was continued, reports Newsader citing Defense News material.

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 ordinary 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 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: this step was regarded by Moscow's Indian partners as a violation business ethics. One senior Indian Navy official stated:

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

Meanwhile, in a package of services under a contract worth $2.2 billion. Maintenance the aircraft did not enter.

Arun Prakash, retired Admiral of the Indian Navy and former boss service, was even more critical:

“The truth is that the Indian navy actually funded the development of this aircraft (which is now also used by the Russian navy). If the Russians had any conscience, they would guarantee that every flaw would be fixed at no extra cost. After each landing of the operator, aircraft components break down or stop working. After this, we are forced to send the fighter to the workshop to repair or replace the part, which often has 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 have not refused to participate in the tender: they are still ready to offer their MiG-29Ks to India, despite the history of a giant failure.

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

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

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 titles 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 in this news message there is a zest that creates the desired effect of perception. For the Western audience, this is a demonstration of superiority over the "aggressive" but backward Russia.

For the Russian public, which is 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 considering cooperation with Russia in the military-technical sphere. For them, the message is clear. If such a major importer of weapons as India considered the developments of the leading aircraft manufacturers of Russia 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 "Made in Russia" label?

Of course, one cannot 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 on highest level Russian leadership.

However, the categorical nature of such news suggests a somewhat different background than simply informing about the failure of a military contract.

Something is wrong

Initially, this news appeared on October 21 on the pages of the American edition of 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 for joint development of a fifth-generation fighter with Russia.

According to an unnamed Defense News source, the Indian military believes that the FGFA project is clearly inferior to the American F-35 aircraft. In particular, claims are made to the design of the engine, low rates stealth technologies and non-optimal 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 look at the situation more broadly.

First, Western, Indian and Russian media, who published this news, refer exclusively to Defense News. References to any other sources, and even more so to the official Indian authorities, are not given.

Secondly, the American edition refers to anonymous representatives of the Indian Air Force, dissatisfied Russian project. The only named person is retired officer, and now expert V. Thakur (Vijainder K Thakur), who just 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 a more advanced engine on future aircraft.

Thirdly, the opinion of the head of the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Suvarna Raju (T. Suvarna Raju), stated on the pages of another publication - the Indian Business Standard, remained unnoticed. HAL is the main partner from the Indian side and considers the development of a new fighter as great opportunity for India to obtain the most advanced technological solutions in the field of military aircraft production.

Look for who benefits

In order to dispel the emerging doubts about the correspondence of the information presented by Defense News to the real situation, we turn to earlier reports of 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. Takur.

The double interpretation of the Indian position is difficult to admit,

because the material contained a direct quote official representative Ministry of Defense of India, said that a special committee led by retired Indian Air Force Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman (Simhakutty Varthaman) recommended MoD to continue the project.

And after such a short time, it turned out that the opinion of the Indian military has completely changed. Given that Indian authorities are notorious for being slow to make big decisions, it's hard to imagine that the fate of a multi-billion dollar project is changing so quickly.

So what could be the reason for the appearance of such material? 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, have taken place throughout the 10 years of the FGFA project. The real reason in a different.

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

Similar attempts to discredit Russia by the United States are observed more and more often. If in Europe Washington focuses on “protecting” the European market from energy, gas dependence on Moscow, and under the guise of promoting its shale gas, in India, in addition to energy supplies (where the United States also wants to wedge), the goal is to crush the multi-billion dollar arms market .

And, I must say, in the past few years, the Americans have greatly succeeded in this. They already occupy the second place in the supply of arms to India.

But there are even bigger contracts at stake. For example, discussions are under way on the supply of American MQ-9 Reaper (or Predator B) drones for more than $ 2 billion, and behind them, perhaps more powerful Predator C Avenger already for $ 8 billion.

After the recent significant reduction in the contract for the supply of French Rafale fighters to India, the fight for a potential contract for the supply of about 100 aircraft has 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 to the future suppliers of fighters is the transfer of production technologies.

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

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

America decided to respond symmetrically.

First Obama, and now Trump, are pushing Lockheed Martin's F-16s and Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to the Indians. Moreover, the F-16 should push 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 transfer one of the F-16 production plants to India.

True, they do not focus much attention on the fact that the plant worked mainly for export and after the contract for the supply of aircraft to Iraq is completed, it will be forced to reduce production. Instead of resolving the issue of loading the enterprise, its owners considered 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 the fifth generation aircraft. But the US has another trump card up its sleeve. This is the F-35, actively promoted to the allies in Europe and Asia. It is clear that, despite the bombastic statements about a privileged partnership, there will be no talk of transferring this technology to India. However, the already mentioned deployment of F-16 and F / A-18 production 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 considering why this is being talked about right now. But even here there are no special problems. On October 25, Secretary of State Tillerson visited Delhi.

It is clear that on the eve of his visit to create a certain negative in relation to competitors is a tempting idea. The fact that the prospects for military-technical cooperation will be discussed during the talks hardly came as a surprise to anyone.

Furthermore,

The US is actively demonstrating against whom they want to be friends with India.

Tillerson's speech a few days before his Asian tour leaves no doubt that Washington wants to draw India into the anti-Chinese bloc it is building up in Asia.

Stepping on Delhi's sore spot of Indian-Chinese contradictions, Tillerson, in fact, abandoning diplomatic etiquette, openly voiced the task of the US-Indian partnership as a counter to Chinese expansion.

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

The logic here is simple. Russia in last years actively approached China, and he, in turn, strengthens the alliance with Pakistan. Therefore, it is necessary to convince India that Russia is playing on the side of Delhi's two main adversaries.

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

Summing up the above, we can say with confidence that before our eyes another scene is unfolding from the already familiar performance called "Promotion of American Interests" by all available means.

The appearance of an article in Defense News is not accidental and is clearly custom-made. Statement of abrupt change positions in relation to the Russian-Indian project for the development of a fifth generation fighter, most likely, is not due to the emotional hesitation of the leadership of the Indian Air Force, but with 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 it, if not an element of information warfare?