Yeah, no official interest in the Su-57 yet. And we are not buying the F-35.
There is "plenty" of official interest in Su-57 and is "unofficially" already chosen by IAF as our 'stop-gap' 5th gen fighter before AMCA matures. Officially the acknowledgment will only come once this proposal clears DAC. Till then we will continue to hear such ambiguous statements.Yeah, no official interest in the Su-57 yet. And we are not buying the F-35.
It's not clearing DAC till we pay Jizia to the US & a substantial one at that . That's not happening since SCOTUS has struck down Trump's tariffs which in turn means the entire trade deal will have to be re negotiated.There is "plenty" of official interest in Su-57 and is "unofficially" already chosen by IAF as our 'stop-gap' 5th gen fighter before AMCA matures. Officially the acknowledgment will only come once this proposal clears DAC. Till then we will continue to hear such ambiguous statements.
MKI was the first export Flanker variant with French/Israeli avionics. (China's MKK had an all-Russian cockpit)
I'm specifically referring to MFD55 and MFD66 cockpit displays and Sigma 95 INS/GPS here which eventually found their way to MKM, MKA variants - including the Su-30SM for the RuAF.
(The latest Su-30SM2 model replaces these very avionics with Russian equivalents because of intl sanctions over the Ukraine situation.)
Care to explain how this could've happened without Russian Oems having had direct access?
In all likelihood, the 114 Rafale we're getting will also have a 2nd MC (despite having IMA avionics) to bypass the need for source code which the French have refused to share.
I'd be surprised if the Russians oblige us with anything more than API level access on Su-57. Again, any physical modifications to the core avionics will require the direct involvement of Russian firms.
All these calculations are great, but what capability will two squadrons of Su-57 add to the IAF. Is this level of stealth sufficient to face off against J-20's or J-35's in A2A BVR engagements? Is that number of aircraft sufficient to conduct offensive strike against the Chinese before being blasted out of the sky by Chinese S-400's?
How long will 40 aircraft be able to conduct operations before needing full service? Second thing to be considered is if China has >200 J-20's deployed across the norther border will such a small number of Su-57's even make a difference?
I don't see them being operationally useful for India against the Chinese in any mission set other than the copium and hopium mission sets. Against the Pakistani's, maybe some limited defensive counter air operations because offensive strike is no almost entirely based on munitions with ranges exceeding 500 km, so the Su-57 is pointless.
The radar and ew are tightly integrated on any modern combat ac, more so on a 5G jet.
If we want oem certification and support, we'd have to give the Russians EMI/EMC data for these ISE systems for compatibility testing, etc.
There is just no way around that, imo. We'd have to rely on Russian goodwill to respect our IP.
There is "plenty" of official interest in Su-57 and is "unofficially" already chosen by IAF as our 'stop-gap' 5th gen fighter before AMCA matures. Officially the acknowledgment will only come once this proposal clears DAC. Till then we will continue to hear such ambiguous statements.
Those are not critical technologies. You forgot the Swedish MAWS on MKM as well, but not considered critical in Sweden. Sigma 95 is available in the open market too.
M2000 has the same MDPU as Rafale, and it doesn't carry any 2nd MC for the same level of access we are expecting from Rafale.

Valid pointsIt's not clearing DAC till we pay Jizia to the US & a substantial one at that . That's not happening since SCOTUS has struck down Trump's tariffs which in turn means the entire trade deal will have to be re negotiated.
In the meanwhile current hostilities in Iran means prices of O&NG see massive spikes with supplies disrupted . This in turn means we increase off take from Russia which in turn agitates Trump.
Long story short I'd be very surprised if there's any movement on the Su-57 this year. Back channel talks may continue but unless the above issues are resolved plus we don't sign up for a massive weapons package with the US chances of us signing an agreement with Russia for the Su-57 preceding the aforementioned activities are remote to non existent.
Let me go a step further & state we won't be signing an agreement with the Russians till we wrap up the Rafale deal , the JV for the 120 KN TF & a CF between Russia & Ukraine isn't effected.
. Su-57 deal would ONLY become official once we will have signed the 114 Rafale deal. Till then everything is through unofficial channels
The French kit is not critical, yes. But the Russians would've had integration access to put it on their own SM birds.
Nope. HAL put in a 2nd MC on the upgraded M2000I to ease weapons integration as the core MDPU was essentially a black box for us. See below.
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DefSec RK Singh has said we are now negotiating for independent weapons integration w/o source code. So, we'll likely be going the same dual MC route for MRFA as well.
Doesn't help our cause . In fact none of the current procurements help our cause against the Chinese be it the Rafales or the Su-57 or the Project 75 I or the series of Kusha LR SAM or the Sudarshan Chakra ADS or anything you can think of .Valid points. Su-57 deal would ONLY become official once we will have signed the 114 Rafale deal. Till then everything is through unofficial channels
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Although they call it an MC, it's just a bridge. Its primary job is to retrieve mission and sensor data from MDPU and make it readable to the pilot for the non-French HMDS.
Simply put, MDPU converts core French format to a common Indian format and sends it to the HAL MC, which then uses a graphics processor to display the new format on to the HMDS. It basically connects the plane to the pilot.
Wouldn't they have just called it a display processor, instead? Why conflate it with MC which has a broader set of functions, one of which is weapons mgmt?
I'm not the one who made such absurd claims in the first place, apart from being a twin engine plane and having wings, those jets arent really similar and its kinda absurd and disrespectful to engineering as a whole to simply see it as so.If you are making such claims, then back them up with primary sources.
The only reason this project exist is because its less risky compared to other designs proposed.
I asked you to back up your claim with sources, but your response is that I am hurting the feelings of some people.I'm not the one who made such absurd claims in the first place, apart from being a twin engine plane and having wings, those jets arent really similar and its kinda absurd and disrespectful to engineering as a whole to simply see it as so.
Su 57 while being a new design, Extensively reuses lot of manufacturing process and tooling of legacy flankers designs, significant part of its component are also borrowed from legacy flankers like the Hydraulic Actuators, which are finally being replaced in SU57M modification with EHA.apart from being a twin engine plane and having wings, those jets arent really similar and its kinda absurd and disrespectful to engineering as a whole to simply see it as so
I can see the Russian con more clearly now. Sell India ToT of the Su-57 claiming similarities in production technology & tooling between the MKI & Su-57 for a king's ransom like these ancient hydraulic actuators , etc , pocket the money & use it to fund the next stage of development of the Su-57 retaining the technology only for VKS .Su 57 while being a new design, Extensively reuses lot of manufacturing process and tooling of legacy flankers designs, significant part of its component are also borrowed from legacy flankers like the Hydraulic Actuators, which are finally being replaced in SU57M modification with EHA.
There's a reason when russian team visited hal, they said 50% of the existing production capacity at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the Su-30MKI can be utilized for the manufacturing of Su-57.
They can as we're moving more and more towards our indigenous fighters. That's our final aim.I can see the Russian con more clearly now. Sell India ToT of the Su-57 claiming similarities in production technology & tooling between the MKI & Su-57 for a king's ransom like these ancient hydraulic actuators , etc , pocket the money & use it to fund the next stage of development of the Su-57 retaining the technology only for VKS .
This time we are negotiating them from a position of strength. Fulfill our demands or get the eff out. Simple.That was always the plan during our collaboration with the Russians for the FGFA wherein we funded 50% of the project & I suspect le Francais have something similar or a variation of this up their sleeves .