India and Russia have already inked military deals worth Rs 60,000 crore during the Brics summit held in Goa. Now, Russia is hoping to get another order on Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), which might be signed towards the end of the current year.
In February this year, India and Russia revived talks on the delayed FGFA project after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar approved the deal, Press Trust of India reported.
Read: India, Russia to sign $5 billion deal for S-400 air defence missile systems
"The agreement has been completed on our end; we are ready to sign it. It is now down to the Indian side. There are some formalities to figure out, but I think it will be signed by the end of this year," Sergi Chemezov, CEO of Rostech State Corporation, a Russian organisation of the civilian and military firms, was quoted as saying by the agency.
According to defence sources quoted by the agency, under the new offer, India will have to shell out $3.7 billion instead of $6 billion for the technological know-how and about three prototypes of the fighters. About six years ago, India had agreed to pay about $295 million towards preliminary design for the fighter jets, which is called Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF) in India.
"The FGFA project will produce a state of the art fighter jet, and it will be the result of the work on Russia's most modern technology done by both Russian and Indian engineers and constructors. As a Fifth Generation, it means fifth generation speed, ballistics and military equipment, avionics and stealth capabilities among other qualities," Chemezov told the agency.
The fifth-generation fighter jet will be on par with the capabilities of Russia's PAK-FA T-50 aircraft, a fifth-generation fighter, but since the jet will be designed over the next few years, it is likely to exceed in some specifics.
Following up on last year's commitment, India and Russia also signed an MoU to set up a joint venture to manufacture Kamov-226T light utility helicopters in India during the Brics summit in Goa. They signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement for four additional Talwar class stealth frigates.
Additionally, the two countries also signed a deal for purchase of S-400 missile systems.
