Brother Russia has more goodies for India: developing Brahmos and Fifth generation jet

NEW DELHI: Besides signing agreements on major defence deals at the India-Russia Annual Summit, which will strategically strengthen India’s military capabilities, India and Russia also agreed on improving the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile and the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft ( FGFA).

Russian President Vladimir Putin while speaking to the Russian media following the BRICS summit said, "We have also agreed to improve the Brahmos missile, which will be land, air and sea-launched. We will also work to increase its range," said Putin.

He also said, "And we will work together on a fifth-generation aircraft. It has basically made its maiden flight, but there are some issues we need to work out. I am talking about the T-50 fighter plane."

The FGFA is being developed by India and Russia. It is derived from the Russian Air Force Sukhoi PAK FA. The T-50 is the prototype.

He added, "Our relations in this area can be described by our willingness to help our Indian friends acquire additional competences. We have organised the assembly and production of the latest T-90 tanks and Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft."

At the summit held in Goa over the weekend, India and Russia signed agreements on building frigates in Russia and India, of Russia delivering the S-400 Triumf air defence systems and a joint Kamov Ka-226T helicopter manufacturing enterprise, a Make in India project.

The S-400 Triumf contract is worth billions of dollars, according to Putin’s statement to the Russian media.

"As for military technical cooperation, the quality of that cooperation is quite high, maybe even better than with many other countries. We do not just sell India high-tech modern weaponry, but we also have joint research projects," he said.

Putin also said India is one of Russia’s priority and strategic partners. "I should not need to recall the time of the popular Hindi Rusi bhai-bhai slogan (Indians and Russians are brothers). In fact, little has changed since then, and our relations have grown stronger," he said.


Also read:

India's deadliest future weapons explained

India & Russia hope to develop Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft by year end

Follow our latest coverage of the India-Russia defence deals