No decision yet on Su-57: HAL awaits Russian team’s report on cost

Sources said this became possible because HAL has been producing the Su-30 fighter aircraft. An Inter-Governmental Agreement for licence production of the Su-30MKI in India was signed in December 2000.

HAL’s Nashik division houses the final assembly line for Su-30MKI fighters. Its Koraput division looks after the licensed production and overhaul of AL-31FP turbofan engines, while the Strategic Electronics Factory (SEF) in Kasaragod, Kerala, manufactures avionics components for the Su-30MKIs.

The exercise is an initiative of HAL in order to get an estimate of the investments and its capacity if this fighter jet were to be produced in India.

Officials clarified to The Indian Express that the government has not yet taken a call on which fifth-generation fighter jet would be acquired from a global defence major if it chooses to fill the gap in the Indian Air Force’s fighter squadrons before its own indigenous fifth-generation fighter jet, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, is finally inducted in the next decade.

At a recent event, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC), said there is a gap of about eight to 10 years until India acquires its own fifth-generation aircraft.

“We are thinking right now how that gap (in fighter squadron strength) can be filled. There are various options. I can’t list the platform. We are still working that out,” he had said, adding that fifth-generation capability was being deliberated upon.

In case India does procure a limited number of squadrons of a fifth-generation fighter jet from a foreign defence major as a stopgap arrangement until the arrival of AMCA, it has two key options: the Russian Su-57E and the American F-35 stealth aircraft. Both were showcased at the Aero India 2025 in Bengaluru last year.

In October last year, Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov had indicated that Moscow was willing to support India’s AMCA programme by way of local production of the Su-57. There has been no official word on whether this was discussed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in December 2025.

Amrita Nayak Dutta writes on defence and national security as part of the national bureau of The Indian Express. In the past, Amrita has extensively reported on the media industry and broadcasting matters, urban affairs, bureaucracy and government policies. In the last 14 years of her career, she has worked in newspapers as well as in the online media space and is well versed with the functioning of both newsrooms. Amrita has worked in the northeast, Mumbai and Delhi. She has travelled extensively across the country, including in far-flung border areas, to bring detailed reports from the ground and has written investigative reports on media and defence. She has been working for The Indian Express since January 2023. ... Read More

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