India and Russia MOU sign Fifth generation fighter aircraft R & D contract this year

Bengaluru 20 March, 2015 - India and Russia have generally agreed upon the amount and division of work during the research and development (R & D) stage of the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) project. A contract for the R & D phase is being prepared and is expected to be signed this year.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Yuli Slyusar, President and Chairman of the Management Board of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) at  Aero India 2015 in Bangalore on February 19 while addressing a press conference along with the heads of JSC IRKUT Corporation, Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG and JSC Sukhoi Company.

The export version of  the 5^th generation fighter, the perspective multi-functional fighter (PMF-FGFA) is being created in partnership with the Republic of India. The Russian and Indian parties have generally agreed on the work share of each party.

India and Russia are working out the pre-contract documentation related to the Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA). The preliminary design of the aircraft has been completed in 2014. The next milestone for 2015 is to hold the preliminary design acceptance procedure. To boost the program and to provide assistance to Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd. joint venture this year Russia and India have created a steering committee. 

Russia is keen to partner with Indian industry on the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) program, a 100-seat new generation regional jet. As of February 2015, more than 40 SSJ100 have been delivered. The aircraft in service is being operated more than 75000 flight hours totally for more than 52000 revenue flights. Mr. Slyusar stated that UAC is ready to transfer the success of cooperation in the military segment  to the commercial one, delegating the production of some components to the Indian manufacturers. He also noted that the UAC is ready to discuss the establishment of the SSJ100 customization  centers in India.

The MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB multirole carrier fighters are developed and serially produced by JSC RAC MiG, a subsidiary of UAC. The single seat MiG-29K and the double seat MiG-29KUB are fully unified in their avionics installation and frame construction. So far 33 aircraft have been delivered to India. Six more are expected to be delivered this year and six more in 2016.