Russia, India Negotiating To Set Up Su-30MKI Aircraft Logistics Hub

Russia is trying to rectify the delayed supply of spares for Russian made aircraft in India, primarily the Sukhoi Su-30MKI with a deal that would allow them to be manufactured locally.

India and Russia are at an advanced stage of negotiating a long-term contract that includes the manufacturing few spares of Russian-made aircraft that are being assembled in India, Sputnik International reported today.

Talks between both the nations are at an advanced stage for establishing a logistics hub for its most lethal combat aircraft, the Su-30MKI, at the facilities of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in Bangalore, few official sources said.

"We have signed many contracts this year and also working on long-term arrangements including the manufacturing some of the spares in India. Earlier, there were some problems due to the need to change their [Russian] laws," Manohar Parrikar, India's Defense Minister, said.

The delegation level talks are scheduled in March to sign the contract for improving spare parts availability including manufacturing some of them in India.

Meanwhile, there is significant improvement in the availability of Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft in last two years. "Sukhoi availability which had slipped to 46 per cent today is now above 63 per cent," Parrikar said.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has finalized a long-term repair agreement with Russian original equipment manufacturers to improve the availability of aircraft for operational use. But it takes up to 18 months to deliver spare parts from Russia mainly due to complicated bureaucratic process and extensive documentation.

The government believes that a logistic hub will further improve the availability of Sukhoi-30 from the current 63 per cent.

Presently the Indian Air Force has more than 200 Su-30MKI fighters in its fleet and is expected to receive more by 2019.

India has contracted for the delivery of 272 Su-30MKI with Russia. 75 per cent of operational fighter aircraft in the IAF are of Russian origin. This includes MiG-21, MiG-27, MiG-29 and Su-30MKI fighter aircraft.

Parrikar has also requested Russia to speed up the supply of technical equipment for an aircraft carrier, currently under construction at Cochin shipyard, so that it is not too much behind schedule. Due to the delay in the supply of some critical components, the carrier's delivery schedule has been revised from December 2010 to December 2018. The original cost of $490 million has been revised to $2.9 billion. The delay is impairing India's maritime capabilities in the Indo-Pacific Region.

India currently has one Russian-made aircraft carrier in service, whereas it needs about three.