00:25Reports indicate that the Indian Air Force
00:28is preparing to formalize the acquisition of Russia's Su-57,
00:33its first fifth-generation stealth fighter.
00:36And this is not just another defense purchase.
00:40It is a signal.
00:42A signal about China, a signal about Pakistan,
00:46and a signal about how urgently India believes
00:49the skies around it are changing.
00:51Right now, the Indian Air Force is facing challenges.
00:55It is operating with roughly 29 to 31 squadrons.
00:59Its sanctioned strength, 42.
01:02That gap has widened steadily as older aircraft like the Make-21 retire.
01:07And more retirements are coming.
01:09Make-29s, Jaguars, even the Mirage 2000s
01:13are nearing the end of their service lives.
01:15So this is not happening in isolation.
01:17It is happening at a moment of need.
01:19China has already inducted over 200 J-20 stealth fighters.
01:25It is testing sixth-generation prototypes.
01:27And Beijing has pledged to supply fifth-generation J-35 jets to Pakistan,
01:32potentially making Pakistan the first South Asian country to field stealth fighters.
01:36If that happens, the regional air power equation shifts overnight.
01:41And that is where the Su-57 comes in.
01:44The aircraft, NATO codenamed Felon,
01:47is Russia's fifth-generation twin-engine multi-role fighter.
01:50But it is different from Western stealth jets.
01:53The Su-57 does not chase stealth above all else.
01:57It prioritizes maneuverability.
01:59It is built for kinematics, speed, agility, dogfighting dominance.
02:04Top speed, Mach 2.
02:05Super crews at Mach 1.3 without afterburners.
02:08Range, around 3,500 kilometers.
02:11And its thrust-vectoring engines allow extreme aerial maneuvers,
02:14the kind that matter when long-range missiles fail and fights get close.
02:18Its radar system, the N036 Belka,
02:21includes side-mounted ASAT arrays for near 360-degree awareness.
02:25That means it's not just seeing ahead,
02:26it's sensing across a wide arc of the battlefield.
02:29Internally, it can carry up to 10 tons of weapons,
02:31long-range K-77M missiles,
02:33the R-37M with reported ranges exceeding 300 kilometers,
02:37ground strike weapons, even hypersonic capability.
02:40But here is the catch.
02:41Its stealth is moderate.
02:42Radar cross-section estimates range between 0.1 to 0.5 square meters.
02:46That's larger than China's J-20 or J-35.
02:48In a beyond-visual-range fight, stealth can determine who fires first.
02:52So why choose it?
02:53Because India does not see the Su-57 as the final answer.
02:56It sees it as a bridge.
02:57India's indigenous advanced medium combat aircraft, the AMCA,
03:01is expected in the mid-2030s.
03:02But that's nearly a decade away,
03:04and air power gaps cannot wait that long.
03:06Russia has reportedly offered full technology transfer,
03:08joint production under Make in India.
03:10License manufacturing, feasibility studies are already underway.
03:13That means industrial leverage, local assembly, long-term customization.
03:16And there is another layer here.
03:17The United States is pushing its F-35 as an alternative,
03:20but the F-35 comes with higher acquisition costs and tighter operational strings.
03:24The Su-57, depending on configuration,
03:26could cost India around $7 billion for 36 to 40 aircraft,
03:29including customizations.
03:30License production would add infrastructure costs, but also autonomy.
03:33So this decision is not just about stealth versus stealth.
03:36It's about timing, about squadron shortages,
03:38about strategic signaling to Beijing,
03:40and about ensuring that if Pakistan inducts J-35s in 2026 or 2027,
03:44India is not caught in transition.
03:48Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
03:53Download the One India app now.
Comments