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Given that the Russians have already started work on the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), what kind of a role is HAL seeking with the agreement on co-development, especially when we will be contributing 50 per cent to the total investment? How do we make this truly a joint venture?
By the time we signed the agreement, Russia had already done considerable amount of work on the air frame. The design configuration has been frozen and they have started manufacturing components. But this is only in relation to the air frame. The systems in it are by and large similar to those in Su-30. Now they want to switch over to better systems. They would like to go in for the composite structure (unlike Su-30, which is all metal). We want a twin-seater aircraft, which the Russians did not envisage. With a twin-seater, the entire fuselage, wing structure and indeed the design will change. It needs to be understood that air frame configuration freeze and manufacture of first prototype is only a small portion of the whole work. After this, a whole lot of testing and integration of components need to be done. During these tests, there will be a number of necessary modifications that will have to be made. There will be considerable learning during this testing stage. For this reason, I am hopeful that we can take on 50 per cent of the work, provided we join the project as soon as possible.
The sense that one gets is that the Russians believe that they will contribute almost 90 per cent to the project. With such a mindset, how is an equal partnership possible?
The question that we need to ask is whether we have one or two variants. The Russians would like to go ahead with their air frame, engine and systems, whereas we may not like to have the same engine or navigation system. What I perceive is that we will have two variants of the aircraft. In the final product, there may be an aircraft which is 90 per cent Russian and there can be another aircraft which is 50 per cent Russian.
Are you in discussion with Russians about this?
Yes, we are talking about this. They are open to a two-variant scheme.