Russia woos India with fifth-gen 'Checkmate' fighter

There is a brand new Russian stealth air fighter on the block that may cost much less than India’s locally-made Tejas. But will India bite and risk attracting US’ wrath via the CAATSA, writes ETV Bharat's senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi: With the possibility of attracting India to place orders, Russia has unveiled a surprise—the prototype of its new Sukhoi fifth-generation fighter with stealth features called 'Checkmate' at the MAKS-2021 air show at Zhukovsky Airport near Moscow on Tuesday. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said at the presentation that the aircraft is aimed at India, some African countries and Vietnam. “The demand for these aircraft is quite high, it is estimated at least 300 aircraft in the near future.” Meant only for exports, the event had “interested” visitors from India. Sukhoi proposes to deliver the aircraft within six years.

Price

The ‘Checkmate’ is priced attractively between Rs 186-224 crore apiece, much lower than even the indigenous LCA Tejas Mk-I at Rs 309 crore and its trainer version at Rs 280 crore. The price works favourably even when compared with the high-tech, but four-and-a-half generation French Rafale air fighter which India has bought at Rs 1,638 crore a piece.

India faces an acute shortage of modern fighter aircraft. The Indian Air Force (IAF) fields only about 33 fighter squadrons at the moment while it needs at least 43 fighter squadrons to tackle a two-front war situation. Every fighter squadron operates 16-18 aircraft. At present, IAF’s frontline fighter aircraft comprise Rafales, Su-30s, MiG-29s and Mirage-2000s.

Checkmate

The IAF is in the process of fast-tracking a plan that initially aimed to set up at least 45 squadrons by 2032. That is the gap the Russians seek to fill and that is where the Russian ‘Checkmate’ is being positioned. The 'Checkmate'—equipped with stealth features—can fly at speeds up to Mach 2.2 (more than twice the speed of sound) and at altitudes of up to 54,000 feet.

It is a break from the fighter aircraft designs from the Russian stable in the sense as it boasts of a single-engine and has four tail surfaces. The last single-engine fighters were the Su-22 and MiG-27 both of which were produced in the seventies.

With the Russian Su-57 as the base for its design, ‘Checkmate’ may be equipped with a range of weapons including the “R-73 heat-seeking anti-air missile, the R-77 active radar-homing anti-air missile, and the Kh-59MK anti-ship cruise missile”. A significant capability is the ability to “deploy missile-shaped drones from its internal weapons bay”, the presentation says.

CAATSA Hurdle

But there is ground to believe that India’s possible desire to procure the ‘Checkmate’ may hit the US Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) hurdle.

Historically, India and Russia have been close military allies with more than 60 per cent of India’s defence equipment being of Russian origin. But of late, a certain apprehension is believed to have crept in their ties due to India’s fast-growing proximity to the US. A law since August 2, 2017, CAATSA seeks to impose sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea and anyone dealing with them.

Tejas, MiG 29

On February 2, 2021, a month after getting the government’s go-ahead, the Defence ministry issued the Rs 48,000 crore formal contract to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the supply of 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fighters at the Aero India international air show at the Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru. Of the 83, 73 will be the Tejas Mk-IA variant while the remaining 10 will be the LCA Tejas Mk-I trainer version.

On Wednesday, on the sidelines of the MAKS-2021 air show, Valeria Reshetnikova, spokeswoman, Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, told news agencies that Russia has handed over a commercial offer to India for the delivery of 21 MiG-29 fighters. “The IAF staff has sent a tender inquiry for the delivery of 21 planes in 2021. The Russian side has delivered its commercial offer to the Indian partners, and the customer is now examining it.”

Besides these 21 Mig-29s, another 12 Sukhoi 30 MKIs from Russia are also in the pipeline. The IAF is the world’s fourth-largest air force in terms of personnel and aircraft and has to operate in an air space spanning more than 40 million cubic km.