The scandalous story with the sale of a defective batch of carrier-based MiG-29K fighters, which Russia supplied to the Indian Navy in the period from 2004 to 2010, was continued, reports Newsader citing Defense News material.

Back in August 2016, almost all aircraft purchased from Moscow, intended for use on aircraft carriers, turned out to be unsuitable not only for combat, but also for ordinary sorties: the systems of military aircraft purchased from Russia turned out to be literally “riddled with problems”. Now it turns out that the Indian Navy has lost hope of fundamentally correcting defects and therefore has actually decided to abandon the use of the MiG-29K.

The problem is not only that each of their landings on the deck literally looks like a “plane crash”, after which they have to remove the engine and send the plane to the workshop. Indian officials are also outraged by the fact that Russia refused to provide free maintenance and repair of its low-quality goods, a move that Moscow's Indian partners regarded as a violation of business ethics. One senior Indian Navy official stated:

“It is required that the MiG-29K be reliable during operations. Now his landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier looks almost like a hard landing. The fighter needs frequent repairs. Because of such landings, structural defects constantly appear,” the official said.

Meanwhile, maintenance of the aircraft was not included in the package of services under the contract worth $2.2 billion.

Arun Prakash, a retired Indian Navy admiral and former chief of service, was even more critical:

“The truth is that the Indian navy actually funded the development of this aircraft (which is now also used by the Russian navy). If the Russians had any conscience, they would guarantee that every flaw would be fixed at no extra cost. After each landing of the operator, aircraft components break down or stop working. After this, we are forced to send the fighter to the workshop to repair or replace the part, which often has to be imported from Russia ... "

Now New Delhi has announced a global tender for the purchase of carrier-based aircraft. Leading Western powers and a number of leading Western manufacturers became interested in the proposal - the American Boeing with its Super-Hornet, the French Dassault with its Rafale M, the Swedish Saab with its Gripen Maritime.

It's funny, but the Russians have not refused to participate in the tender: they are still ready to offer their MiG-29Ks to India, despite the history of a giant failure.

It is known that in November last year, two carrier-based Russian aircraft crashed during a military operation in Syria. One aircraft fell into the water before reaching the deck. Another fell into the sea directly from the deck during landing: the brake cable could not stand it.

It is also curious that the Indian military made claims about the simulator training program designed to teach Indian pilots to fly Russian aircraft: experts came to the conclusion that it was completely unsuitable for performing the assigned tasks ...

Senior Indian Air Force officials argue that the joint FGFA program with Russia to create a 5th generation fighter does not meet the desired requirements. One senior Indian Air Force officer added that "the Indian Air Force is not keen to continue the FGFA program." About it writes the publication Defense News.

The proposed FGFA program does not meet the requirements for low radar visibility of the Russian-Indian aircraft compared to the American F-35 fighter, a senior Indian military explained. In his opinion, this program requires significant structural changes that cannot be provided with the help of existing Russian prototypes.

The FGFA program also lacks the concept of modular engine maintenance, which makes maintenance of the future FGFA fighter fleet "expensive and unpleasant," according to Indian experts cited by the American publication. Another senior Indian Air Force official explained that modular engine maintenance is required for fast and convenient maintenance of FGFA aircraft without prior notice to the manufacturer.

However, the Russians, according to the Indians, have proposed non-modular mechanisms for the FGFA and its maintenance, and a significant part of the work can only be done at the manufacturing plant.

Rosoboronexport reacted extremely categorically to the information disseminated by the American media. “Currently, the Russian-Indian intergovernmental agreement is in force, and there are obligations in accordance with which the joint project to create an aircraft is being implemented by the parties according to the agreed stages and deadlines,” the company told Kommersant.

Indian expert Wajider Thakur, a former Indian Air Force squadron commander and defense specialist, claims that the FGFA analogue, known in Russia as the Su-57, is powered by the AL-41F engine.

But the FGFA fighter must be equipped with an engine called "product 30". It is 30% lighter than the AL-41F, has much greater thrust, better fuel efficiency. "Product 30" is a much more reliable engine and is characterized by a lower life cycle cost, by about a third," Thakur said in a conversation with Gazeta.Ru. However, today "product 30" is not yet on the equipment of even Russian fighters.

With no American fighters in service, the Indian Air Force is unlikely to have an opinion on the relative long-term operating costs of Russian and American aircraft, Thakur added.

As you know, in 2007 Russia and India signed an agreement on the joint development of the fifth generation fighter FGFA (Fifth-Generation Fighting Aircraft). The key parameter of the agreement was the production of aircraft in India, which implies the transfer of technologies of a unique Russian design. It was assumed that the launch customer of this aircraft would be the Indian Air Force, and in the future it would be supplied to third countries. Until recently, India planned to build 144 FGFA fighters. Previously, the number of required aircraft of this type was estimated at more than 210 units.

“Of course, the implementation of the FGFA program faces certain technical difficulties. It's not a secret for anyone. But this is not a technical issue at all. Not so long ago, India signed a €7.98 billion contract with France for the supply of 36 Rafale fighters. Each aircraft cost New Delhi 94 million euros. And the budget of the Indian Air Force provides for an annual allocation of only 2.5 billion euros for the purchase of aircraft, ”the deputy director explained to Gazeta.ru.

That is, according to the expert, "Rafale", and this is no exaggeration, gobbled up the entire budget of the Indian Air Force, including the funds allocated for the creation of 5th generation fighters.

In this case, such a situation may arise, the expert believes that the Indian Air Force will be completely left without 5th generation machines. And they may appear much earlier in service with the Chinese Air Force and even, to the considerable surprise of the Indian side, the Pakistani Air Force.

Finally, if the Indian side curtails military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation, Konstantin Makienko believes, then Moscow has every right to treat New Delhi not as a priority strategic partner in the region, but as an ordinary, ordinary partner in the field of military-technical cooperation. And this can mean only one thing - the intensification of military-technical cooperation between Russia and Pakistan, India's main geopolitical rival.

And Islamabad is quite interested in intensifying such cooperation. The Pakistanis got acquainted with the high tactical and technical characteristics of the Soviet / Russian weapons during the Afghan war.

That is, Delhi should not be very surprised at the possible appearance of the Pakistani Air Force, for example, Russian Su-35 fighters. Also at one time, the Indian Air Force abandoned the MiG-35 in favor of the Rafal. If Pakistan buys these light front-line fighters, but now in a much more modernized version, then this fact should be perceived in New Delhi also without much amazement and shock.

India has the full sovereign right to refuse all joint projects with Moscow, Konstantin Makienko believes. The Kremlin has the same sovereign right to reorient its military-technical cooperation to Pakistan, the expert is convinced.

“In my opinion, it is not worth dramatizing the situation in the sphere of the Russian-Indian FGFA program,” a high-ranking source in the Russian aircraft industry told Gazeta.Ru. - So far, there is not even exact information about who said what in India, where he said it, under what circumstances. Even the military rank and position of the author of the voiced information are unknown.”

According to the expert, India is currently trying to implement a lot of programs in the field of military aviation: this is the purchase of Rafaley, and the competition for a single-engine fighter, and the start of work on a 5th generation light fighter, and the upcoming modernization of Su-30MKI machines with the aim of loading enterprises, as well as the modernization of "Jaguars" and MiG-29.

And this, the expert emphasizes, is a program only in the field of military aviation. And besides, there is also the naval aviation - New Delhi will have to make a choice of a carrier-based aircraft for its third aircraft carrier. And there, the struggle between the Rafal and the American F / A-18 is already in full swing. In return, the United States is offering India assistance in building a 5th generation light fighter.

This number of Indian air force and naval aviation programs is too big even for the United States. It is unlikely that all this can be implemented by New Delhi. There may not be enough money for everything at once.

So the sharp statements of the Indian Air Force on the FGFA program can be considered as a kind of conflict of interests, a Gazeta.Ru source in the aviation industry believes. Behind every detail of a military aircraft in India is its own group of lobbyists. So in this regard, the next information stuffing is, in a sense, a normal phenomenon.

India is gradually phasing out Russian weapons in favor of American, European, and Ukrainian ones. Russia, unable to carry out import substitution, supplies technically outdated, and even low-quality weapons, from aircraft to submarines, to the most important market for it. At the same time, Russians do not even want to pay for repairs.

Ukrainian enterprises are also gradually strengthening their positions in the Indian market, thus taking certain segments away from Russian companies. This, of course, irritates the Kremlin, which is trying, with the help of international and some Ukrainian media, to campaign to discredit our country. It is important for Moscow to strike at the reputation of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex and, if not to pick up the lost contracts, then at least not to let Ukrainians go there.

Russian weapons are scrapped

Russia continues to lose its position in the global arms markets, and all this is happening for a number of reasons.

The Kremlin cannot stand the fact that Ukraine is not only opening up new arms markets for itself, but also displacing a Russian manufacturer from there. Therefore, Moscow organizes: in order to hit the reputation of a domestic manufacturer. And there are plenty of examples of such activities - from Turkey to India.

We will now talk about the latter in more detail, since Russia began to rapidly lose its positions in the most important arms market for it - the Indian one, and it loses to absolutely everyone there - both to global giants, such as the United States, and to such players - akin to Ukraine.

Cold shower for the Kremlin

After coming to power, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forward a new concept, which was very simply called “Do in India!”. “I tell the world: do it in India! Sell ​​anywhere, but produce here! We have both skill and talent for this!”, - campaigned the head of the Indian government.

The tasks that Modi set for himself were extremely simple: to diversify arms supplies, most of which were carried out by Russia, to get technology in order to then sell cheaper analogues on world markets, reaching the level of sales of $ 3 billion annually, and most importantly - strengthen your security system.

For this reason, Modi has opened up the domestic market to the Americans, the French, the Israelis, in general, to Russian competitors. And here the problems began for Moscow.

Russian defense enterprises began to lose tender after tender. So, the Indians preferred the American attack helicopters AH-64E "Apache" to the Russian Mi-28. Another failure - a loss in the competition for the supply of heavy transport helicopters: the Mi-26 lost to the American CH-47F "Chinook". It is known that the American P-8 anti-submarine aircraft pressed the Russian Tu-142s, and the Il-476 transport aircraft lost to the American C-17 Globemaster aircraft.

In general, Russian aircraft are uncompetitive, and you can find a lot of evidence for this. Let's remember how, during the announcement of the competition for the fourth generation fighter, the Indians simply took and deleted the Russian MiG-35 from the short list. There were several reasons: firstly, the aircraft had avionics and a power plant from the last century, and secondly, the ship was not only not accepted for service, but was not even produced in small batches. In other words, the Russians tried to sell the technology not of a production car, but of an ordinary prototype.

The competition was won by the French, having agreed to supply 36 Rafale fighters for nine billion dollars; however, New Delhi did not require permission from Paris for licensed production.

The situation is similar with fifth generation aircraft. Now the Indian government is unequivocally hinting to Moscow that it sees no prospects in the project of such a Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) fighter, created jointly with the Russian Federation on the basis of the Su-57.

Ten years have passed since the launch of this project, but the final contract for the design of the aircraft has not been signed: at first, the Indians complained about weak engines, then they made claims to the fighter’s radar and its stealth system.

Now New Delhi is thinking about acquiring American F-35s. The need for the Indian Air Force in this case may be 126 fighters in various modifications.

Note that in April 2017, the F-35 almost completely defeated the best fourth-generation fighters at the Atlantic Trident exercises. Their pilots did not even have time to understand what had happened to them. By 2020, the price for them may reach 80 million dollars - which is acceptable for Indians.

The Russians have no choice but to offer to create the fifth generation Su-35 for the needs of India, the modernization of which will cost less than the overall Su-57 project.

So the head of the Russian "Rostec" Sergey Chemezov has already stated: “We are negotiating and have signed a protocol of intent on the Su-35. Now we are developing ideas for this contract and are working to create a production base for the fifth generation aircraft.”.

The problem is that the standard design of the Su-35 matches the characteristics of a fifth-generation fighter, except that it does not have stealth properties. The fifth generation Su-35 variant is likely to be nothing more than a modification of this 4++ generation fighter, albeit with stealth characteristics.

In general, the Kremlin is trying once again to deceive the Indians, and not the first time. And we will definitely say about this, but for now we will only note that the Indians, of course, will gladly buy the latest American fighter aircraft and, probably, will not even ask to sell them technology.

The Kremlin, if it wins somewhere, is only due to the sale of those same technologies - in other words, the surrender of its national interests.

This is already happening with the BrahMos, a Russian-Indian supersonic cruise missile based on the Russian Onyx anti-ship missile.

The other day, India entered the international arena with the news of R&D (Research and Development) on this missile. This means only one thing: Moscow is ready to give away the technology for its creation and help in its subsequent improvement.

In fact, this path will only lead to the fact that in five to ten years Russia will not only lose a major buyer in the face of India, but will also create a competitor for itself.

At the same time, the share of Russian weapons on the Indian market is falling uncontrollably: in the last two years alone, it has lost almost a billion dollars in the Indian direction. And this means that the United States has either already entered, or will soon enter into a leading position in this market.

Just recently, United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in India, who brought with him a proposal for the localization of F-16 multi-role fighters. In addition, New Delhi wants to build the largest aircraft carrier in the history of the country, Vishal, together with the Americans. The Indians have also purchased the USS Trenton (LPD-14) helicopter carrier, and the Air Force has already ordered 22 MQ-9B UAVs worth $2-$3 billion.

It is noteworthy that the Russians have nothing to answer with: over the past year, not a single defense contract was signed between the governments of Delhi and Moscow. However, instead of developing a new concept, the Kremlin chose a different path - to trade in junk.

When instead of a weapon - a dummy

In fact, the Indians are already even afraid to buy weapons from Russia - after all, every time you get a pig in a poke.

Back in December 2015, the Indian audit agency CAG presented an expert opinion on the operation of Su-30MKI fighters purchased from Russia. The auditors have advised that, on average, of the 210 fighter jets operated by Indian pilots, between 115 and 126 are permanently on the ground due to breakdowns. And according to the Indian Ministry of Defense, six vehicles have been lost since the start of operation.

In August 2016, it became known that Russia again sold defective fighters to India: this time we are talking about MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB aircraft, the deliveries of which began at the end of 2014. The audit showed that 62% of Russian engines were found to be unusable. At the same time, Moscow, despite significant defects in the planes, refused to service them for free.

But there are problems not only with aircraft, but also with ground vehicles.

India intends to get rid of the fleet of T-72 tanks in the next ten years, replacing them with a newer model of the main battle tank (MBT). The Russians would like to offer their T-90S. However, after what happened at the International Army Games in Alabino, nothing shines for Moscow.

During the tank biathlon competition, two tanks of Russian design and Indian assembly T-90S "Bhishma" - the main and spare - failed. As a result, the Indians were removed from the competition. At the same time, the Indian military had previously complained that the tanks could not work for a long time at high temperatures due to problems with the radiator. It is clear that after the incident, the Russians did not engage in the modernization of armored vehicles.

It is risky to buy marine equipment from the Kremlin as well. Let's not recall the story of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, built on the basis of the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Gorshkov, a ship that, after sea trials in 2012, was under repair for another year. Recall another story that happened last year, when the Russian-made nuclear submarine Chakra, leased to the Indian Naval Forces of India, also failed.

In New Delhi, they blamed Moscow and asked the Russians to carry out repairs, arguing that they had originally been sold an outdated submarine. They, as usual, refused.

Now Russia is trying to sell its Indian partners its S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems at exorbitant prices. The price of one complex is two times higher than that which was laid down in the Chinese contract. However, the Indians are in no hurry to buy the S-400. There are two reasons: firstly, the price, and secondly, the Chinese side, the Indian competitor, has them.

That is why the Indians are negotiating with other countries on the supply of air defense systems. Just last year, India ordered from Israel for the needs of the ground forces and the Navy the Barak 8 air defense system, worth $2 billion, which will be installed, among other things, on Indian aircraft carriers. Perhaps not the best world analogue, but it is reliable and safe. And most importantly, predictable.

India chooses Ukraine

However, the Kremlin is irritated most of all not by the Americans, whom they cannot compete with, but by the Ukrainians who are gaining ground in the Indian market.

India is one of Ukraine's major trading partners in the field of military-technical cooperation. Only from 2015 to 2017 Ukraine annually fulfilled contracts worth 120-140 million dollars. Over the past year, Ukrainian manufacturers were able to sign contracts worth 35 million dollars, and the prospects are opening up more and more.

Spetstechnoexport completed the main part of the contract for the repair of An-32 aircraft for the Indian Air Force. 40 aircraft that were supposed to be repaired in Ukraine have already been repaired. And another 64 aircraft should be supplied with upgrade kits.

As Director of the Center for Research on the Army, Conversion and Disarmament Valentin Badrak pointed out in an interview with Commander-in-Chief: “This proved that the design school in Ukraine has not only survived, but also has a tendency to develop. Although the Indian side does not frankly say that it has abandoned the MTA project (construction of a military transport aircraft Multi-role Transport Aircraft), but in fact Russia has this refusal. The Ukrainian side can complete such a project without any problems.”.

Moreover, the Ministry of Defense of India and a number of companies of this country have already signed 15 memorandums with the Ukrainian side on the production of transport aircraft, on the long-term supply of gas turbine units for Indian military ships, etc.

Spetstechnoexport, together with the private company Spaitech, continues to participate in a large tender for $100 million for the supply of unmanned systems of this company for Indian border guards. By the way, this is the first tender for UAVs of this magnitude, in which a Ukrainian company participates.

Now the Ukrainian enterprise has fulfilled the contract with the HAL corporation dated 2013 for the supply of beam holders. And immediately, in February 2018, the Indian Ministry of Defense again requested these products for a sum of 3 million dollars.

It is for this reason - because of the trust in the Ukrainian manufacturer - that the Indian side continues to order Ukrainian products and services.

Therefore, against this backdrop of positive trends for Ukraine in the Indian market and negative for Moscow, it is already clear where articles and information campaigns are generated to discredit Spetstechnoexport, the main Ukrainian player in the Indian market, for the same holders.

The problem is that the Indians did not complain about the holders, but these holders are a problem for the Russians. After all, they are necessary to equip Russian Su-30MKI aircraft. And this means that the Russians cannot provide full-fledged technical support for their cars, which carries yet another reputational risk.

And all this is happening against the backdrop of India's complete refusal to place the same BrahMos missiles aboard the Sukhoi. They want to create a new air-to-surface missile and put it on this plane. The engine must be made in India.

This is what "Make in India" means. The Russians gave the developments to BrahMos and practically got a competitive, cheaper product. Time will pass, and the Indians will produce their Su, and not only the 30MKI type. And Ukraine will help them in this, thanks to the existing potential, both scientific and industrial.

That is why everything that is happening now around the contract for the supply of beam holders looks very suspicious and ridiculous - it is clear to everyone who exactly benefits from this, and who does not spare money to inflate it all to the scale of "another fire".

New sanctions and the failure of import substitution

At the same time, in the light of new US sanctions and the failure of the import substitution program by Rogozin, the situation with the production and export potential of the Russian Federation in the defense industry will only get worse and worse every day - from the inability to fulfill existing contracts to the refusal of customers from new contracts.

Recall that the sanctions list includes leading enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex such as Uralvagonzavod, the Kalashnikov concern, industry corporations USC, UEC, UAC and others. For the first time, the Samara concern Bazalt appears on the list, which supplies ammunition abroad for previously sold Russian equipment.

The list as a whole covers more than 30 key management companies of the Russian defense industry. In the future, the list may be subject to changes and additions.

The reactions of the Moscow press and the expert community to the next wave of sanctions contain nervous bravado and assurances that the “talents” of Russian business have already gotten the hang of circumventing sanctions. Allegedly, in settlements with clients, Russian enterprises easily maneuver past American payment systems, banks and insurance companies.

But the whole point is that carriers, transit countries and importers of Russian weapons do not maneuver this way. Many of them have no need to run from the threat of having their accounts frozen. Moscow is well aware of this circumstance, and they see what a powerful blow the next wave of sanctions on the Russian defense industry inflicts.

There is a very real threat that the circle of importers will shrink, and only regular customers will remain the main consumers of Russian weapons - the Syrian regime of Assad, the DPRK, Iran, as well as various terrorist organizations, which in Moscow are pathosly called "banned on the territory of the Russian Federation", meaning, that outside the territory of the Russian Federation, things are more than normal with them.

The rest of the buyer states, under the conditions of sanctions, will not risk buying Russian products even at bargain prices, that is, almost for nothing. Having calculated a similar effect from sanctions pressure, the US authorities seem to have taken into account the recommendations of the “father of the peoples” Joseph Stalin, who was again beloved in today's Russia, who assured that “revenge is a dish that should be served cold.”

Media: India decided to abandon Russian aircraft in favor of the Ukrainian An-178

© antonov.com

India is no longer interested in the Russian Il-214 aircraft, which took 17 years to develop. But the country will focus on the Ukrainian An-178, the 24.ua TV channel reports.

It was planned that the Il-214 was supposed to replace the obsolete An-12 aircraft, which are used by the Indian Armed Forces and Russian troops. Work on it began back in 2000, and in 2007 India joined its development.

It is reported that the Ilyushin Aviation Complex, NPK Irkut and the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics worked on the development of the aircraft. But during this time the plane was not created, and it exists only in the layout. Therefore, India decided to suspend its participation in this project.

The aircraft that India needed was to have a payload capacity of about 20 tons, and also be suitable for use on high-altitude unpaved airfields. As a result, last year India signed an agreement on the joint development of such an aircraft with the Ukrainian corporation Antonov, which already has a flying prototype of the An-178 transport aircraft.

We add that earlier the Ukrainian state concern "Ukroboronoprom" said that in the manufacture of the An-178 it was possible to completely abandon Russian components.

Recall that in 2016, the CEO of the Il company, Sergei Velmozhkin, announced that the joint project of Russia and India to create the Il-214 military transport aircraft was frozen. On Friday, March 17, the Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Denis Manturov announced the final stop of the project.

The Indian transport aviation market turned out to be practically lost for the Russian Federation. The Indian edition of The Calcutta Telegraph reports the first C-17 aircraft manufactured by the American company Boeing arrived for the Air Force of this country. Over the course of 10 years, US-made vehicles should completely replace the Russian Il-76. Last year, our country lost tenders for the supply of Il-78 aircraft and Mi-26 helicopters.

Until recently, India has remained a reliable partner of Russia in the field of arms purchases. Indians paid billions of dollars to our country for military equipment. But in November last year, the Russian Federation lost a tender for the supply of 15 Mi-26 helicopters. They should be replaced by the American CH-47 Chinook from Boeing. Instead of buying six Il-78 tanker aircraft, the Indians preferred to purchase an Airbus A330. The total amount of damage to our country is estimated at over a billion dollars.

The loss of the Indian market may have a negative impact on Russia's military contracts with other countries. It is quite possible that some states may wonder about the advisability of buying our equipment, even if its longtime buyer decided to change the supplier.

According to the Indian press, the refusal of Russian cars is due to their technical characteristics. Although they are cheaper than Western models, they are more expensive to maintain. As he says Doctor of Military Sciences, General of the Army and former Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the USSR and Russia Pyotr Deinekin, the reliability of our equipment is beyond doubt:

“Our aviation equipment is not inferior to foreign models in terms of reliability. This also applies to Il-76 and Il-78 aircraft, and Mi-26 helicopters. In any case, their after-sales service should not be more expensive than the maintenance of American cars. Perhaps we are lagging behind in the efficiency of eliminating defects, which are always inevitable.

But the American dreamliner did not perform well either. It hurt many companies that bought it. Yes, they promptly eliminate defects revealed during the development of machines. But they also go a certain way before they reach the required reliability parameters.

Perhaps now the Indian side, with which we have long established good relations in the field of aircraft engineering, was offered not the best model. The IL-76 has a good modification with excellent economical PS-90 engines, with an elongated fuselage, with modern navigation aids. So economic reasons are possible.

But I have not seen machines more reliable than those manufactured by Ilyushin. These are the most reliable aircraft, starting with Il-14, then Il-18, then Il-76, Il-86, Il-96. It is not for nothing that our president flies on Ilyushin's planes.

The American C-17 is also a common aircraft in the aviation world. But it was not the cost of after-sales service that could have caused the Indian side to refuse to buy our aircraft.

As for the Il-78 tanker, it showed itself perfectly in operation. The first vehicles entered service with us in the mid-1980s, to replace the M-4. From Il-78, our planes refueled while patrolling to the shores of America. Recently, our Tu-95 strategic airships flew non-stop according to the air watch plan for more than 42 hours. And supersonic Tu-160s flew with refueling from Il-78 for more than 22 hours. In my opinion, these are excellent indicators of the reliability of our aircraft. Another confirmation of the quality of our tankers is the Tu-160 flight to Venezuela.

Mi-26 is generally a king-helicopter. He even evacuated American heavy Chinook helicopters on an external sling. When he needed to be evacuated after a breakdown, not a single car, not a single air crane could lift him. Only the Mi-26 coped with this task. He excels in any task.

"SP": - Perhaps foreign cars are more modern than ours?

- The concept of "old" for aircraft does not exist. The main criterion for an airship is its suitability for flight operation. For example, the Americans are still successfully using the B-52 aircraft, which is already about 50 years old. They just give him new navigation and other equipment. As for the S-17, it is the same age as our Il-76. The A-330 converted into a tanker may be younger than our Il-78, but our aircraft has proven its reliability over decades of operation. This is a good tanker and transport.

So the reason for the refusal of the Indians is not reliability. We took part in air shows on different continents. Our machines have shown high reliability, making flights over very long distances, they have proven themselves well in climatic zones from our harsh winters to the hot tropics of South Africa, Malaysia and Chile. I only sympathize with the Indians who are abandoning their historical partners.

Director of the Center for Geopolitical Expertise Valery Korovin sees the true reason for India's refusal of our aircraft in the weakness of Russia in the international arena:

- When choosing the priorities for the supply of very complex machines, like airplanes and helicopters, the system of relations between countries and the priorities in geopolitics that this or that state chooses play a role. Over the past two decades, Russia has withdrawn from the world stage and taken a position of absolute indifference and neutrality in relation to what is happening on the planet. Even those miserable attempts that are made in relation to hot spots have a touch of indifference. Our statesmen seem to be saying: “Yes, of course, we are against it, but, by and large, we don’t care.” Russia has no ideological development model and, as a result, no geopolitical strategy.

Russia has ceased to present itself as a Eurasian power, as the Soviet Union did. The Russian Federation has come to terms with the role of a regional power, which still needs to be fought for.

We don't have a strategy, so we can't promise anything to anyone. After all, we ourselves do not know what we want and where we are moving. And this state of uncertainty does not suit states like India at all.

This country was part of the Non-Aligned Movement, but was more sympathetic to the USSR. She was not guided by the Soviet bloc because of our rabid atheism. Now the problem of denial of religion has been removed in modern Russia, but it is still impossible to focus on us due to the lack of geopolitical priorities. Since we offer nothing to the countries of the world on a global level, then the Indian side has no choice but to agree to American cars and patiently wait until consciousness returns to Russia and it sets clear guidelines for its allies.

"SP": - To promote its interests in India, Russia lacks only the political will, or do we not have the resources either?

- When we talk about promoting geopolitical interests, then resources are not needed. We are talking about worldview priorities, about creating a cultural and civilizational code together with our neighbors. Our people and the peoples of neighboring countries are waiting for the Russian leadership to formulate the geopolitical concept of the Russian Federation as a Eurasian power. Because of its size, Russia will not be able to become a nation-state. Although Western strategists advise us to dismember the country and enter Europe bit by bit. Some of our politicians are of the same opinion. But at least there is some certainty. Now we are hovering over the abyss between the two edges: our legs are numb, we have no strength to hold on. But we cannot choose one way or another. And looking at such a stretched state, the Indians are not inspired. With a wave of their hand at us, they begin to buy American planes and helicopters.

Photo: Maxim Bryansky/Kommersant