Moscow, May 25, 2005, Dadan Upadhyay (Indian Express)

Buoyed by the success of the BrahMos anti-ship supersonic missile system, India and Russia may soon sign an agreement on the development of a fifth generation fighter jet under a joint venture, on the model of BrahMos project, including design, development, manufacture and marketing.

The proposal to launch a joint venture for designing and developing the fifth generation fighter jet on the model of BrahMos project was made by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam when he visited the Sukhoi Design Bureau last Monday. Kalam discussed India’s participation with the Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan, as involving India in R&D for, and eventual manufacture of Russian 5th generation fighter aircraft and the Russian Region Jet (RRJ).

During his visit on Tuesday to the Mashinostroyenia NPOM, the President described the Indo-Russian BrahMos joint venture as ‘‘a new way of cooperation’’ between the two countries.

‘‘An agreement could be prepared in a few weeks. A joint expert group is already working on the draft agreement,’’ a source said, adding that the ambitious project would be Russia’s first-ever involving foreign partnership and investments.

The source pointed out that difficulty at this stage was that New Delhi still does not know which plane it really needs. The delay in finalising the agreement on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) on defence, was another hurdle for the possible new joint project. Russia’s famous Sukhoi corporation has already launched R&D for a fifth-generation multi-purpose fighter plane.