Putin offers Su-57 to India as New Delhi faces stealth fighter gap

NEW DELHI — Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered India joint production of the country’s most advanced fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, the Su-57, and said Moscow was willing to cooperate without “limitations.”

His comments were made during an interaction with journalists at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

India and Russia had initiated a joint program in 2007 to co-develop a fifth-generation fighter, but a decade later, in 2018, New Delhi withdrew from the project due to concerns over issues such as costs, technology access and the aircraft’s stealth capabilities. Russia went on to develop it independently.

Offering technology transfer and integration with Indian systems, Putin said in St. Petersburg that the Su-57 could be a joint venture between the two countries.

“We are ready to supply India with this aircraft, to keep developing it. We don’t have any issues or limitations,” the Russian president said.

The renewed Russian offer comes at a critical time for India’s airpower modernization plans. India does not have a fifth-generation fighter. The most advanced fighter jet in the country’s air force is the French Rafale, which is not a stealth platform.

This has led to a huge capability gap compared with China, which is rapidly expanding its stealth fighter fleet. According to reports, Pakistan is also planning to acquire these jets from China.

The dynamic is prompting India to weigh its options for stealth fighters. While New Delhi is accelerating a domestic program to develop an advanced fifth-generation multirole combat aircraft, operational deployment is still a decade away.

Indian officials have yet to respond publicly to the offer for the Su-57 jet. But in April, the then-chairman of the country’s premier aerospace manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, D.K. Sunil, told news agency Asian News International that Russia had presented the capabilities of the fighter jet to India.

“We are awaiting the Russian quotation about the investment. Then we will approach the air force that these are the kind of numbers required to produce these aircraft,” he said.

The Russian Su-57 fighter jet was showcased at an Aero India exhibition held in the Indian city of Bengaluru last year.

Analysts say India faces a high-stakes choice in its pursuit of a fifth-generation fighter jet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the plenary of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum SPIEF'26 on June 5, 2026, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Contributor/Getty Images)

“India’s own stealth fighter is not expected to enter service until 2035 and even that maybe an ambitious timeline. In the meantime there are reports that Pakistan is planning to get J-35 stealth fighters from China. For that reason, there is a line of thinking that if we acquire two or three squadrons, or about 36 to 60 Su-57 aircraft in the interim, it will give India a stealth platform as well as payload capacity,” said Manoj Joshi, distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Analysts also say that the co-production and customization being offered by Russia marks one of the most expansive defense cooperation proposals made in recent years to India, which considers technology transfer a critical factor in major defense acquisitions.

At the same time, Joshi points out, there are concerns that entering a deal for the Su-57 could impact India’s own indigenous fifth-generation fighter jet project, which is being given high priority.

“The counterargument is that resources will have to be diverted for those jets and also once you have them, you might not have the incentive to push on with the domestic program,” he said.

The U.S. also offered its fifth-generation F-35 aircraft to India last year. But analysts say India is not pursuing that option due to concerns over stringent controls that are attached to the sale of advanced U.S. military equipment.

The modernization of India’s air force is facing challenges. Russian fighter jets were the backbone for India’s air force for nearly six decades, but many of those are due to be phased out.

As New Delhi began diversifying its defense purchases in recent decades to reduce its reliance on Russia, it bought 36 Rafale multirole combat aircraft from France and has also initiated the process of buying another 114 Rafales. But that will not completely bridge the gap for its air force, which faces a significant shortfall of fighter jets.

During the media interaction in St. Petersburg, Putin also said that Russia was willing to collaborate with India on other critical defense platforms, including fifth-generation technologies, air defense systems and a joint program to produce the supersonic cruise missiles called Brahmos.

新德里——俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京向印度提议联合生产该国最先进的第五代隐形战斗机苏-57，并表示莫斯科愿意在“没有任何限制”的情况下进行合作。

他在周五于圣彼得堡国际经济论坛上与记者互动时发表了上述言论。

印度和俄罗斯于2007年启动了一项联合项目，共同研发第五代战斗机。但十年后的2018年，新德里因成本、技术获取和飞机隐身能力等问题而退出了该项目。俄罗斯随后独立完成了该机型的研发。

普京在圣彼得堡表示，苏-57战斗机可以成为两国的合资项目，并提供技术转让和与印度系统集成的机会。

俄罗斯总统表示：“我们准备向印度提供这种飞机，并继续进行研发。我们没有任何问题或限制。”

俄罗斯此次再次提出购买第五代战斗机的提议，正值印度空军现代化计划的关键时期。印度目前还没有第五代战斗机。该国空军最先进的战斗机是法国的“阵风”战斗机，但它并非隐形战机。

这导致巴基斯坦与中国之间存在巨大的能力差距，中国正在迅速扩充其隐形战斗机机队。据报道，巴基斯坦也计划从中国采购这些战机。

这种动态促使印度重新审视其隐形战斗机的各种选择。尽管新德里正在加速推进一项旨在研发先进的第五代多用途战斗机的国内项目，但距离实际部署仍需十年时间。

印度官员尚未公开回应俄罗斯提出的苏-57战斗机的购买提议。但今年4月，印度最大的航空航天制造商印度斯坦航空有限公司（HAL）时任董事长DK Sunil告诉亚洲新闻国际通讯社，俄罗斯已向印度展示了该款战斗机的性能。

他说：“我们正在等待俄罗斯方面关于投资的报价。之后我们会与空军接洽，说明生产这些飞机所需的数量。”

俄罗斯苏-57战斗机去年在印度班加罗尔举行的印度航空展上展出。

分析人士称，印度在寻求第五代战斗机的过程中面临着一个高风险的选择。

2026年6月5日，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在俄罗斯圣彼得堡举行的圣彼得堡国际经济论坛（SPIEF'26）全体会议上发表讲话。（图片来源：Getty Images）

“印度自主研发的隐形战斗机预计要到2035年才能服役，而​​且即便如此，这个时间表也可能过于乐观。与此同时，有报道称巴基斯坦正计划从中国采购歼-35隐形战斗机。因此，有人认为，如果我们在此期间采购两到三个中队，也就是大约36到60架苏-57战斗机，就能使印度拥有隐形平台和有效载荷能力。”新德里观察家研究基金会杰出研究员马诺杰·乔希说道。

分析人士还表示，俄罗斯提供的联合生产和定制方案是近年来向印度提出的最广泛的国防合作方案之一，印度认为技术转让是重大国防采购的关键因素。

乔希指出，与此同时，也有人担心，购买苏-57战斗机可能会影响印度自己的第五代战斗机项目，该项目目前被高度重视。

“反驳的观点是，资源必须转移到这些喷气式飞机上，而且一旦你拥有了这些飞机，你可能就没有动力继续推进国内项目了，”他说。

去年，美国也曾向印度推销其第五代F-35战斗机。但分析人士表示，由于担心美国对先进军事装备的销售实施严格的管制，印度并未采纳这一方案。

印度空军的现代化进程面临挑战。俄罗斯战斗机曾是印度空军近六十年的中坚力量，但其中许多战机即将退役。

近几十年来，新德里开始使其国防采购来源多元化，以减少对俄罗斯的依赖。它从法国购买了36架“阵风”多用途战斗机，并已启动另外114架“阵风”战斗机的采购程序。但这并不能完全弥补其空军的缺口，其战斗机数量仍然严重不足。

在圣彼得堡的媒体互动中，普京还表示，俄罗斯愿意与印度在其他关键国防平台上开展合作，包括第五代技术、防空系统以及联合生产名为“布拉莫斯”的超音速巡航导弹的项目。