New Delhi: With bonhomie between the United States and India cooling off perceptively, Russia may well stage a strong comeback in India's flourishing arms market. Earlier reports in the Russian media that India may contract for atleast 28 more MiG-29K fighter jets now appear to be coming true with sources in India's ministry of defence suggesting that both nations are all set to formalise a $1.2 billion contract for 29 of these aircraft for the Indian Navy.

Image: IAF

The MiG-29K (NATO designation: Fulcrum-D) is a naval variant of the MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters.

Sources in the Indian MoD have let it be known that a Russian team may soon arrive in New Delhi, probably this week, to detail the contract. It is also being suggested that the contract has received clearance from the cabinet committee on security (CCS), chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh.

It is also being given to understand that the defence ministry is seeking CCS approval for the fresh contract for aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov's refit programme, with the renegotiated price of slightly over $2.3 billion.

The 29 new MiG-29Ks are over and above the 16 jets already contracted for with the initial $1.5 billion Adm Gorshkov package deal in January 2004.

The refurbished Adm Gorshkov is now expected to be ready for delivery to the Indian Navy only by early-2013, nearly five years behind schedule. It will be inducted into the navy as INS Vikramaditya.

Any enhancement of the MiG-29K contract has ramifications for the Indian Air Force's $11 billion medium range multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract, as foreign companies desperately seek to offer synergies.

The American defence contractor Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet offering is primarily a naval fighter which has entered the MMRCA race more to try its luck than with any serious hopes of bagging the contract. But if the Indian Navy had shown any inclinations for the Super Hornet, Boeing's chances to bag the MMRCA contract would have been strengthened as it could have argued for synergies between the air force and the navy contract.

Other contenders, Dassault's Rafale, Saab Gripen's JAS-39 are also offering naval variants.

The Russian contender for the MMRCA contract, the MiG-35, is a heavily upgraded, thrust vectoring variant of the MiG-29 family of fighters. This 4++ generation fighter carries so many new features that MiG RAC re-designated it as the MiG-35.

Its chances to bag the MMRCA contract are now boosted manifold as the IAF already operates 80 MiG -29 fighters and Russia has an agreement in place with India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to manufacture an advanced variant of the RD-33 engine.

With so many synergies in place, and an enhanced Indian Navy contract to boot, the chances of the MiG-35 fighter bagging the MMRCA contract are considerably strengthened.

Meanwhile, the first four of the original lot of MiG-29Ks have already arrived in a knocked-down form and are being assembled. Till delivery of the Gorshkov, these fighters will remain land-based at the navy's Goa base, INS Hansa.

These fighters will now become part of the 303 `Black Panthers' squadron. Another batch of four fighters is expected to arrive shortly.

Atleast eight of the 45 MiG-29K fighters are expected to be the two-seater KUB version, with four in each contract, and the rest single-set fighters.

The MiG-29Ks will operate not just from the 44,570-tonne Adm Gorshkov/INS Vikramaditya but also from the 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) being built at Cochin Shipyard. The, as yet, undesignated IAC is expected to be ready for induction in the period 2014-2015.

The Russian Navy too has opted to induct MiG-29K fighters in larger numbers, thanks to cost benefits arising from the India deal. It currently operates the heavier, longer range, Su-33 (Flanker-D) naval fighters. Operating the Su-33 is no longer cost effective because of small production volumes.

Correspondingly, the 45-aircraft order from the Indian Navy coupled with a 24-aircraft order form the Russian Navy allows per unit costs to come down substantially. The Russian Navy will take delivery of the first lot of MiG-29Ks later this year.

Russian media reports estimated the Russian Navy contract for 24 fighters at $1 billion, which matches the figure of $1.2 billion now being quoted for the fresh Indian order of 29 of these fighters.

The Su-33s will undergo a refit programme to extend their service life from 2015 to 2025. 

Armed with eight types of air-to-air missiles, including BVR (beyond visual range) missiles, as well as a host of air-to-surface weapons for land-attack missions, the 4+ generation MiG-29K is a force multiplier for the navy.