India, Russia to sign 5th gen fighter contract in December

India and Russia will very likely sign a contract for joint development and production of a fifth generation fighter aircraft next month. A major contract that will run into tens of billions of dollars, it is being readied in time for the forthcoming visit of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to India in December.

"If all procedures are completed by the time of our president's visit in December, the contract will be ready for signing," Russian deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov has said. He indicated that delegations from state arms export monopoly, Rosoboronexport, and Sukhoi design bureau were currently visiting India to finalise the contract.

The new aircraft will be based on the Russian, Sukhoi bureau designed T-50 prototype fifth-generation fighter, which is expected to enter service with the Russian and Indian Air Force in 2015.

The first prototype is already undergoing test flights having completed atleast 36 by now. The second prototype would join testing soon.

The Sukhoi design bureau and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) signed a memorandum-of-understanding in early 2010 to jointly develop a fifth-generation fighter jet, tentatively dubbed PAK-FA

"An agreement with India on the pre-design of the PAK FA will be signed in December," said Alexei Fyodorov, head of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, mentioned in October this year.