MAKS 2019: Russia and India may revive FGFA project.

Russia and India may revive a joint project for the creation of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), Dmitry Shugayev, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said on the sidelines of the 14th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2019.

The Su-57, on which the FGFA is based (Picture source: Air Recognition)

"The project is not dead. True, it has been frozen. It seems that today’s demonstrations will give an impetus to developing this theme. As you see, we have a fifth-generation aircraft. In view of the Russian-Indian strategic partnership we have not removed this theme from the agenda. Hopefully, it will be continued. I believe that the forthcoming summit will contribute to it in some way," Shugayev emphasized.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are due to meet each other on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum to be held in Vladivostok, the Russian Far East, on September 4-6.

An agreement for joint development of an FGFA was signed in 2007. The fifth-generation aircraft is being developed on the basis of a Russian T-50 fighter aircraft in accordance with technical requirements set by the Indian side. The Indian Air Force is supposed to be the first customer of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft, which will be supplied to third countries in future.

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