rkjindal91
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India looks elsewhere to beat Russian
defence spares crunch May 9, 2011, 03.16am IST TNN [ Rajat Pandit ] NEW DELHI: Russia may remain India's
biggest defence supplier for the next two
decades but its tardy supply of spares and
after-sales service is forcing New Delhi to
increasingly tap other countries to
maintain Russian-origin aircraft, helicopters and other weapon systems. Over the last couple of months, IAF has
floated a slew of global tenders for spares
and special tools for MiG-23 and MiG-29
fighters, IL-76 and AN-32 transport
aircraft, Mi-17 helicopters and OSA-AK
surface-to-air missile systems. Now, the Army too has jumped on to the
bandwagon for different equipment,
which includes a global RFI (request for
information) for acquiring "active
protection and counter-measure systems"
for its T-90S main-battle tanks, which have faced several technical problems
since their induction began over the last
decade. "Yes, the international market is being
explored to get spares for our Russian-
origin equipment. We will still go to the
Russian OEMs (original equipment
manufacturer) for specialized spares. But
we can get generalized spares at much cheaper rates from elsewhere," said a
senior officer. This comes after years of India trying to
get Russia to ensure uninterrupted supply
of spares and regular maintenance, with
even defence minister A K Antony
regularly raising it with his Russian
counterpart. "In some cases, Russia has resolved the
issue. But in many others, problems with
breakdown and service maintenance
spares continue... some acute, some
manageable," said another officer. India has had an expansive defence
partnership with Russia, with the latter
notching up military sales well over $35
billion since the 1960s, leading to over
60% of equipment held by Indian armed
forces being of Russian-origin. Ongoing bilateral defence projects are
worth another $15 billion. IAF is
progressively inducting 272
Sukhoi-30MKIs at a cost of around $12
billion from Russia. The figures will
further zoom north with India slated to spend $35 billion over the next two
decades to induct 250 to 300 of the
stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft
(FGFA) from 2020 onwards.
defence spares crunch May 9, 2011, 03.16am IST TNN [ Rajat Pandit ] NEW DELHI: Russia may remain India's
biggest defence supplier for the next two
decades but its tardy supply of spares and
after-sales service is forcing New Delhi to
increasingly tap other countries to
maintain Russian-origin aircraft, helicopters and other weapon systems. Over the last couple of months, IAF has
floated a slew of global tenders for spares
and special tools for MiG-23 and MiG-29
fighters, IL-76 and AN-32 transport
aircraft, Mi-17 helicopters and OSA-AK
surface-to-air missile systems. Now, the Army too has jumped on to the
bandwagon for different equipment,
which includes a global RFI (request for
information) for acquiring "active
protection and counter-measure systems"
for its T-90S main-battle tanks, which have faced several technical problems
since their induction began over the last
decade. "Yes, the international market is being
explored to get spares for our Russian-
origin equipment. We will still go to the
Russian OEMs (original equipment
manufacturer) for specialized spares. But
we can get generalized spares at much cheaper rates from elsewhere," said a
senior officer. This comes after years of India trying to
get Russia to ensure uninterrupted supply
of spares and regular maintenance, with
even defence minister A K Antony
regularly raising it with his Russian
counterpart. "In some cases, Russia has resolved the
issue. But in many others, problems with
breakdown and service maintenance
spares continue... some acute, some
manageable," said another officer. India has had an expansive defence
partnership with Russia, with the latter
notching up military sales well over $35
billion since the 1960s, leading to over
60% of equipment held by Indian armed
forces being of Russian-origin. Ongoing bilateral defence projects are
worth another $15 billion. IAF is
progressively inducting 272
Sukhoi-30MKIs at a cost of around $12
billion from Russia. The figures will
further zoom north with India slated to spend $35 billion over the next two
decades to induct 250 to 300 of the
stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft
(FGFA) from 2020 onwards.
