Russian rubbish? India reportedly disappointed with stealth fighters from Moscow
By
Maxim Lott
Published January 24, 2014
FoxNews.com
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Is the Russian arms industry getting soft?
“Clearly they want to go more Western because they recognize that the
Russian stuff just isn't up to the western standards."- Robbin Laird, consultant to the Marine Corps and Air Force
“The Russians are certainly not up to speed in avionics,” Robbin Laird, who has served as a consultant to the Marine Corps and Air Force and started the website Second Line of Defense, told FoxNews.com. “For them to pull off a stealth airframe, and for it to actually be stealthy, the engine technology has to be very good. Americans have done it with the F-22 and F-35. But it’s not easy to do.
No one has done it but ourselves.”
“The
Indians for a long time have split their fighter industry between western work and Russian work,” Laird said.
Other security experts said that
India has a history of incompetence when it comes to military procurement, and so it did not necessarily reflect badly on Russia.
“
India has had so many problems absorbing modern equipment and supporting it that it’s difficult to know whether it says anything about the Russian systems at all,” Anthony Cordesman, who has served as a consultant for the State and Defense departments and who holds the Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told FoxNews.com.
“
The Rafale is a very nice aircraft, and they'll look at all the stuff the French are putting on that aircraft, and they'll look at the Russian stuff and say, why am I going down that path? Do I trust the Russians really are going to reach to the standards we set?”
“If they get a chance to really look at the F35, they would want it," Laird said. "The Indians have requested 3 times to talk to people about the
F-35B, which is the true revolutionary aircraft -- and the administration never answered the mail, they've blown them off, it's typical of the Obama administration. We love our allies except if you want anything.”
“The Russians are good aircraft designers, and they know how to build an agile aircraft, and [the new plane they are working on] is a step forward the path of more agility and flexibility, but the problem is -- it's not all about the frame, it's about what your put in it.
The F35 can see around itself, 360 degrees, can see a missile take off 820 miles away, it has a radar that's extraordinary, and the systems are integrated. The Russians I think are nowhere near that at this point.”
Cordesman also said that he was unsurprised by the Indian complaints, given what he knew about Russian air capabilities.
The author of the piece can be reached at maxim.lott@foxnews.com or on twitter at @maximlott
