Pakistan is reportedly pursuing Chinese J-35 stealth fighters while China already operates hundreds of J-20 stealth aircraft.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered New Delhi Russia's fifth-generation stealth aircraft Sukhoi Su-57 and even suggested that the combat jet could even be jointly produced in India in line with the strong strategic partnership between the two countries.
The Indian government is actively promoting manufacturing in the rapidly expanding aerospace sector, with collaborations between Indian and foreign companies leading to the establishment of new facilities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that any attempts to undermine India's sovereignty through 'threats of sanctions' would 'boomerang immediately' under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, highlighting India's sovereign decision-making and strong national interests.
An Indian Air Force Su-30 MKI fighter jet crashed in Assam during a training mission, prompting an immediate search operation for the missing pilots.
An Indian Air Force Su-30 MKI fighter jet went missing shortly after taking off from Jorhat airbase in Assam, prompting a search and rescue operation.
However, these are understood to be exploratory talks, with an agreement unlikely to be formalised during the current visit.
Glimpses from Day 1 at Aero India 2025 at the Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India, February 10, 2025.
The Russians have termed Putin's visit to India, his first to this country since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, as 'Druzhba Dosti', which means 'friendship' in Russian and Hindi respectively.
The enduring relationship between the two countries have survived the disintegration of the erstwhile USSR in 1991, the end of the Cold War and the regime change in both countries, points out Rup Narayan Das.
HAL executives said deliveries of the Tejas Mk1A to the IAF would begin within this year, but only after the successful completion of the weapons-firing trials currently underway.
According to the DRDO chairman, the BrahMos missile, primarily launched from Sukhoi Mk 1, was used during the offensive phase.
HAL has assured the IAF that 12 Mk1A aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2025-2026.
A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 with at least 44 people aboard disappeared from radar scenes during a half-hour demonstration flight in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta on Wednesday.
The MiG-21's sharp silhouette and supersonic roar will live on in the memories of those who flew it, those who maintained it, and those who watched it streak across the sky as a symbol of India's strength, asserts IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
We need to equip the Indian Armed Forces, not 'commercial' as Trump wants, but 'operationally' looking at growing Chinese military capabilities, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Top HAL sources say the AMCA, which is being developed as the IAF's next-generation stealth fighter, is slated to be assembled at HAL Nashik.
Videos from the scene, shot by locals in Morena, showed debris of the aircraft on the ground.
As Russian forces retreated, they left behind thousands of deadly explosives.
If the new request for 18 more fighters translates into a contract, the Sukhoi-30MKI fleet size will go up to 14 squadrons, or 290 fighters.
Alexey Fedorov, chief of the Sukhoi-making Russian company, Irkut, said at the recently concluded biennial airshow -- MAKS-2011 -- in Zhukovsky near Moscow, that the Sukhoi upgradation has two components, for which technical negotiations are on. One includes the modernisation of the aircraft to fit the BrahMos missile's air version on it, and the other is to upgrade the existing five Sukhoi-30MKI squadrons of the IAF.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala has raised concerns about the Indian government's decision to potentially acquire F-35 fighter jets from the US, questioning whether the decision was made in the national interest and if security experts were consulted. He highlighted the high cost of the F-35, its operational flaws, and the potential impact on the Indian Air Force's existing fleet and maintenance infrastructure. Surjewala's comments come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump unveiled plans for a 10-year defense partnership between India and the US, including potential F-35 sales.
"The Sukhoi will invest Euro 2 billion (Rs 13,600 crore) for manufacturing about 25 to 50 super jets initially and later 100 aircraft at full capacity," Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Vilas Muttemwar said on Friday.
HAL's sustained, long-term income will come from the design, development, manufacture, overhaul, and upgrade of a family of helicopters designed for deployment on India's 21,000-foot-high Himalayan frontier with Pakistan and China.
India's frontline combat aircraft Sukhoi-30 fleet was on Friday cleared for flying after being grounded for nearly a month following a crash near Pune.
'There's something called deterrence by punishment.' 'That means you hit in a manner calculated to raise costs and consequences for Pakistan, so that the next time it attempts a Pahalgam-like attack, it has to think ten times.'
Alliance Air, the feeder subsidiary of Indian Airlines, may fly Russian defence aerospace major Sukhoi's new civilian jet to connect regional locations in the country.
Russia will provide an additional 42 Sukhoi frontline fighters to India under an agreement signed on Friday, taking the bilateral defence cooperation to new heights.
Following a technical snag but both the pilot and weapons systems operator ejected safely.
The amendments in the initial deal provide for the completion of delivery of 140 fighters in 2014 three years ahead of schedule.
The flight data recorder (FDR), commonly known as blackbox, of the Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft which crashed in Pune earlier this week, has been retrieved.
Built by HAL with Russian technology, the frontline twin-seater Sukhoi 30MKI was rolled at the Ozar airbase in Nashik.
An aircraft consortium, led by Russia's Sukhoi Design Bureau and America's Boeing Corporation, has asked India to join its project to build a family of regional jet transport aircraft for civilian use.
To a question on Pakistan's demand to China to supply the Russian-made RD-33 aero-engines for its fighter jets, he said, "The Russians have assured us that it will not go to anybody."
HAL will build each Su-30 at just Rs 4.25 billion. The IAF is paying Rs 11.25 billion per Rafale, excluding the price of weapons and logistics.
Speculation about the missing Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu may have been removed and detained became rife after he was conspicuously absent at the meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in Beijing on Friday.
Russia and Ukraine agreed last week to allow critical food supplies to flow to millions of impoverished people facing hunger worldwide.
China also removed Finance Minister Liu Kun and appointed Lan Fo'an in his place. Liu is the third senior Cabinet minister to be replaced without any explanation.
Russian defence aerospace major Sukhoi is close to bagging its first civilian Indian client with its regional 60- to 90-seater jet Sukhoi Superjet 100.
