India-Russia negotiations over fifth generation fighter, first stage over

India and Russia had inked an inter-governmental pact for the FGFA project in 2007.

Moscow, July 19: After several hurdles and years of delay, the first stage of negotiations between India and Russia on developing a fifth generation fighter jet (FGFA) together is over, an official has said.

Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec Corporation, said this on Tuesday, adding that a final decision may be made in the "near future".

Asked about the negotiations, on the sidelines of 13th International Aerospace Show MAKS, Chemezov also said the progress was slow as the project and its negotiations are very "complicated".

"As for the fifth generation, the work is underway. Stage one of negotiations is over. Now, we are discussing the second stage," Chemezov said.

"I think that in the near future, all decisions will be made. And the contract documents will be signed," he said.

India and Russia had inked an inter-governmental pact for the FGFA project in 2007.

In December 2010, India had agreed to pay $295 million towards the preliminary design of the fighter, also referred to as the "Perspective Multi-role Fighter" (PMF).

However, negotiations faced various hurdles in the subsequent years.

The two sides hope to sign a detailed agreement on the design and development soon, though a deadline was not given.

While the slow pace of progress has been a concern, progress in discussions off late are going in a positive direction as per officials on both sides.

Chemezov, however, said there were delays as the project is "complicated".

"The work is going, it is very complicated, so it is not going fast," Chemezov said.

"The only country for India which without any restrictions transfers all technologies is Russia," he added.

Asked about other ongoing projects between India and Russia, he said: "We have an enterprise that has been working for a long time producing cruise missiles Brahmos. They are already completely localised today... This is one of the first projects that we implemented in India, as well as the T 90, Su-30MKI. That is a fairly large number of projects -- some have already been implemented, some are being implemented."

IANS