Russia Courts India with Su-75 Checkmate Amid MiG-29 Replacement Push

In a bid to replace India's aging MiG-29 fleet, Russia has intensified its efforts to attract India's interest in its Su-75 Checkmate light fighter jet. The single-engine, lightweight stealth fighter, unveiled in 2021, is being positioned as the ideal successor to the MiG-29s, which India and several other nations are looking to replace.

Russia is particularly focused on India, a long-standing partner with a pressing need to upgrade its fighter jet fleet. A 2021 promotional video for the Checkmate, featuring pilots from potential buyer countries, including India, underscored Russia's strategic marketing approach.

Despite Russia's aggressive sales pitch, India has yet to commit to the Su-75. Several factors might be influencing India's cautious stance. The absence of a functional prototype is a key concern. While Russia claims a 2025 maiden flight for the redesigned Su-75, India may prefer a fighter jet with a proven track record.

Moreover, India is actively pursuing its own indigenous solution, the Tejas MkII, specifically designed to replace its MiG-29, Mirage-2000, and Jaguar fleets. This program aims to fulfill India's requirement for nearly 200 new fighter jets, potentially offering greater long-term benefits in terms of self-reliance and technology transfer.

Russia's renewed push to involve India likely stems from the lack of confirmed international buyers for the Checkmate program. High-profile marketing tactics, such as featuring pilots from potential buyer nations in promotional videos, highlight Russia's eagerness to secure partnerships.

Russia is offering the Checkmate at an attractive price point of $30-35 million per unit, with a cost per flight hour projected to be significantly lower than the Lockheed Martin F-35. The Su-75 boasts impressive specifications, with a designed maximum speed of Mach 1.8, a range of 2,800 km, and a maximum takeoff weight of 26,000 kg.

However, India's commitment to its indigenous defense programs, including the Tejas MkII and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), might influence its decision on the Su-75. With the Tejas MkII expected to replace a significant portion of its fighter fleet by 2035, and the AMCA slated to replace older Su-30MKI squadrons from 2040 onwards, India may prioritize self-reliance and domestic technological development.

While Russia's Su-75 Checkmate offers an attractive proposition on paper, India's decision will likely hinge on a careful evaluation of its operational capabilities, cost-effectiveness, and alignment with its long-term strategic objectives.

 

[PKPRS]

"Malaysia ordered 17 Su-57 yesterday". Funny that every single news source reports that they proposed the procurement of 17 Su-57s for a single squadron of 16 aircraft. That is tantamount to saying that the IAF ordered Rafales the day MMRCA was proposed.

Oh, and believe you me that once the Malaysians realise they'll be thrown under CAATSA and other such wonderful things, they'll retract and go for F-16s or KF-21s or something.

"they'll be thrown under CAATSA and other such wonderful things", they won't care much, google and find the proof your self before commenting. "Malaysia, according to local media outlet Twentytwo13, is adding the Su-57 to the Royal Malaysian Air Force's [RMAF] fleet by 2035"

 

[Anant]

Introductory price but it might go to $40~50m IMHO 😺, but that's still cheaper than Tejas mk1a if its prototype perform well

Nope, the price will initially go up to well over 100-150 million USD in early production, and since Russia expects any customers to also fund the aircraft's development. The price might approach 50-60 million USD if Russia manages to sell low four-digit numbers of the Su-75, once you reach those economies of scale.

 

[Anant]

It is a great ship that secures India’s western shore, what is wrong with that, you need Vikramaditya to secure French Islands or the mainland France instead.

Vikramaditya is a good ship, no doubt. However, her acquisition is an entire saga by itself, and is one where both parties (Russia and India) end up looking bad.

 

[PKPRS]

And what makes you think that this engine (which is still under development) will be IR-suppressing?

And what makes you think this engine is not ready, it was already developed and tested and fitted in SU-57E variant, Russia inducted 29 SU-57's E variant just recently Feb-March 2024.

 

[Anant]

No Checkmate is a single engine version of SU-57 that is already in production, inducted in Russian Air-force and is battle tested in Ukraine and Syria.

The Su-57 has been tested in Ukraine and Syria, but that testing has been more along the lines of "Can it fly and shoot? Are we sure it doesn't crash?".

Oh, and the Su-75 is not a single-engined version of the Su-57. Aircraft design doesn't work that way.

 

[Anant]

And what makes you think this engine is not ready, it was already developed and tested and fitted in SU-57E variant, Russia inducted 29 SU-57's E variant just recently Feb-March 2024.

Nope. The AL-51 engine is planned for the Su-57M, which has been on hiatus / very slow progress since 2022. The Su-57Es that Russia uses have the AL-41F1 engine.

 

[Sandeep]

Both of the countries have a no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons and even if China comes in 200 kms into India, India would still not dare to use nuclear weapons and vice-versa in case of India going into China. Nuclear weapons are a last resort weapon and are useless even if the war between India and China last for a few months and in those few months our cities would be destroyed and our army would have already lost and we would still choose surrender over a nuclear war and that surrender would still be our best option unless we go suicidal.

At present in a full fledged war IA can barely last for a month and that is it and we will absolutely loose in 3 months at most, not because our troops are badly trained or can't fight but because China's industrial strength is many times stronger than us and they can out produce us out of the conflict just like Americans did to Germany. Jaishankar in an interview said to the effect that China is five times our economy and we can't afford a conflict with them and that meant its industrial strength not just the spending power. All the preparedness you mentioned is to buy time for troops from our hinterland to come to the frontline, they are meant to slow down a determined advance from Chinese troops and are not meant to grind it to a halt, today's wars are the most unfair to ground troops, rocket artilleries are accurate and can be fired from 100 kms away, gun artilleries can be fired from 30 kms away and accurately forget about an assortment of missiles which China will certainly have more than us, they have bombers which gives them the right to blackmail us into not going too deep in their territory for an air raid because they can come and bomb the cants of Lucknow, Ambala, Kolkata and Delhi, etc which most definitely will cause collateral damage which our politicians can't afford. Our planning today is hinged on the assumption that in case of a war we will go and beg around the world for weapons and use their industrial strength to counter China's just like Ukraine, the only difference would be that we will be paying a premium instead of free weapons.

Indian system is incompetent don't give them the benefit of the doubt.

You are looking at this from the wrong perspective. India knows it can hold China back and has the capabilities which was shown in the skirmish in Ladakh and that was when our troops were ambushed but still managed to kill over 35 troops.

Nuclear weapons are our shield and India will absolutely use nuclear weapons if there is a strong attempt by China to invade. Just because we have a no first use policy doesn’t mean that we can’t use them as in war you can’t take chances regardless of the policy which looks good on paper. India knows that the world isn’t going to save them as it was obvious when the skirmish in Ladakh broke out because of the heavy reliance on China who supplies their economy. That’s why we have fortified the entire LAC, deployed ready to fire ballistic missile mated with the nuclear warhead, more troops, special forces, more ITBP, artillery, MBRL, jets, helicopters, ATGM, tanks, IFV, APC etc. We have started and completed many infrastructural projects ranging from roads, tunnels, bases, air bases, communications, network, key bridges, bunkers, command and control systems, ammunition storageetc. So much has been done and in a short amount of time which proves that we can take action and build large projects very quickly.

Chinas economy is larger because of the continued support and imports from the west as supply chains but just because their economy is bigger it doesn’t mean that we will lose. India does have the industrial capacity to fight a heavy intense war for a month and that can also be increased or expanded in a short amount of time. Also any attacking force against a well entrenched force will face heavy loses ranging in thousands. Also Chinese weapons, technology and capabilities aren’t as good as they say with most finding defects, technology faults, inaccurate and not performing as good as they say means even they lack the will to fight a war and ruin their economy and relationships with other countries.

 

[Anant]

"they'll be thrown under CAATSA and other such wonderful things", they won't care much, google and find the proof your self before commenting. "Malaysia, according to local media outlet Twentytwo13, is adding the Su-57 to the Royal Malaysian Air Force's [RMAF] fleet by 2035"

Malaysia will very much care about CAATSA, unlike India. Oh, and sites like Bulgarian Military are generally very speculative. I'd recommend you find additional, trustworthy sources to back that up. Heck, even Eurasian Times is a far better source than Bulgarian Military is. Just today, they (Bulgarian Military) released an article saying that the Tejas Mk 2 trumps the Su-75, so if you want to lend that credence, do so in both articles.

The RMAF is merely proposing the Su-57 as a new aircraft. Moreover, this new aircraft is planned to replace the F-18D and Hawk 208s rather than the Su-30MKMs. Get better sources next time rather than random news articles from local portals.

 

[Sandeep]

We can’t assume blindly.

Of course we don’t. We are manufacturing and building up our own indigenous military and it has the capability to defend against China.

 

[PKPRS]

Of course we don’t. We are manufacturing and building up our own indigenous military and it has the capability to defend against China.

What Chinese will using their advance weapons to scare us and slice our land little by little, until we have powerful weapons to scare them we can't do much.

 

[PKPRS]

Nope. The AL-51 engine is planned for the Su-57M, which has been on hiatus / very slow progress since 2022. The Su-57Es that Russia uses have the AL-41F1 engine.

Nope the jet's that were inducted recently were SU-57M with this AL-51F1 engine, it was a typo SU-57E is export variant.

Su-57's new AL-51F1 engine (2024) allows it to cruise at Mach 2

In 2024, Rostec's UAC is set to commence deliveries of the upgraded Su-57, now equipped with the cutting-edge AL-51F1 engine, formerly known as "Izdelie 30".

bulgarianmilitary.com

 

[Akshat]

It is a great ship that secures India’s western shore, what is wrong with that, you need Vikramaditya to secure French Islands or the mainland France instead.

Of course an enemy of India won’t remember it. But India was conned by Russia with this ship.

 

[PKPRS]

Of course an enemy of India won’t remember it. But India was conned by Russia with this ship.

Foreign enemies doesn't understand India, Indians know how good their carrier is, Frenchie's doesn't have a say on Indian matters.

 

[Akshat]

Foreign enemies doesn't understand India, Indians know how good their carrier is, Frenchie's doesn't have a say on Indian matters.

That’s why you don’t have a say as a self confessed enemy of India. CAG ok the other hand has revealed the truth on record.

 

[PKPRS]

Malaysia will very much care about CAATSA, unlike India. Oh, and sites like Bulgarian Military are generally very speculative. I'd recommend you find additional, trustworthy sources to back that up. Heck, even Eurasian Times is a far better source than Bulgarian Military is. Just today, they (Bulgarian Military) released an article saying that the Tejas Mk 2 trumps the Su-75, so if you want to lend that credence, do so in both articles.

The RMAF is merely proposing the Su-57 as a new aircraft. Moreover, this new aircraft is planned to replace the F-18D and Hawk 208s rather than the Su-30MKMs. Get better sources next time rather than random news articles from local portals.

If you are under delusion and favor one product and talk for it here (you know which product I am talking about), you won't hear or believe what other's say, we members of this forum here think about India getting the latest product for the best price possible irrespective of where the product originates from, we don’t favor one particular Countries product, if we get F35 we will welcome with open hands and not talk about one product from that one Country all the time .

 

[Anant]

If you are under delusion and favor one product and talk for it here (you know which product I am talking about), you won't hear or believe what other's say, we members of this forum here think about India getting the latest product for the best price possible irrespective of where the product originates from, we don’t favor one particular Countries product, if we get F35 we will welcome with open hands and not talk about one product from that one Country all the time .

I am not favouring any product. I am simply not jumping the gun as you are. An Expression of Interest is not the same as an order.

 

[Anant]

Nope the jet's that were inducted recently were SU-57M with this AL-51F1 engine, it was a typo SU-57E is export variant.

Su-57's new AL-51F1 engine (2024) allows it to cruise at Mach 2

In 2024, Rostec's UAC is set to commence deliveries of the upgraded Su-57, now equipped with the cutting-edge AL-51F1 engine, formerly known as "Izdelie 30".

bulgarianmilitary.com

Boss, while Russia has recently inducted a batch of Su-57s, it is not clear whether these are Su-57Ms. As per the article you shared, UAC will supply SU-57Ms this year, but whether or not it has been done already is not clear. That said, I concede to your point that the AL-51 must be mostly ready. Regardless, that in itself doesn't mean the Su-75 is also mostly ready.

 

[PKPRS]

Boss, while Russia has recently inducted a batch of Su-57s, it is not clear whether these are Su-57Ms. As per the article you shared, UAC will supply SU-57Ms this year, but whether or not it has been done already is not clear. That said, I concede to your point that the AL-51 must be mostly ready. Regardless, that in itself doesn't mean the Su-75 is also mostly ready.

Boss, SU-75 shares 90% of the components from SU-57 including engine, in that case then SU-75 is pretty much ready. there are many sources that say SU-57M variant is already inducted, even folks from IAF made a trip to Russia to see it working, they are very interested for this stealth engine only. and this is the reason why rumors started swirling that India is back into FGFA, this news was in many western news media also.

 

[PKPRS]

I am not favouring any product. I am simply not jumping the gun as you are. An Expression of Interest is not the same as an order.

I read many articles and came to the conclusion like what others do, there is no way to fly to Russia and go to United factory or Saturn plant to see it in person to believe.

 

[PKPRS]

The Su-57 has been tested in Ukraine and Syria, but that testing has been more along the lines of "Can it fly and shoot? Are we sure it doesn't crash?".

Oh, and the Su-75 is not a single-engined version of the Su-57. Aircraft design doesn't work that way.

Then we shouldn't be sure of any product that we make.