Chandigarh: Amid growing concerns in the Indian Air Force (IAF) over Pakistan’s prospective acquisition of China’s Shenyang J-35AE stealth fighters, Russia is reportedly intensifying efforts to persuade New Delhi to procure limited numbers of its Sukhoi Su-57. Moscow maintains that these would enable the IAF to bridge a potential fifth-generation capability gap should the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) induct the J-35 in the near term. It argues that the Su-57 provides a stopgap capability until the indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), currently under development, enters service in the mid-2030s.In a related development, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Wednesday (May 27) issued a Request for Proposal to three shortlisted domestic companies, inviting bids for the AMCA programme within three months. These included Tata Advanced Systems Ltd competing independently, a consortium led by Larsen & Toubro along with Bharat Electronics Ltd and Dynamatic Technologies, and a third consortium comprising Bharat Forge, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and Data Patterns.According to the MoD proposal seeking formal technical and commercial bids, the selected entity will partner with the Aeronautical Development Agency under the Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop five flying AMCA prototypes and one structural test aircraft. The first prototype is expected to roll out by 2029, initially powered by the US-origin General Electric F414 engine. Its maiden flight is mandated within 30 months of contract signing.The selected vendor would also be required to complete 1,800 test sorties within a strict 84-month timeline, after which AMCA series production is expected to commence, around 2035-36. Thereafter, the IAF plans to induct seven squadrons, or around 140–150 aircraft.The AMCA is expected to feature advanced avionics, an advanced indigenous electronic radar system, the AESA, and the ability to carry weapons both internally for stealth missions and externally for heavier combat loads. The later upgraded Mark 2 versions of the aircraft are expected to incorporate more powerful indigenous or jointly developed powerplants than the GE F414. This could potentially happen in collaboration with France’s Safran or Britain’s Rolls-Royce.Industry officials said the AMCA programme also marks a departure from India’s traditional Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)-centric aerospace structure. It positions private industry not simply as suppliers but as lead integrators in India’s most ambitious domestic combat aircraft project.These indigenous developments are unfolding against a backdrop of growing concern within Indian strategic circles over Pakistan’s prospective fifth-generation capabilities.A growing body of recent domestic and overseas analyses indicates that Islamabad is pursuing the acquisition of around 40 J-35AE fighters, potentially under concessional arrangements such as deferred payment structures and other forms of financial support from Beijing, with deliveries reportedly expected to commence imminently. These aircraft are expected to operate within the PAF’s Chinese-origin combat ecosystem, potentially integrated with KJ-500 airborne early warning and control assets and HQ-19 air and missile defence systems.Separately, reports suggest that PAF pilots were undergoing “familiarisation and training sorties” in China on Chinese-made stealth fighter jets – on the FC-31 (older variant) and/or the J-35AE export variant developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.The FC-31 programme traces its origins to the Shenyang FC-31 Gyrfalcon, a stealth fighter prototype unveiled around 2012 for the export market, as a lower-cost competitor to the US’s Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation combat platform. While it was initially designed with fifth-generation characteristics – such as low-observable shaping and advanced avionics – it remained a developmental demonstrator rather than a fully operational frontline fighter. Over time, the design evolved into the J-35 family, including carrier-capable naval variants and the J-35AE, the one reportedly earmarked for transfer to the PAF and other overseas customers.Consequently, Russian is still trying to persuade India to acquire about 40 Su-5 fighter jets (roughly two air-force squadrons), and discussions on this continued during the India–Russia defence meetings held alongside President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to New Delhi in December 2025. The discussions remain ongoing under the India–Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation, the primary bilateral mechanism to oversee military collaboration between the two countries. Official and industry sources indicate engagement on this platform at multiple levels thereafter, with exchanges and discussions still underway.The simultaneous Russia–China engagement in the prospective supply of advanced fighter aircraft to both India and Pakistan has been noted in some overseas analytical circles for its underlying irony in the current changing geopolitical and military situation. Analysts point to Beijing and Moscow – bound by deep strategic, economic, military, energy, political and diplomatic ties – as potential suppliers of advanced fighter aircraft to opposing nuclear-armed rivals on the subcontinent with a history of frequent military confrontation.Moscow appears to be positioning the Su-57 proposal within the context of India’s decades-old defence relationship with Russia, emphasising a willingness to share more advanced know-how in defence systems than is typically offered by other Western defence materiel suppliers, such as the US and France. This reportedly included access to sensitive fighter source codes that govern on-board mission systems, avionics and sensor integration. Russian discussions have also pointed to the potential adaptability of existing Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facilities at Nashik – currently used for Su-30MKI licensed production – for possible Su-57 assembly, or even full-scale manufacture in India.Earlier, the Su-57 had featured prominently at the Aero India 2025 air show in Bengaluru, where it made a high-profile appearance through both static display and flying demonstrations. It also showcased its low-observable airframe design, internal weapons bay configuration and avionics integration, while highlighting its multirole strike and air-superiority capabilities.In this context, Russia’s Su-57 sales pitch includes not only the supply of a limited number of fly-away platforms but also co-production in India, with numbers potentially increasing over time through technology transfer and licensed manufacturing, along the lines of earlier Soviet and Russian-origin aircraft programmes pursued locally since the late 1960s.Correspondingly, Moscow acknowledges that India remains one of its few major defence partners still open to deep military-technical cooperation, despite Russia’s ongoing involvement in the Ukraine conflict and associated sanctions pressures.Meanwhile, the cold logic behind the Russian Su-57 sales pitch is blunt, rooted in the perceived capability gap dynamic between the IAF and the PAF, as the latter moves towards the prospective induction of Chinese J-35 fighters. Its argument is further reinforced by the IAF’s continuing force-structure shortfall, operating presently with 29 fighter squadrons, against a sanctioned strength of 42: a gap of 13 squadrons, with at least six of these comprising legacy SEPECAT Jaguar units, nearing retirement.Yet substantial reservations remain within industry circles over the IAF acquiring Su-57s.The first concerns technical maturity.The Su-57 programme has long faced criticism over delayed engine development, low production numbers, uncertain stealth characteristics and prolonged testing cycles. Even favourable assessments acknowledge that the aircraft prioritises manoeuvrability and aerodynamic performance over the extreme low-observable design philosophy associated with comparable Western 5th-generation stealth fighters.Also read: India’s Crippling Dependence on Imported Aero EnginesIndia’s previous experience with the abandoned FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) programme with Russia also casts a long shadow over the Su-57 procurement. This project, based on the Russian PAK FA design that later evolved into the Su-57, saw India withdraw from it in 2017–18 despite having invested $295 million in it, partly over dissatisfaction with project costs, technology sharing, workshare arrangements and concerns regarding the aircraft’s overall maturity at the time. Returning now to essentially the same underlying platform, albeit under a different strategic rationale and label, would inevitably raise difficult questions within IAF fighter circles.Furthermore, inducting the Su-57 would further exacerbate existing logistical challenges within the IAF.The force already operates six different fighter types, including Anglo-French Jaguars, Soviet/Russian MiG-29s and Su-30MKIs, French Dassault Mirage 2000Hs and Rafales and the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, placing a considerable burden on its support and sustainment architecture. Each platform requires dedicated supply chains for spares, distinct maintenance and overhaul ecosystems, separate training pipelines, weapons integration frameworks and specialised ground support infrastructure, significantly complicating fleet management and lifecycle support.This, in turn, has created a highly fragmented sustainment structure with parallel inventories, multiple engine maintenance lines and diverse simulator and technical training systems operating simultaneously. The induction of yet another fighter type – particularly an advanced fifth-generation stealth platform like the Su-57 with sensitive maintenance requirements – would further deepen this complexity, introducing additional stealth-specific servicing protocols, software and avionics standardisation challenges and interoperability pressures across existing fleets.Senior IAF planners are believed to have repeatedly cautioned against rising lifecycle costs, reduced fleet availability and long-term sustainment constraints, even as the force continues to grapple with persistent squadron shortfalls.Additionally, there were also financial concerns.Industry and IAF critics argue that inducting an interim fleet of 2–3 Su-57 squadrons, numbering 40–60 aircraft, risks diverting resources, manpower and institutional focus away from the AMCA at precisely the moment India is seeking to accelerate indigenous aerospace capability. Others question whether Russia, given the demands of the Ukraine conflict and constraints within its defence-industrial base, can realistically deliver aircraft in the numbers and timelines India would require.Ultimately, how India responds to sustained Russian insistence on the Su-57 option will define whether its fifth-generation trajectory is temporary and import-led, or long-term and anchored in the AMCA as its core indigenous platform.