“Why did the Patriots shoot down the Kinzhal missile, which was touted as invincible? Why are Russian ships such attractive targets for countries without navies? The fighter jet was effectively shot down,” Rao told POLITICO.
The Indian Air Force has long been dominated by Russian jets, but the country is currently planning to refurbish and procure more than 100 new multi-role jets, and is not even considering tenders from Russia. Meanwhile, defense ties with the United States are strengthening, even though both sides still grapple with deep-seated mistrust.
For example, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House last year, US President Joe Biden signed an agreement allowing General Electric to transfer engine technology to power India’s new fighter jets. .
However, given the long-standing mistrust between Washington and New Delhi due to the US’ past sales of defense goods to Pakistan and reluctance to share defense technology with India, , France is emerging as India’s new favorite. New Delhi still has doubts about even sharing the engine technology promised by the US.Meanwhile, the U.S. remains concerned about the risk of critical technology falling into the hands of Russia via India.
France, on the other hand, is seen as eager to co-produce and easy to cooperate with, and is not burdened by cumbersome legislative procedures for arms sales or technology transfers. And with India’s recent purchase of 26 Rafale fighter jets, France is already the country’s second-largest exporter.
“France is the new Russia and much more than that,” Rao said. India also plans to expand defense trade with Israel and South Korea, and is considering German and Spanish companies for new submarines, defense experts say.
Despite this, India will continue to strengthen its ties with Russia even as defense imports decline. The increasingly deteriorating relations between China and Russia are worrying India, which will likely want to keep Moscow as a friend. Also, nearly 65 percent of India’s hardware, including helicopters, tanks, and fighter jets, originally comes from Russia, and it cannot cut off all imports overnight.
Still, Russia, which almost single-handedly armed the Indian Defense Forces in the 1960s, has now been relegated to one of many defense partners, largely due to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. This is an unexpected loss for the complex.
