So much has changed in the world. The Americans, who once used to put all their sensitive military equipment out of bounds for India, are now falling over themselves to sell all they can to this country. The United States will be the largest foreign presence at Aero India 2013, which begins at Yelahanka Air Force Station on Wednesday, with some 67 companies, with the likes of Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the lead, participating.
That alone might not tell the story of India’s changing geopolitics and military procurement. While India has spent nearly $40 billion on buying military equipment in the past three years (with the Indian Air Force taking the lion’s share, followed by the Navy), less than 20 per cent has gone to the Russian defence industry, our traditional suppliers. Between the last air show in 2011 and now, the Indian Air Force has signed contracts for over $8 billion for aircraft and missiles, and none of it has gone to Russia.
Of course, when President Vladimir Putin came visiting in December, New Delhi did give him two large deals — assembly kits for 42 more Su-30 MKI fighters and for 71 Mi-17 helicopters, worth $3.5-4 billion. The value of other deals already contracted — including the much-delayed Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier — is over $10 billion. But that’s still a far cry from Cold War decades, when all that the IAF flew were Russian — MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-27, MiG-29, not to mention helicopters and transport aircraft.
Now, though, the 126-fighter deal has gone to France’s Dassault Aviation, transport aircraft deals have gone to Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and when it comes to unmanned aerial vehicles there’s nobody to beat the Israelis.