Defense News reports that India’s highest decision-making body on security matters has given the approval to the joint development with Russia of a multirole transport aircraft (MTA). The plan calls for India and Russia to jointly build 210 MTAs, with Russia buying 100 and India buying the rest. The agreement will include an option for India to buy 100 more MTAs for its Army and other security forces.
India and Russia have closed a very close military relationship with each other. However, ties between the two nations have taken a battering in the past few years due to serviceability issues of Russian defence companies and the inability of these defence companies to meet the delivery datelines. However, despite its superior features there have been no export orders for the BrahMos missile. Rumours are that the Russian's have asked too high a royalty per missile to ensure that they do not cannibalise the sale of Russia's own competing missile systems.
In the past also, the two nations co-developed state-of-the-art BrahMos supersonic cruise missile hat can be launched from submarines ships, aircraft or land. India is also signed a deal to jointly develop a fifth generation combat aircraft along with Russia in 2007. As per the plans, the aircraft would be inducted into the IAF by 2017.
Russia's military cooperation with India goes back nearly half a century, and the country accounts for about 40% of Russian arms exports.
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