World Naval Developments

The Moscow-New Delhi Express

When he visited India last fall, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed several weapons deals, including a $30 billion agreement to jointly develop a “fifth-generation fighter,” the Sukhoi Su-35. India is already jointly developing a supersonic cruise missile (BrahMos) with the Russians, and it is buying (and building under license) the Su-30. Now that China is relying almost entirely on homegrown (if often largely copied) weapons and airplanes, India is Russia’s single largest customer for arms. Moreover, given the continued problems of Russian internal finances, Indian joint development is probably the single best source of cash for Russian weapon-design organizations.