As concept it is but the concept is gradually taking a more matured shape now due to autonomous unmanned system itself morphing quickly, and will continue to do so. About the two seater, it was a matter of pursuing it as part of the whole project but our altogether exit from the project meant it went low priority and Su57 itself is just maturing into some usable platform. How far it will go we have to see. There are many dynamics at work, availability of 5th gen jets, several 5th gen individual programs starting, Koreans getting help from US for similar platforms and offering that to emerging markets suggest our own future procurement could be dynamic as well.
The Russians are serious about their military programs, unlike what's been pushed in Western media, all their main programs will go very far. The Su-57 in particular is a 50-year progam for them, almost twice that of AMCA and F-22. That's one of the main reasons why I support a piecemeal induction.
In the meantime, they are considering starting a 6th gen project and it could be optionally manned or completely unmanned.
I am not buying the French tot thing, until I see proper result/solid contract committment. Most of their ToT or commitments from past deals have only resulted in consultancy sort of role in other projects. I do not see any different outcome this time too.Their offer will be in areas where we have equivalent or good enough tech already.
Geopolitics has changed a lot in our favor. Anyway, entering MRFA binds them to a 50% ToT committment right from the start. And ToT will be one of the most important considerations in the contest. The ones who provide the most will win.
You do not have to connect/contract MRFA MMRCA together, just take into account that a single vendor will be the source for both naval and IAF jets, which is not the case for any other vendors taking part, except maybe F35 which we know IAF would definitely consider.
That's just happenstance, not planned. The F-35 won't win without 50% ToT, which is pretty much guaranteed. At this time, the US is only open for a direct export to India, not production, not even an assembly line. They have no real interest in helping us become independent, this was known by how they worded the pact we signed too, DTI, trade instead of technology. To the US, India is just a market in the aerospace sector, not a partner.
Interoperability seems to be a big thing in future decades for our integrated defense forces. Only one offered option suits this for both contracts, now up to the Govt to accept and try to leverage for local prod. I do not think Dassault is in a hurry for local prod yet.
Dassault's assembly line for Falcons can assemble Rafales as well. From their perspective, production in India is cheaper, so they are very interested in starting production in India. It directly affects their bottomline.
