Russia allows military spare-parts makers to deal with India directly

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 11

In a major development, Russia has allowed its military spare parts manufacturers to sell items directly to India. This will improve servicing and repairs of Russian/Soviet-origin equipment.

About 70 per cent of military equipment with the Indian armed forces — the Army, Indian Air Force and the Navy — is from Russia. With Moscow continuing to be the largest supplier of military hardware, this scenario will not change for the next three decades.

Repairs and servicing of key equipment is hampered by lack of ready availability of spares and a rather circuitous route through a single agency in Moscow makes it even more lengthy. The Russian permission will help, among other aspects, in improving the servicing and repair of the Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets, the Mi-17 helicopters, Navy warships and T-90 tanks.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has conveyed the decision to their Indian counterparts through an official communication. “The communiqué from Russia details which all companies or original equipment manufacturers have been permitted to sell spare parts to India directly without seeking permission for each tranche,” a source in the MoD confirmed. The MoD here has further circulated the list of companies permitted by Moscow to the three services asking them to see and check if any company which deals with India has been left out. The matter has been discussed during the summit meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.

A senior functionary said the Russian manufacturers of military equipment source key parts, such as engines, avionics, weaponry from producers within Russia and sometimes even Ukraine to integrate them on planes or warships or tanks.

All military equipment by the very nature of it needs consumable parts which have ‘run-life’ and need to be changed or overhauled after its specified life. For example, the engine of the Sukhoi-30 needs to be overhauled after  800-900 hours of flying.

The Sukhoi is serviced and maintained by the PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). There are four key suppliers. The Sukhoi has an availability rate of 65 per cent and large parts of it due to delay in spares. The IAF’s operated base repair depots maintain the fleet of Mi-17s while the Navy maintains its own warships at naval dockyards. Sources here said once this is done, HAL, IAF, Navy and the Army can source spares from Russia.