India to face US penalties but cannot de-couple from Russian military equipment

A threat of facing penalties by the US notwithstanding, it would be near impossible for India to decouple itself from Russian-origin military equipment.

New Delhi’s war machine is majorly sourced from Russia and this includes large fleets of fighter jets, tanks, rifles, helicopters, the S-400 air defence system besides the partnership for the BrahMos missile, which proved its efficacy during Operation Sindoor.

The US and its European allies often accuse India and China of buying crude oil and military equipment from Russia, which in turn funds the war machine against Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said India will not just face 25 per cent tariff but also penalties for buying weapons and oil from Russia. He posted on Truth Social, “They (India) have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of energy…India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25%, plus a penalty for the above, starting August 1.”

Though Trump blamed India for buying ‘a majority of military equipment from Russia’, New Delhi also purchased military equipment from the US, that so far has been a buyer-seller relationship. Despite spending almost $20 billion in purchases in the past decade and a half, India has not got technology transfer from the US on any major equipment. This includes General Electric F 404 engines, surveillance plane the Boeing P8-I, transport planes the C-17 and the C-130J, helicopters like Chinook, the Apache and the MH60R.

Russia is more amenable to India’s demands of technology transfer. Russia has a joint venture to produce the BrahMos missile in India; a majority of the Sukhoi 30 MKI jets were produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited; the T-90 tanks are produced at a factory near Chennai while the AK 203 rifle is made at a facility near Lucknow.

Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in its annual report on March 10 said that for a five-year block 2020-2024, India was second largest importer of weapons globally. Russia, supplied 36 per cent of these.

Despite India’s push towards indigenisation, there is deep-rooted dependency, established in cost-effectiveness and strategic legacy with Russia from the Cold War era. Western nations were hesitant to supply advanced weaponry to a ‘non-aligned’ India, and the Soviet Union emerged as a reliable and willing partner.

An estimated 60-70% of India's current military inventory is of Russian or Soviet origin. This creates a significant logistical and operational hurdle to any rapid transition.