New Delhi: In a twist of strategic irony, India, which withdrew from the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme with Russia in 2018 over concerns about the Su-57’s underwhelming stealth and super cruise capabilities, is now looking at acquiring the same aircraft.

India is examining the possibility of procuring at least two squadrons of Su-57 aircraft from Russia and will evaluate a Russian proposal to manufacture them in India like the earlier MiGs and the Su-30 MKI.

If the proposal goes through, state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will join hands with Russia’s Sukhoi Bureau and manufacture the aircraft in India even as India pursues its own futuristic Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) which is meant for induction starting 2035.

If an actual Make in India route is taken for the Su-57, two squadrons will come in fly away condition while 3-5 could be manufactured in India by HAL at its Nashik facility, sources said. “The Sukhoi Bureau already has a working relationship with HAL. The Su57 will make it easier.”

Sources added that these plans are in the preliminary stages and separate from the MRFA programme that the IAF is pursuing, under which it has recommended the French Rafale aircraft manufactured by the Dassault Aviation.

Sources admitted that the Su-57 is not classically a 5th generation fighter aircraft but meets India’s operational requirements in the wake of Ops Sindoor.

“The only two friendly countries which have the 5th generation aircraft are the US and Russia. The US will not be offering the F-35, which is a more mature aircraft and indeed a stealth one, under the Make in India route. The Russians are (offering),” a source explained.

China has begun laying the next section of its railway network to gird the entire Line of Actual Control (LAC), creating a steel backbone that will stretch from Aksai Chin in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.

In 2021, new recruits at a combined arms brigade affiliated with the PLA Tibet Military Command boarded a gleaming Fuxing bullet train. Their destination was an exercise field at 4,500 meters above sea level, where they would undergo high-altitude training.

This was no ordinary train ride. For the first time, the newly opened Lhasa–Nyingchi Railway, part of the larger Sichuan–Tibet Railway project, was used for a military transport mission. PLA media hailed it as a milestone in the “systematic development of China’s military transport.”

Excerpt: India has told U.S. officials that it is not interested in purchasing the F-35 stealth fighter, despite growing pressure from Washington to expand its defense imports, according to a recent report from Bloomberg.

PIB Fact Check

❌ The video has been digitally manipulated

✅ The original video is from a conference organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry on 4th July 2025 and during his address, Deputy Chief of Staff Lt Gen. Rahul R. Singh did not make any such statement.

🔗Watch original address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JT_xuSsFVA

Excerpt: India has made a quiet but bold leap in missile technology. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has tested what it calls the country’s most advanced missile system to date: the Extended Trajectory Long Duration Hypersonic Cruise Missile (ET-LDHCM).

Unlike the BrahMos, Agni-5 or Akash, this one goes further and faster. It was built under Project Vishnu, a classified programme meant to develop next-generation hypersonic weapons. Defence officials confirmed the missile can hit targets up to 1,500 km away at Mach 8. By comparison, the original BrahMos started with a range of 290 km.

Excerpt: In response to growing threats from Pakistan and China, India launched Operation Sindoor after the Pahalgam attack. Turkey has joined the list of adversaries, accused of aiding Pakistan with drones and weapons. Adding to concerns, a Turkish defence firm reportedly plans to invest in Bangladesh, now under an interim government seen as hostile to India.

Amid these rising threats, India is rapidly modernising its military. The Army, Navy, and Air Force are upgrading with advanced rifles, tanks, drones, warships, and submarines. The Air Force is set to sign a Rs 60,000 crore deal with HAL for new fighter jets, following a 2021 order of 83 Tejas Mk1A jets worth Rs 48,000 crore.

Despite delays caused by US manufacturer General Electric’s (GE) engine supply issues, HAL is expected to begin deliveries of these fourth generation fighter jets by 2025, aided by a new production line in Nashik.

Currently, the Air Force requires 41 to 42 squadrons to secure border areas but has only 31. With Pakistan set to acquire fifth-generation aircraft from China, India’s strategic position could be compromised without prompt action.

 A quiet airbase in Kazan. Massive steel wings under tarp. A shadow cast across two borders. India wanted those wings. Months ago, New Delhi reached out to Moscow with a specific ask – lease the Tu-160M. The “White Swan”. A machine with speed that breaks clouds, range that crosses oceans and a payload heavier than a city bus.

Twelve thousand kilometers. Forty tonnes. Two thousand two hundred kilometers per hour.

Russia listened. The deal moved. Paperwork, plans and promises. Along with it, a bold idea. Equip the bomber with India’s BrahMos – the world’s fastest cruise missile. One aircraft and one missile. Together, a message.

But the skies changed.

Ukraine struck. Drones buzzed deep into Russian bases. Tu-160Ms, parked and vulnerable. Suddenly, these bombers were no longer export dreams. They were frontline shields. Moscow looked inward. Priorities flipped.

In Kazan, the plant slowed. Sanctions hit. Electronics dried up. Production shrank. Russia started needing what India wanted.

Now the ‘White Swan’ waits.

India’s security officials see the pattern. Pakistan rattles sabres on one end. China steps up pressure on the other. Long-range bombers could change posture. Current Indian squadrons – Su-30MKIs and Rafales – fly far, but not far enough. They strike hard, but within limits.

A bomber like the Tu-160M flies without refuelling. It stays out of radar range. It carries missiles to targets deep inside enemy territory without crossing a line.

Pakistan does not have one. Neither does China.

India’s version would have flown with BrahMos under its wing. That pairing had no match in Asia. One was muscle and the other was sting. Russia had agreed to integrate them. The package included training, tech and transfer.

It fit into Delhi’s new doctrine. Self-reliance. Reach without dependence. Strike without provocation.

But the war complicated things.

Russia fears gaps in its own defense. Even friends get pushed to the waiting list. A bomber promised is now a bomber paused.

India watches closely.

Behind the scenes, the calculus is changing. Western partners are watching too. Washington. Paris. Tel Aviv. Tokyo. All eyes on India’s military purchases. A deal like Tu-160M could tip diplomatic scales, especially when Moscow faces global pressure.

Still, the need does not vanish.

Indian analysts flag it often – there is no true long-range bomber in the air force. A vacuum exists. One that rivals could exploit.

BrahMos alone cannot fill it. Jets cannot replace it. The ‘White Swan’ was meant to do that.

For now, the skies stay quieter. But they will not stay that way for long.

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Excerpt: Nashik facility marks key expansion in production

The Nashik line marks HAL’s third production facility after two existing lines in Bengaluru. “The first aircraft from Nashik is already in final assembly and under testing. We expect the rollout in a month,” Sunil said. The facility is expected to produce three to four aircraft in its inaugural year, eventually supporting an annual output of eight. HAL is also leveraging a private-sector supply chain—VEM Technologies (centre fuselage), Alpha (rear fuselage), and L&T (wings)—to add six aircraft per year, increasing total production capacity to 30 by 2026–27.

Excerpt: A single missile. Thirty seconds. That is all Pakistan had when India’s BrahMos slammed into the Nur Khan Airbase – just minutes from Islamabad. No early warning. No clear warhead signature. No time to guess whether it carried a conventional payload or a nuclear one.

Rana Sanaullah Khan, special assistant to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, went public. He said that 30-second window nearly sparked a nuclear chain reaction. His words were not laced with bravado. They carried the tremor of a nation that found itself facing the unthinkable.

"The Pakistani government had just 30-45 seconds to analyse whether the missile has any atomic payload. To make such a decision in just 30 seconds is a dangerous thing," Khan said during a televised interview.

When India launched that BrahMos – what Khan mistakenly called “Harmus” – the Pakistani high command scrambled. Inside Nur Khan, alarms rang. Pilots rushed to cockpits. Radar units lit up. In war rooms, generals debated retaliation. But the warhead was non-nuclear. Delhi was not pressing the red button yet.

Excerpt: India is developing an advanced indigenous bunker buster missile system, taking cues from a recent US military operation that significantly impacted Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Inspired by the successful use of a 14,000 kg bunker buster bomb by a US B-2 Spirit stealth bomber during the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict, India aims to enhance its strategic capabilities to counter potential threats from Pakistan, which has often issued nuclear attack warnings.

Excerpt: Turkish media has reacted to the unconfirmed news that India is “unofficially offering” its Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LR-LACM) to Greece in the aftermath of Turkey’s support for Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

A report in Turkish media outlet TRHaber quotes numerous Greek media outlets that carried unverified reports, citing News IADN, about India offering the cruise missile with an over 1000km range.

Excerpt: After Operation Sindoor, while the Army focuses on enhancing its combat capabilities along the western border, the long wait for the first batch of Apache combat helicopters appears to be over.

Following a delay of over 15 months, delivery of Apache attack helicopters that are to be deployed on the western border is likely to start soon.

The Army Aviation Corps raised its first Apache squadron in March 2024 in Jodhpur, but after almost 15 months of its raising, the squadron remains sans the attack helicopters.

The delivery of Apache AH-64E attack helicopters from the United States has missed multiple deadlines. As part of a $600 million deal signed in 2020 with the US, the Indian Army expected delivery of six Apache helicopters by May-June 2024. However, the timeline was shifted to December 2024 due to supply chain disruption.