Russia, India agree to speed up delivery of military spare parts

“Both sides had a general sense of agreement that this would be expedited, including through setting up joint venture partnerships in India to look at some of these spare parts, particularly the more critical spare parts so that we are able to address this challenge in a more meaningful and sustainable way,” Kwatra said.

Most of India’s existing military hardware is Russian-origin and needs a regular supply of spares for maintenance. The Ukraine war has also delayed Russia’s scheduled deliveries of certain big-ticket weapon systems to India, like the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems.

Top Indian military leaders have, however, maintained that the delay in spares or maintenance support have not affected the Armed Forces’ operational preparedness.

According to officials, since supplies began to be affected after the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022, India has been looking to procure spares both from indigenous sources as well as countries like Poland and Georgia.

Last year, the former Army Chief, General Manoj Pande (retd), said that the Army had assessed its reliance on Soviet-origin equipment and was identifying alternative sources for spares and ammunition amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, a joint statement released Tuesday by the two countries said their defence partnership was reorienting presently to joint research and development, co-development and joint production of advanced defence technology and systems to meet India’s quest for self-sufficiency. They confirmed their commitment to maintain the momentum of joint military cooperation activities and expand military delegation exchanges.

Both sides, the statement said, agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of “spare parts, components, aggregates and other products” for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment under the Make-in-India programme. This would be done “through transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian Armed Forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries with their approval”.

In this regard, the statement added, the two sides agreed on establishing a new Working Group on Technological Cooperation and discussing its provisions during the next meeting of IRIGC-M&MTC (Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation) in Moscow in the second half of 2024.

In the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Indian military had estimated that the Mi-17 V5 choppers, the Su-30 MKI fighters and the RD-33 engines of MiG-29 jets for the IAF and its naval variant MiG-29 K fighters would likely face delays in spares supply and maintenance support from Russia.

Naval platforms such as the Kolkata-class stealth guided missile destroyers, the Shivalik class multirole stealth frigates, the Brahmaputra class frigates, the Kora class corvettes as well as the Army’s anti-tank ammunition, upgrade of its licence-built BMP-2 amphibious infantry combat vehicles, the T-90 tanks are among major platforms requiring Russian spares.

Aside from the S-400 Triumf, two Tushil-class ships are being constructed in Russia, an unspecified number of Smerch Multiple Rocket Launch Systems and rocket projectiles and Russian-made X-31 missiles, among other missiles, and spares for several weapon systems and equipment are being procured from Russia.