Russia fails to supply arms to India because of war with Ukraine

The Indian Air Force (IAF) states that Russia is unable to deliver vital defence supplies it had committed to India's military because of the war in Ukraine.  Source: Reuters Details: The statement by the Indian Air Force was made to a parliamentary committee, which posted it on its website on 21 March.

An IAF representative told the panel Russia had planned a "major delivery" this year that will not take place.

At the same time, a spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in New Delhi said: "We don't have information which may confirm the stated." Rosoboronexport, the Russian government's weapons export arm, also refused to comment on this information. The report does not mention specifics of the delivery.

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The biggest ongoing delivery is the S-400 Triumf air defence system units India bought in 2018 for US£5.4 billion. Three of these systems have been delivered and two more are awaited. IAF also depends on Russia for spares for its Su-30MKI and MiG-29 fighter jets, the mainstay of the service branch.

India's Parliamentary Commission was also informed that the Russo-Ukrainian war had affected the supply so much that it had cut projected capital expenditure on modernising military equipment by almost a third. The air force had projected a capital expenditure of 853 billion rupees (US10.38 billion) for fiscal 2022-23 years and cut it to 588 billion rupees (US7.15 billion) in the national budget presented in February. Russia, and before it the Soviet Union, has been India's main source of arms and defence equipment for decades.

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia accounts for US8.5 billion of the US18.3 billion India has spent on arms imports since 2017. Background: In 2022, India decided to cancel plans to purchase 48 Mi-17 V5 helicopters from Russia to support the government's "Make in India" initiative.

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