Despite Trump’s latest threat, India can’t decouple from Russian military equipment
The threat of US penalties notwithstanding, it would be near impossible for India to decouple itself from Russian-origin military equipment.
New Delhi’s war-machine is majorly parented from Russia. This includes large fleets of fighter jets, tanks, rifles, helicopters and 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 today said India would not just face 25 per cent tariff, but also penalties for buying weapons and oil from Russia. He posted on social media platform 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 gotten technology transfer from the US on any major equipment. This includes, General Electric F 404 engines, surveillance plane Boeing P8-I, transport planes C-17 and C-130J, helicopters, such as Chinook, Apache and MH60R.
Russia is more amenable to India’s demands of technology transfer. Russia has a joint venture to produce the BrahMos in India; a majority of Sukhoi 30 MKI jets were produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited; T-90 tanks are produced at a factory near Chennai while AK 203 Rifle is made at a facility near Lucknow.
Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its annual report on March 10 this year said for a five-year block 2020-2024, India was the second largest importer of weapons globally. Russia, supplied 36 per cent of these imports.
Despite India’s push towards indigenisation, there is a deep-rooted dependency, established in cost-effectiveness and strategic legacy with the Russia from the Cold War era. Western nations were hesitant to supply advanced weaponry to a ‘non-aligned’ India, 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. India armed forces and their maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) ecosystem, including manufacturing facilities under license, a well-trained workforce, and a deeply ingrained institutional knowledge of Russian platforms.
Also during Soviet times military hardware was significantly more affordable for India than what Western counterparts had.
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