(Reuters) – Russia’s sate-controlled arms exporter Rosoboronexport is discussing with Indian enterprises the joint production of aircraft weapons for the Indian Air Force, Russia’s RIA state news agency reporter early on Tuesday.
“Rosoboronexport is working with Indian private and public enterprises to organise joint production of aviation weapons and integrate them into the existing aviation fleet in India,” RIA cited Rosoboronexport’s General Director Alexander Mikheyev as saying.
No details were provided about which Indian companies would be involved or when potential production would start.
Russia continues to be India’s largest arms supplier with its share of Indian defence imports at 45% in 2022, according to this year’s report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Mikheyev said that Rosoboronexport and Indian partners has provided the Indian Ministry of Defence with Su-30MKI fighter jets, tanks, armoured vehicles, and shells.
India and Russia have also started at the beginning of the year joint production of the AK-203 Kalashnikov assault rifles.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
