After SJ-100 Production Deal, Will India Co-Produce the Sukhoi Su-57 Fighter?

India’s state-run aerospace giant Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) [which is the manufacturer of Tejas  (the aircraft type that crashed in the Dubai Air Show last year)] and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) have formalized a landmark agreement for licensed production of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SJ-100) civil aircraft in India, signaling a major expansion of bilateral aerospace cooperation.

The pact was signed on the sidelines of the Wings India 2026 exhibition in Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (HYD), bringing civil aircraft manufacturing to the forefront of India’s aviation ambitions. The broader implications are the renewed discussions over the possible co-production of Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57 ‘Felon’ fighter jet in India as a stopgap interim capability for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) – Company Overview

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to Produce Sukhoi SJ-100 in India

SJ-100 Production in India

Under the MoU, HAL will not only manufacture the Superjet 100 but also obtain a license to sell the aircraft domestically, as well as produce components and spares critical for maintenance and overhaul. UAC will support HAL by re-equipping manufacturing facilities and providing specialist design services.

According to UAC’s words quoted in Interfax:

“The document formalizes the agreement that HAL will provide assistance to UAC within the process of certifying/validating the type certificate of the Superjet in India. At the same time, HAL will be granted a license for the production and sales of the SJ-100, including the assemblies, parts and components necessary for the repair and maintenance of this aircraft,”

UAC was also quoted in Eurasian Times as having remarked that the agreement “marks an important step toward concluding a general agreement, which will outline the roadmap, timeframe, financial indicators, and a detailed breakdown of the respective workloads of the parties”.

The SJ-100 is a twin-engine, narrow-body regional aircraft built for short-haul operations and is in service with more than 16 airlines worldwide. The aircraft has a production tally exceeding 200 units, and here are the aircraft’s specifications:

Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SJ-100) – Technical Specifications

Putting SJ-100’s Manufacture in India in the Context of the Nation’s Aviation landscape

The news of the production of SJ-100 in India comes months after Airbus Helicopters and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) announced that Airbus H125, the aircraft that landed at the top of Everest, will be produced in India.

India’s civil aviation market has experienced robust growth and is now ranked among the world’s top three, with passenger volumes exceeding 200 million annually in 2024. Projections indicate traffic could reach 300 million by 2030 as leisure, business, and regional connectivity expand. This burgeoning market fuels substantial aircraft demand over the next decade, with projections widely estimating the need for 1,000–1,500 new commercial airliners to support fleet growth and replacements.

The agreement of developing SJ-100 marks the first instance in which a fully assembled passenger aircraft will be manufactured in India in decades. The last comparable effort was HAL’s licensed production of the AVRO HS748, a programme that began in 1961 and concluded in 1988.

Under that arrangement, HAL produced a total of 89 HS748 aircraft:

• 72 were delivered to the Indian Air Force

• 17 entered service with the national carrier, Indian Airlines

At present, India remains almost entirely dependent on Boeing and Airbus for its commercial fleets. Establishing domestic passenger jet manufacturing could therefore help conserve billions of dollars in foreign exchange while strengthening local aerospace capabilities.

Recent airline orders highlight the scale of India’s reliance on imports:

• IndiGo has ordered 560 aircraft

• Air India has committed to 570 aircraft

• Combined orders exceed 1,100 jets, with a total value of more than US$100 billion

India operates the UDAN programme as a national initiative designed to improve regional air connectivity through the expansion and development of airports across the country. The policy has structurally increased demand for aircraft suited to short- and medium-haul operations on regional routes.

The UAC–HAL agreement was finalized on the opening day of the Wings India 2026 aviation exhibition in Hyderabad. A day earlier, a separate memorandum was signed involving Brazil’s Embraer and entities led by Indian industrialist Gautam Adani, including Adani Enterprises Ltd and Adani Defence & Aerospace, focusing on the localisation of aircraft production in India.

Embraer said the partnership will explore collaboration across aircraft manufacturing, including the establishment of an assembly line, as well as after-sales support and pilot training. At this stage, the companies have not identified which aircraft model could be produced domestically. At present, around 50 Embraer aircraft operate in India across passenger, military, and business aviation roles, including 13 E175 and ERJ145 regional jets flown by Star Air.

Boeing’s long-term outlook for India and South Asia points to sustained growth in air travel, with fleet expansion and workforce requirements scaling in parallel to meet future demand.

India and South Asia Aviation Growth Outlook

Prospects of Sukhoi Su-57 Production in India

Alongside civil collaboration, India and Russia are reported to be in advanced technical talks regarding the potential co-production of the Sukhoi Su-57 Felon fifth-generation fighter. The discussions focus on leveraging existing HAL infrastructure, including facilities used for Su-30MKI production

According to Eurasian Times, Vadim Badekha, UAC’s CEO told Russian reporters in Hyderabad that India and Russia were in “deep technical stage” of negotiations on the production of the Su-57s in India. Badekha was quoted in the same source as having said the following to the Russian News agency TASS:

“Today, we are in the deep technical stage of negotiations on this contract [for the Su-57]. Such contracts, given our experience, determine the trajectory of our cooperation for several decades to come……Therefore, the contract requires extensive, in-depth study. It is currently in the advanced stage of technical consultations,”

HAL Facilities Supporting Sukhoi Fighter Programs