IAF cuts procurement budget on Russia defence supply delays

Russia is unable to deliver vital defence supplies it had committed to India's military because of the war in Ukraine, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said.

The IAF also informed the parliamentary panel that the Russia-Ukraine war affected its supplies so much that it slashed its projected capital expenditure on modernisation for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, by nearly a third compared to the previous fiscal year.

The air force had projected a capital expenditure of Rs 85,500 crore ($10.38 billion) for fiscal 2022-23 and cut it to Rs 58,900 crore ($7.15 billion) in the national Budget presented in February.

New Delhi has been worried that Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 could affect military supplies from India's largest source of defence equipment. The IAF statement is the first official confirmation of such shortfalls.

Also read: Russia's reliance on China rises amid Ukraine sanctions

The IAF statement was made to a parliamentiary committee, which published it on its website on Tuesday. An IAF representative told the panel Russia had planned a "major delivery" this year that will not take place.

A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in New Delhi said: "We don’t have information which may confirm the stated."

There was no immediate response from Rosoboronexport, which is the Russian government's weapons export arm.

The report does not mention specifics of the delivery.

The biggest ongoing delivery is the S-400 Triumf air defence system units India bought in 2018 for Rs 44,400 crore ($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.

Also read | China has peace plan for Ukraine when West is ready: Putin

Russia, and the Soviet Union before it, has been India’s main source of arms and defence equipment for decades.

Russia accounted for Rs 70,000 crore ($8.5 billion) of the Rs 1.50 lakh crore ($18.3 billion) India has spent on arms imports since 2017, according to the latest data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Over the past two decades, New Delhi has sought to reduce its dependence on Moscow and looked westward towards France, the United States and Israel.

It is also pushing Indian companies to produce more at home in collaboration with global players.

($1 = Rs 82.19)