India's Super Sukhoi upgrade is an emblem of our geopolitical neutrality

livemint.com:

₹60,000 crore plan to upgrade the SU30 MKI fleet into lethal 4++ generation aircraft can be considered a facet of New Delhi’s current policy bent and objectives. While the ‘Super Sukhoi’ will include an array of domestic technologies, two aspects of it are especially revelatory. The induction of the Virupaksha AESA radar system, a gallium nitride derivative of India’s indigenous Uttam radar, followed by planned upgrades to AL31FP aero-engines are cases in point here.

The Virupaksha upgrade can be a game-changer because it will widen vastly the choice of compatible weapons for SU30s. In its current guise, the SU30 MKI uses the Russian Bars Leopard radar system, which is incompatible with Western weapon systems. This makes interoperability of SU30 with other Indian fighter platforms difficult, primarily because Western suppliers are unwilling to share their weapon codes for integration with a Russian platform.

This status quo, however, was shattered on 27 February 2019, when an air skirmish with Pakistan’s Air Force demonstrated the need for longer range Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile systems, which were not available at the time. This led to the realization that reliable systems such as the European Meteor and US AIM-120 could easily be integrated with Indian-origin radar and jammers, irrespective of platform origin. Once completed successfully, the Virupaksha’s integration will transform our Super Sukhois into possibly the only Russian aircraft that can carry weapon systems of European and American origin, along with those from Russia.