India, in the event of ordering new Russian Su-57 fighters, intends to convert them into a two-seater version with the index "D". This was reported by a retired military pilot, author of the Telegram channel Fighterbomber.
He suggested that the Su-57s will be at India's disposal as early as the beginning of 2026. The timing of the localization of production on the territory of the republic is still unknown.
D - apparently, means two-seater. This is the right decision. A living navigator is better than neural networks.
The military pilot explained that in the two-seater version, the aircraft will receive dual controls.
The retraining process will be painless. Because now there is nothing to teach a pilot to fly a Su-57 on. Actually, like on the Su-35S.
Roman Gusarov, editor-in-chief of the Avia.ru portal, explained to "Perviy Technicheskiy" that for Russia, the localization of Su-57 production in India will become a profitable deal. Thanks to such cooperation, the Russian Federation will be able to increase the production of components for the combat aircraft.
Russian Ambassador to New Delhi Denis previously confirmed that licensed production of the Su-57 is planned to be established in India.
Prior to that, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov confirmed that artificial intelligence technologies will be introduced into the Su-57. According to him, it is impossible for one pilot to make decisions about the flight and the use of weapons.