Berlin, Germany (Weltexpress). The gigantic Indian market for military products is hotly contested by international defense companies. The annual air show “Aero India” is one of the world’s largest performance shows and sales events in the aerospace sector. This year too, the latest military technologies will be presented at Aero India 2025 from February 10 to 14 at the Yelahanka Air Force Base in Bengaluru, India.
This time, the international experts in attendance were treated to a special, free, top-class performance: Russia’s latest aviation wonder, the Su-57 “Felon”, which has already proven itself many times in active service over the Ukraine, was to compete against the US Air Force’s top Lockheed F-35 aircraft, known as the “flying computer”. The Su-57 has incredible flight characteristics thanks to a flawlessly functioning, unique Russian vector propulsion system, while the American F-35 has been the talk of the town for years mainly due to its software problems and downtimes, and new design flaws and other defects are constantly being discovered.
Even during the Cold War, Russia was by far India’s largest arms supplier, and this has remained the case to this day. However, India now produces a large proportion of its own weapons, most of which come from joint Russian-Indian projects. At the same time, India has also diversified its purchases more regionally compared to the past, making purchases from Western suppliers such as France, Israel and the UK, including some ‘token’ purchases in the US. However, despite their best efforts, the increasingly frustrated US defense contractors have so far failed to gain a foothold in the Indian market.
A fat purchase contract for a few dozen expensive F-35s – including decades-long after-sale service contracts – would finally have meant a breakthrough. Consequently, it was to be expected that the Americans had put their F-35 “Lightning II”, which they had moved to the Indian air force base in Yelahanka, where it could be admired by visitors alongside the Su-57 “Felon”, in excellent condition. Flight enthusiasts and interested experts therefore eagerly awaited the dynamic flight demonstrations of the competing Su-57 and F-35.
Russia’s Su-57, a fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft, made its debut at Aero India 2025 with a series of flying displays that could not have been more brilliant. The aircraft, known for its maneuverability and advanced stealth capabilities, impressed onlookers with its performance, including high-energy stunts and its incredible ‘over-maneuverability’.
The jet demonstrated its ability to turn, climb and perform acrobatic maneuvers typical not only of modern air combat scenarios, but was also able to highlight its combat capabilities for other tasks. Especially in India, with its long history of military-technological cooperation with the Russians, the appearance of the Su-57 made a clear statement regarding Russia’s unique technological capabilities.
And then the whole world waited for the F-35 to appear in the sky over the Indian airbase at Yelahanka. In vain! The plane remained on the ground. Reports, photos and posts on X (formerly Twitter) confirm that the F-35 was present, but only for static display. Enthusiasts and defense experts waited to no purpose for a dynamic flight demonstration.
There was wild speculation on the websites and social media channels of defense experts and bloggers as to why the American F-35 star remained on the ground instead of soaring into the sky in breathtaking fashion like its Russian competitor. One of the reasons cited in this context was the Americans’ concern that the systems installed in the Su-57 could process important flight data from the F-35 and expose weaknesses in the American “flying computer” to its disadvantage.
Other analysts dismissed this explanation as a pretext and suspected that the real reason was that the Americans did not want to embarrass themselves with the inferior flight performance of the F-35. But perhaps it was simply another one of those defects that frequently occur with the F-35.
Against the backdrop of the debate taking place in India over the modernization of the country’s air force, the choice is between continuing the tradition with Russian technology and diversifying with Western options such as the F-35 jet. Whatever the outcome of this debate, the F-35’s no-show in the skies over Yelahanka airbase is unlikely to have helped improve the F-35 fighter’s problematic reputation. At the same time, the Russians have dealt a knockout blow to the Americans’ obsession with technological superiority with their new Su-57 star before the eyes of the world.
Despite the many mishaps with the scandalous aircraft, the German armed forces are sticking to their order for 35 F-35 fighter jets – at a price of 8.4 billion US dollars or 240 million per unit.
