What is also important is, the focus from our political leaders and MoD bereaucrats should not dither. If there is an alternative at play, every evaluation /assessment meetings will be directionless.
Buying two squadrons of Su 57 is like asking your wife/ partner to be 'slightly pregnant'.
Nether here, nor there. And also, enormously stupid.
We walked our of this program in 2018, coz we noticed over 40 shortcomings, including the big one- this isnt a 5th Gen aircraft.
If we expect ToT and local manufacturing, then we are looking at over 10-15 years from now. BTW, Russian themselves have only two Regiments ( close to 50 aircraft).
American alternative is even worse !
Burn the bridges behind us- no escape and no retreat- AMCA or nothing.
in 1519, Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico with a small force facing overwhelming odds from the Aztec Empire. To motivate his men and to eliminate any thought of retreat, he ordered his ships burned . There would be no escape back to Cuba or Spain- victory or death.
Let rafale be the last imported fighter.
We should build the future at home- manned or unmanned.
Some equipment would still be imported - like Engine (till we develop our own), ejection seat ( alternatives available), AAR kit etc.
We build as much as we can here- at home.
Challenges with the domestic fighter program are less technical and more of project management. A whole bunch of people need to be fired and a whole lot need to be fired-up.
One IAF 3 star to lead- reporting directly to NSA- weekly briefings- roll past the red tape. We pay the big price- PSU or private; people perform or perish. If the proposed timeline is overshot, the boss is replaced.
Ruthless mission mode energy is the bare minimum requirement.
Imported fifth gen fighter is a Chimera.