Speaking at an international forum, Russia and India: Strategic Partnership in the 21st Century, Yury Lastochkin said: "The tender will be closed this year, and the deal is worth more than a $1 billion. The Tejas light fighter is the first aircraft being developed under the Indian national program Light Combat Aircraft."
Lastochkin said Russia, which exported over $5-billion worth of arms last year, should focus on new weaponry for Asian markets.
"If Russia does not develop new weapons, in the next 10-15 years our cooperation [with India] will amount to nothing," he said, adding that the development of a fifth-generation fighter could be a promising area of bilateral cooperation.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov earlier said Russian-Indian military and technological cooperation was estimated to be worth $33 billion, or about 70% of India's weapons imports. Russia is currently working on contracts with India worth $10-billion.
Notable deals in recent years include a contract for the modernization and sale of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, and deals on Sukhoi fighters, Il-76 transport planes and T-90 main battle tanks.
