Reported sale of RD-93 engines to Pakistan will benefit India: Russian experts

Moscow: Russian defence experts on Sunday said the reported sale of RD-93 engines to Pakistan for integration into the JF-17 will actually benefit Delhi, dismissing the criticism of the Indian government by the opposition over the issue as unjustified.

“I don’t think the criticism here is justified. If reports about Russia providing engines for the JF-17 are correct, it actually benefits India in two ways,” Pyotr Topychkanov, who heads the Section on New Challenges in South and Southeast Asia at the prestigious Moscow-based Primakov Institute, told PTI.

“Firstly, it shows that China and Pakistan haven’t yet managed to replace the Russian-origin engine. Secondly, the new aircraft will be familiar and predictable to India, especially since they share the same engine and India observed the JF-17’s operational use during the May 2025 crisis (Operation Sindoor),” he added.

Topychkanov recalled that China had requested Russia to supply RD-93 engines for its FC-17 jet as a stop-gap measure, and the possibility of its transfer to Pakistan was flagged by the NDA and UPA governments at the time of prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh.

However, another expert, who did not wish to be identified, said he vaguely remembers discussions on the issue. “Moscow convinced New Delhi that the RD-93 deal was purely commercial without transfer of technology (ToT), while India was given license for much superior RD-33 engines under ToT.”

RD-93 produced by the Klimov plant, in comparison to its base RD-33’s, has more thrust but decreased service life. RD-93 has a service life of 2,200 hours while RD-33’s is 4,000 hours. Under a trilateral Russia-China-Pakistan agreement, Russia has been supplying fully assembled RD-93 engines since the early 2000s. Pakistan is now aiming for a modified version, which is not yet developed. There was no official word about the sale.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday demanded answers from the government on why India’s “once most reliable strategic ally”, Russia, is providing military support to Pakistan by supplying engines of Chinese-made JF-17 fighter jets.

The BJP on Sunday termed reports about Russia proceeding with the supply of JF-17 jet engines to Pakistan a “reckless information warfare” and slammed the Congress for raising the issue on social media, accusing it of choosing the “side of the enemy” instead of India.