India-Russia jet deal hits turbulence over 'technical worries'

New Delhi is increasingly concerned about the sluggish progress in the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) project, a joint endeavour between India and Russia. Driving India's worries is the fact that the Russians are neither explaining why a prototype aircraft caught fire during a technology demonstration earlier this year nor addressing other technical doubts expressed by India. In fact, the Defence Ministry is quite sceptical about reports from Russia that a final design contract for the next generation combat jet is on th…