New Delhi: In a U-turn from the previous American stance, US President Donald Trump has offered the possible sale of the F-35 stealth aircraft to India, which the country has sold so far only to allies and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) countries.
The decision sets the stage for unprecedented defence cooperation between the two countries and could pave the way for a much deeper partnership.
Following his talks with Trump, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the US has an important role in Indian defence preparedness.
“Starting this year, we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We are also paving the way to ultimately provide F-35 stealth fighters,” Trump announced during a joint press conference with Modi.
Though he did not provide any finer details of the move or any fixed timeline, the deal is expected to take time and will involve a lot of negotiations.
The joint statement released following the talks did not specifically mention the F-35, but said that the US will review its policy on releasing fifth generation fighters and undersea systems to India.
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US refused to sell F-35s to India in the past
Interestingly, the US has, in the past, refused to sell the F-35—manufactured by American firm Lockheed Martin—to India, given the close ties that New Delhi has with Russia.
The US was actually pushing for the F-21, an upgraded version of the F-16s on paper, even though another American firm Boeing was offering India the F/A 18 Super Hornets and the F-15 EX.
One of the big reasons why the US had refused to sell the F-35 was that Washington wanted to protect its stealth technology.
In the past, IAF officers have spoken in private about the capabilities of the F-35, but it has never been seriously considered because there was never an offer.
Lockheed Martin manufactures three variants of the F-35 for US military and allies, including Britain, Australia, Italy, Turkey, Norway, Netherlands, Israel, Japan, South Korea and Belgium.
Sources had previously said that India’s close relations with Russia were a hindrance because the fighters were made to outsmart Russian and Chinese air defences.
India uses the S-400 air defence systems and the fear was that Russians would eventually come to know about the full capabilities and limitations of the F-35, one way or another.
Sources in the Indian defence and security establishment said that while Trump has approved the sale, a lot of work is needed before the actual signing.
They added that while the US will have to clear several formalities back on their soil and get Congress approvals, India will also look at multiple aspects, including not just the immediate cost, but also life cycle costs and the kind of systems that they will get.
They also highlighted the statement by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri at a press briefing on the F-35 offer.
“On military sales to India, there is a process by which platforms are acquired. You are well aware of that process. There is, in most cases, a request for proposals that is floated. There are responses to those. They are evaluated,” Misri said. “I don’t think with regard to the acquisition of an advanced aviation platform by India, that process has started yet. This is currently something that’s at the stage of a proposal. I don’t think the formal process in this regard has started as yet”.
India is already pursuing its own fifth generation fighter aircraft programme called the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). The Russians have offered their own fifth generation fighter Su-57 for joint production in India.
Sources explained that there is no way any deal with any country will impact the AMCA programme.
F-35 offer to impact France, others
The F-35 offer is, however, a setback to France, which was the frontrunner to bag the mega contract for 114 Medium Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA).
While India is yet to formally release a tender for the MRFA, which has been delayed for over eight years, the French are the frontrunners to win the contract for 114 fighters or even lesser numbers.
This is because the Indian Air Force already uses the Rafale fighters and they have already paid for India-specific enhancements on the 36 fighters.
The Trump offer will wreck the plans of every other major player eyeing the project—Swedish firm Saab, French firm Dassault Aviation, Russia with its Su-57, MiG 35 and Su-35, and also American firm Boeing, which intended to sell the F-15.
Sources admitted that the F-35 offer and Trump’s pushy nature could delay the MRFA programme further.
“The IAF will have to look at the American offer as and when it happens. They will then look at the numbers and decide whether it makes sense to them. This means that the MRFA programme gets delayed because either the US could offer F-35 as part of the tendering process or separately,” a source explained.
“If as part of MRFA, it will have to wait for the US to finish formalities at their end. If separately, IAF cannot afford to have the F-35s, MRFA, Tejas MK1A, Tejas Mk2 and also the AMCA.”
Sources also said that Trump’s offer is currently very fluid because formalities are yet to start. Even when the MRFA Request for Information was sent out in 2018, Lockheed Martin had responded with the offer of F-21, which was cleared by the US government. There was no clearance for the F-35 under the previous Trump administration.
Asked about Trump’s offer, another set of sources in the defence establishment said that decisions are not taken only at the force level. The IAF or any service can recommend, but the final decision is taken by the government, which takes into account multiple factors, including strategic reasons, and not just the machine and life cycle costs of a single product, they added.
India has bought more than $20 billion of US defence products since 2008. Last year, India ordered 31 MQ-9B SeaGuardian and SkyGuardian drones after deliberations that lasted more than six years.
Other key projects that are under discussion between the two countries are the joint manufacturing of the Stryker armoured infantry combat vehicles, Javelin anti-tank missile systems, C-130 J transport aircraft, and additional P8i maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
Except for the C-130J, which is one of the contenders for a medium transport aircraft programme of the IAF with France and Brazil as competitors, decisions have been taken on the rest of the programmes mentioned above. Only modalities are being worked out.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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All fighter aircraft are a Complete waste of money . Defense Drones are the future of modern Air Force protection . Stop waste
Once those countries realise that socialist India’s coffers don’t have the money to buy 126 ‘expensive’ fighter jets, they will give zero importance to our country.