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HomeOpinionF-16 never stood a chance to be in IAF fleet. Lockheed Martin...

F-16 never stood a chance to be in IAF fleet. Lockheed Martin messed it up so much

In many ways, F-16 is a microcosm of India-US ties. Imran Khan’s meeting with Donald Trump had little role in US resuming military sales to Pakistan.

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If US President Donald Trump offering to mediate on the Kashmir issue wasn’t enough, he went ahead and exonerated ‘selected’ Prime Minister Imran Khan – implying that under Khan, Pakistani perfidy has stopped. To cap it all, the State Department announced a resumption of military supplies – specifically F-16 spares – to Pakistan. In many ways, the F-16 is a microcosm of India-US ties: oversell, unable to understand the other, stringing your lover along in spite of not understanding what he/she is saying, and a final rejection leading to bitterness.

Let us be clear, however, that the F-16 never stood a chance. Lockheed Martin (LM) screwed up on several issues: its primary weapon the AMRAAM; its sales pitch peddling a point the Indian Air Force (IAF) did not understand; a sales campaign that bordered on outright lies; and finally, Balakot, which proved to be the last nail in the coffin.

Avoiding F-16 in a dogfight

The moment India is offered the same equipment as Pakistan, you pretty much know it’s going to be rejected. Although, India had no hesitation buying the same manufacturer’s C-130 transport aircraft, which Pakistan also operates. However, the IAF, instead of looking at how its aircraft perform in combat situations, seems to be obsessed about fitting them with one particular missile: the European Meteor. The Meteor missile’s long range outclasses the F-16’s primary long-range air-to air weapon, the AMRAAM.

It is in fact a tribute to the F-16’s potency that the IAF wants to avoid engaging it in a dogfight and would prefer to take it out at longer ranges. In effect, it wasn’t the F-16 that irritated the IAF so much as it was the AMRAAM – after all, no matter how advanced an F-16 India was being offered, if the missiles were going to be the same as Pakistan’s (AMRAAM), the electronics differential of the launch platform wasn’t going to be much use to India.


Also read: Days after Trump-Imran meet, US approves deal to monitor 24×7 Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jets


F-16, upgraded to F-21

To counter this perception, LM had a clear case that the F-16 being sold to India (the Block 70 variant, since renamed F-21) was a whole different beast from the Block 50 that Pakistan has. Beyond the superficial exterior resemblance, there’s about 40 per cent difference in terms of equipment; and the electronics derive much from the F-35’s heavily network centric architecture. As such, the F-21s are a generation ahead from anything on Pakistan’s F-16 that could be better in terms of being able to see further, ‘talk to’ other networked assets, and jam enemy frequencies better. So, even if the F-21 and F-16 use the same missile, the F-21 can detect its enemy faster and shoot first and more accurately.

Sadly, given the hodgepodge of equipment the IAF operates, almost none of which talk to each other, the IAF simply doesn’t understand networked warfare, nor does it care. Stuck in the 1980s’ mindset, the IAF still believes in kinetics while the rest of the world has moved towards electronics. The simplest explanation for this is the scene from Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark, where an Arab swordsman comes around flaunting his sword skills and Indy simply shoots him with a revolver. Here, the IAF is the Arab swordsman, who thinks a better sword could have won him the battle, instead of transitioning to a revolver; Lockheed Martin is the revolver salesman, who futilely tries arguing with the swordsman to give up his sword for the revolver.


Also read: Was it US’ F-16 or China’s JF-17 that ‘downed’ MiG 21 Bison piloted by Abhinandan?


US firm’s disinformation campaign

If LM’s sales pitch left the IAF confused, then LM’s disinformation left the IAF entirely not-amused. This disinformation campaign started off with the promise of F-16 production being shifted to India. This developed into a set of transparent lies that F-16 production would involve deep technology transfer and make India independent. Obviously, it didn’t take long for the lies to get called out, which was followed by a public retraction from Lockheed. The amount of damage this did to LM’s campaign is almost incalculable.

But Balakot was the last straw. The IAF is convinced that it shot down an F-16 using an obsolete MiG-21. The severe factual inaccuracies of the “IAF didn’t shoot an F-16” lobby, combined with an embarrassing set of tweets by the Pakistani DG-ISPR unable to explain two missing pilots, means the IAF is now convinced that its reliance on dogfights is valid (that is, the Arab swordsman can still win against Indian Jones’ revolver) and that the F-16 is a flawed product.

In the end, the overall problems of the India-US relationship explained earlier are distilled into India’s F-16 saga: India’s understanding of war and technology being different to the US, both talking a different language; disinformation from the US’ side; India giving false hope where there was none to begin with. In such circumstances, the resumption of military sales to Pakistan was a foregone conclusion, and would have happened regardless of whether there was a Donald Trump involved without anyone getting surprised.

The author is a senior fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. He tweets @iyervval. Views are personal.

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117 COMMENTS

  1. Entire comment section is full of butthurt Indians. They are quite silly bunch, I see same attitude towards Arjun tank which they claim is #1 despite its horrendous and crippling issues. Their ignorance is only overshadowed by their zeal. Look at how quick they are proclaim that author does not understand what he is talking about, but none of them had even tried to challenge anything he had said directly. In fact, entire comment section is people identifying themselves as an Indian Air Force and saying, I’m not a butt end of that analogy. I’m actually really clever!

    But I guess this is why third world countries will always remain third world countries. It is their mentality and culture which will always fail them.

    • ‘…none of them have actually tried to challenge anything said by him directly.’ Did you even bother read even some of the comments yourself before jumping here to ahit from your mouth kid?

    • ‘…none of them have actually tried to challenge anything said by him directly.’ Did you even bother read even some of the comments yourself before jumping here to rant kid?

  2. this article is toxic and total crap! shove that arab sword into your own as* abhijit and that revolver too! total bullsh*t this article is! maybe you were high when you wrote it down!

  3. Given the shortcomings of the Tejas some, but not all, of which can be rectified it is not surprising that the IAF finally threw in the towel and decided to seek an advanced foreign fighter to satisfy its MMRCA requirements, even if only partially. That the 90 aircraft now considered for acquisition will be single-engined suggests that this segment of the IAF may eventually end up bifurcated. The single-engine platform, which hopefully will be announced in the next year or so, will complement the 83 Tejas fighters already approved for procurement: together serving as replacements for the retiring MiG- in the IAF inventory. Because the 90 future selectees and the 123 Tejas aircraft that will eventually be acquired will still not suffice as one-to-one replacements for the MiG-, i 40 t is possible that the IAF may consider acquiring additional medium-weight twin-engined Western fighters down the line, if and when finances permit, in order to further strengthen the IAF for counter-air operations involving China and preserve the three-tier force that the service has sought to maintain more recently.

  4. Starting with the IAF race first, the F-16 is a storied fighter that has been in continual production since 1976 with over 4,500 aircraft built since. Although designed initially as a light fighter for within- visual-range combat, it has evolved into a formidable multirole platform over time, all the while remaining one of the most agile air combatants ever produced by the United States (US). Today, the F-16 in the US Air Force (USAF), for example, is employed for all-weather counter-air operations: these include both beyond- and within-visual-range air-to-air engagements as well as anti- surface strike (including specialised missions such as the suppression of enemy air defences).

  5. The Indian Airforce does not understand network centric warfare! Are you serious Abhijit? You are as confused as your surname pal.
    A senior fellow at Harvard should know better before writing something so ridiculously inaccurate as this; and in doing so, not only does he show his absolute lack of knowledge about the subject he’s writing about but also portrays his organisation in very poor light for admitting such uninformed people into their fellowship programmes.
    Sure the Indian Airforce may not be as technologically advanced as (your) US air force, but to compare it with an analogy of an Arab swordsman is insulting, to say the least.
    My dear friend, Lockheed Martin is not the revolver salesman, Dassault aviation is.
    Over the years the IAF has steadily worked to improve its electronic warfare capabilities and better battle field management and awareness through a network centric approach.

    I will give you one other reason why India should not buy the F-16/21, other than the fact that it is itself of a vintage design.
    And that is the trustworthiness of the Americans (or the lack of it).
    India should not purchase any strategic weapons from an unreliable ally like the US. And we cannot guarantee that our self interests will never be in conflict.
    That is why LM should never stand a chance.

  6. The author clearly holds a bias towards IAF. Let me clarify few points
    1. The new rafael planes will be upgrade to network centric platforms as planned by France and thus same goes for India.
    2. America is not as reliable as you would like to believe. They blocked use of GPS during Kargil war, so what’s to say it won’t do it again regarding spares of the jet.
    3. F-16 was earlier rejected and now this F21 is F-16 with India in mind. This is a campaign to misguide people.
    4. When you place such a large order you expect diplomatic assistance and as we all know US is more than happy to sell it’s hardware but with serious conditions and no great help. French have been more helpful to us as seen from Kargil conflict.
    5. As talked about meteor middle by author( as if it is an obsession, it is not)it gives our planes more freedom to operate because of its range which no American missile can give.
    6. America will always favour Pak in the end because of its location and strategic value as seen recently they are going to upgrade Pak F16s.
    7. The author should have looked into the RCS, spectra capabilities, IRST and new Aesa radar of rafael and then make comments about IAF being a backward Arab.

  7. First of all Abhijit should clarify whether he born to Tamil Iyer or Bengali Mitra before writing such idiotic article comparing weapons Shame on you man.

  8. This is definitely a narrative influenced by the Americans.i wonder how much the print got paid by lm for putting across this narrative. To equate our airforce to that Arabian swordsman is in very bad taste.what India is trying to do is buying the best equipment for it’s security. And media houses like the print and shear Gupta don’t care for this.they are just interested in making money at any cost, country be damned. Bloody hypocrites.

  9. I never heard of The Print ,,,, but now i m sure that they dont deserve to b knwn . Such an idiotic ,unresponsive writting .He has no knowledge of the issue or may b its a Paid opinion of writter ….

  10. Dear writer,

    Need to improve your general knowledge..

    You are writing India is not using networked warfare.. just read about how ancient mig-21 shot down so called advanced f-16.

    why are you doubting decision of IAF for not purchasing f16 or f21.. ?

    Why are you doing such fever to LHM ?

  11. my brothers have said it all. this article reeks of propaganda and is disrespectful to the IAF. one thing is also very clear the writer has no technical knowledge, so it’s better he leaves engineering stuff to engineer-turned writers. and if he is 1 then it’s a real shame that he doesn’t even know the basics.

  12. Disappointed to see such a poor article by Abhijit Iyer Mitra. First of all, the IAF would’ve been able to tackle the PAF F-16s in WVR combat. IAF Su-30MKIs and even the MiG-21Bison equipped with HMS and R-73E Archer missiles are more than capable of taking down PAF F-16s that are armed with AIM-9L and JHMCS for the newer Block 52 variant. What took the IAF by surprise was the fact that the PAF took AMRAAM shots at the IAF fighters in the first place and that too at long ranges. Obviously, the fact that the AMRAAMs were fired at such long ranges meant that the IAF Su-30MKIs were able to dodge them by going beam on them. And apparently, Mitra is not aware of the IAF Operational Data Link (ODL) program to share tactical data between fighters. It is not yet in service, but the IAF is no stranger to Net Centric Warfare. As for the IAF being primarily interested in close combat or dogfights, that is pure BS. IAF has been training with foreign air forces and has practiced BVR combat for a long time. It was Exercise Varuna with France that was conducted in India, that showed the IAF the value of BVR combat. French Mirage-2000-5 fighters were shooting down IAF Mirages from BVR ranges, well before the merge even occurred. In dogfights, IAF pilots in Mirage-2000H (non-upgraded) were able to shoot down French Mirage-2000-5s, but they stood no chance in BVR combat. After that exercise, the IAF’s emphasis changed to allow for practice of BVR tactics.

    • This guy knows nothing, but he has got one thing right. F16 aka F21 stands a very low chance of getting IAF colours. Instead of renaming a block 70 as F21, had LM offered a F16XL with the vista package as F21, that would work. IAF has always been partial to delta wings and the benefits it offers. As far as net centric warfare is concerned, try net centric warfare with Russian, french, Israeli and US equipment. The fact that Su30MKI even exists is a testament of IAFs understanding of the country’s air defence needs. What LM should have tried to pull off was what Sukhoi did with the MKI and offer the customisations needed by IAF. Otherwise this kind of crapshoot/fanboy articles do nothing to add to either LM marketing efforts or to any kind of journalistic achievement.

  13. Just want to understand that if the writer is really a writer or a judge who told his judgement that IAF is a swordsman and LM is revolver salesperson. What you think that we people are fool that we don’t understand that why LM is so much eager to sell F21 to India if they have so many countries who wants to purchase their craft why specifically they want India to purchase. Do we hv any relationship with them. And why are you taking their side thats the important question. Stop manipulating people. We understand that thats the money game of LM and your as well.
    LM and other foreign companies pushes their money to conuntry’s news agency to put pressure on government so that they purchase LM weapons. And being a english newspaper people most of the time find you sophisticated and believe in you.
    DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT IAF HAS 1980 MINDSET? if that is so they would not hv won Kargil war. I know IAF because i know them closely and i know if their mind is from 1980 or 2050.

    But shame on you guys to spread this false agenda. Atleast be logical and respectful.

  14. the writer must be an american. If they are so proud of their fighter jets and ammunitions so why they are always tryibg to sell the f-21 to india sell it to other buyers na. even few days ago iran shoot down their UAV and in vietnam war mighty mig 21 give them so much pain. 😂😂 with so many improved and hi-tech weapons still they are not able to dominate in iraq, afghanistan 😂😂 put that revolver which you are trying to sell to indians in your ass and pull the trigger 😂

  15. A fair analysis except where it departs into conjecture on what the IAF wants or why it operates a large number of incompatible platforms. To say that the IAF believes in dogfights over BVR is silly and not what the layperson can gather from how they have engaged in exercises with foreign air forces. A motivated piece, and disappointing.

    • Why did USA with best fighter planes, latest technology and gadgets are not able to win in Afghanistan. It’s going to be almost 20 years. So one thing is clear toys don’t win you war it’s the zeal & determination of the soldier. Secondly, why this bugger don’t understand a simple point that we are not going to buy any equipment which our enemy has got especially when it can prove a game changer.
      Iyer go wipe your white Master’s ass.

  16. Leave the topic that Indian Airf Force doesn’t under network centric warfare.
    Indian old/oldest war horse is enabled for net centric warfare.
    The us air force itself acknowledged this fact.

  17. The fighter aircraft market is more or less stagnant, with few countries buying them in such numbers as the IAF currently, so everyone wants to grab this very lucrative contract and will make all kinds of promises and threats. Promises are fine but threats won’t work for india, not from US either. The IAF is the most professional AF in the world and they pay with their lives in I teri or equipment, so will select the best available resource given a free hand. The plane has to remain competitive for the next 40 years. US should have offered f 35 or f 22 if they wanted to win this, not a plane they are themselves replacing. The IAF knows what it needs and should be given a free hand.

    • India is not a NATO member or Major non nato ally, solely based on that their chance of getting an F-35 is slim to none.
      If they want a 5th gen fighter SU-57 is their best bet if they want a competitive fighter as Russia needs the money and knows India won’t backstab and reverse engineer it like China does with Russian weaponry. However until they get a massive budget or develop indigenously a comparable fighter they will need to use fourth gen+ fighters, which the new block 70 F-16/F-21 is one of the best. Personally though if they insist on dogfighting the F-15X would be perfect or the SU-35 although I don’t favor it as much in BVR combat it still can fight reliably and is extremely capable to deal with Pakistan’s threat but possibly not China’s. Look into the F-15 and the F-15X proposal it looks promising to me.

  18. After Reading This Post….I Guess Russia Has Won The 114 Fighter Jet Contract….Lol XD !!!! Its Just A Frustration !!!! One Message to This Post Writer….Do You Remember Fighter Jet Name GNAT ???? No ?? Go Read The History !!! LOL !!! Rest is History Bro !!! XD

  19. Yes IAF would avoid dogfight with F16 but would confront with longer range missile, rightly said by you but tell me friend then who is the swordsman and who is the guy with revolver?

  20. Author has no idea about SU 30 MKI and still talks IAF does not know network communication strategy. Don’t write crap. Educate yourself before blaming.

  21. LHM sold F16s to Pakistan a bankrupt country in low price to help America against terrorist in Afghanistan,but what Pakistan did?Use it against India for a air conflict in February 2019 ending up with excuses and American Pentagon organization lieing about the no F16 was use in the air conflict by PAF to save it business and image and still LMH thinking that Indian IAF would even like to buy F21(a cheap knockoff upgrade of F16) with nothing good and high price,that’s so funny!

  22. If not about the actual plane, the verdict from IAF is already out atleast about the F21 simulator. The IAF pilots came out unimpressed.
    While the author’s description of IAF as Arab swordsman smacks of a snooty snobbish mindset, he is somewhat correct in describing US/LM’s approach towards the whole affair. Why Rafale came through and despite hard bargain from LM, F16 fell through is because of compatibility issues. France understands the gravity of India’s strategic choices. While for US F16 and other war material is just push commodity. India gives a different pedastal to such purchase while for US this sales means trade and jobs.
    The Eagle just could not dance with the Elephant..

  23. Sorry dog u lost not on sky on ground . Now pl give pk all your junk . Neither past or in future u are just pk junk supplier on free. ..

  24. Looks like writer is having more knowlege than those protecting Indian skies….everything presented in a questionable and willfully wrong manner( for pitching a dead case of F16 again). One-time he says that IAF refrained to indulge in dogfight with F16 while making himself wrong by writing in next line that it was AMRAAM that is the real reason and not the F16….not knowing that AMRAAM is BVR missile and not for dog fight purpose. Infact, Mig21 won the dogfight against F16 when shot down by 5 km range missile of Mig21 in a hot-pursuit with Abhinandan got locked on to F16 engine. So writer is making a mockery of himself by writing all these factually incorrect statement and letting down THE PRINT
    Image.
    Writer himself is acknowledging that after Balakot …F16 was a dead deal. And simultaneously proving Indian Airforce living in 1980s mindset.
    The fact which author is ignoring while calling IAF relying too much on kinetics than electronics, that the Indian fighter dodged no. of AMRAAMs both electronically and kinetically. Infact Balakot happened with the help of electronic warfare itself to suppress the radars and jamming lots of other surveillance equipment. How can writer ignore that stupendous effort of IAF before making such absurd remarks.
    Moreover, network centric warfare is not a zero sum game that either you have it or not. Every advance airforce is relying on it. But how much?…that is important. US is overrelying on it which is experienced by IAF during Indo-US airforce excercise in 2004 when India won by 9-1 in dog fights.( Not using BVR missile).

  25. The author lacks knowledge of aerospace and tactical thinking.Your weapon systems should be dictated by what your enemy has,no point in launching a laser guided bomb on a man throwing stones.Speaking of f16’s superiority,Aamram’s and meteor,why engage in a dogfight when I can blow it from a distance.Pretty much the reason why we are not fighting wars sticks and swords.Think before writing bro.Don’t keep spilling unadulterated bs on topics you have less knowledge on.

  26. The author is learned no doubt since he has composed an article worth 5k words,but his knowledge is far from reality,the entire IAF is based on network centric warfare,one of the most active AIR FORCE in this region hence the author is far away from the reality bordering to yellow journalism

  27. All the guys commenting forget , even after having 6 times the budget of PAF IAF was talking about we shot one plane and ducked the AMRAM by SU30
    If this is not incompetence than what is this 1970 era mentality of IAF has literally shown the limitations of our armed forces.

    With the budget differentials any sane guy would have expected none of the PAF planes should have dared to attack if attacked none of them should have been allowed to go back.

    In the name of patriotism we cant be so blind on incompetence

    • By making 6 times budget remarks one should be careful enough to know that nobody knows for how much US gave F16 to Pakistan. All the new F16(block 50) were given during their so called war against Terrorism during Musharraf era on subsidised prices( better to call them free of cost)…. Pakistan exploit their relationship with US and got at least 50 of those to fight against Taliban…..Wait ! Are you serious??….everyone knew that they were buying to match IAF which had clear edge during Kargil war with Mig29 air superiority fighters( the reason why PAF kept calm during the war when Mirage 2000 pounded kargil hills). So to say 6 times budget is actually ignoring the cost that US injecting all those years ( 2001-2012) into PAF…….while our politicians were playing with our Airforce.( Not a single new fighter of 4+ generation was procured during Sonia Gandhi’s Govt in 10 years). While she was busy doing corruption in Augusta Westland helicopters.
      And in 2016, Mr. Obama again gave free of cost 500 AMRAAMs( air to air missiles) to Pakistan to fight Taliban….hahaha……does Taliban has an airforce??…..US thinks so.

      • Head in the sand all I can say, they have 18 f16 cost max 2 billion and with the budget IAF has couldn’t have fighters with missiles having absolute edge

        In the name of patriotism it’s absolute shame the kind of outcome we have.

        Again sheer incompetence all I can say

  28. india and f16 :

    the author has succumbed to the kaleidoscopic, fragmented, attention management that goes on in India and in US.

    in india US affairs the past brings illumination while the present tends to bring darkness to the picture, due to indian thinkers prefering tiny peep hole views of all things, and americans taking an artificial view of the world, both shying away from continuity or truth.

  29. IAF doesn’t need f-16 as india already had mig-29 by that time when the pakis were signing the deal. Mig is a good machine.even the 16 got intersepted by 50 year old mig-21 ,so please SHUT UP

  30. F-16 or F-21 with modern digitised modifications is actually a resale of 1970s Technology at a COST. Will it match up to China’s 5th Generation ( J-20) and beyond versions in quantity and quality ( with time critical induction) is anyone’s guess. With our own sattelites and UAVs in place digitised situational awareness and vectoring of combat aircraft with adaptable lethality is feasible. However the logistics and maintenance parameters for specialist aircraft will reduce it’s scope of employability and turn around targetting. Aerial refuelling does not entail aerial rearming as yet and the limitations of targetting commensurate with enemy response capability is a balance that has to be favourable. Being Pakistan centric is like picking up a fight where you expect to presumably win. Induction of Rafale without Indigenisation has been on the agenda since 2007 or earlier. Induction of F-21 with logistics and maintenance upgradation in addition to existing stockpiles of other vintage aircraft such as Sukhois and Mirages may take decades for implementation of a progressively vintage combat capability. Can India afford to remain outdated and expectant over such prolonged ineffective periods in time/ resources? Can India afford mix and match of western and Eastern technology without indigenised common interfaces in digitised combat actualisation? Can we afford a mix and match of varied logistic and maintenance infrastructure ? Do we need F21s or should we limit ourselves to limited one time purchase of adaptable combat capabilities that we need for a period in TIME( effective). Can we afford to be logistically dependent? This is not a one on one gun- sword fight. Modern combat is all about real time effective synergy. Aircrafts can be denied in their “fixed” bases too in modern precision attrition. In the digitised era , denying “digitisation” may also be a cost effective solution. Strategy cannot be ” an open forum” discussion amongst specialists of history. We need to holistically vet and analyse existing and future capabilities with time critical criteria and optimise the use of reliable acqusitions thereof. Dreams don’t resolve challenges in reality.

  31. No doubts left…. Articles from print are not worth reading…… What do you people think…? Indians are so stupid that they will buy this nonsense??? Cmon…

  32. Foreign Policy and LM spokesperson said no F-16 was shot down so why do you people keep paddling this lie over and over again? Abhinandad didn’t shoot anything down as he was looking for a target when his plane got hit. Why do you Indians believe in propaganda so much?

    • Because we have common sense! And we can tell what is propaganda.
      Why would we believe some alien government and a private company?? Who are trying to sell us their second grade equipments to make money.

      Obviously, our government and our Forces are more trustworthy. Our forces have integrity to tell and accept that we lost people and equipment, whenever we did.

      Unlike Pakistanis who refused to honor their slain pilot, who refused to receive bodies of their regular officers and soldiers in Kargil war.

    • Do you believe Osama never lived In Pakistan and was never killed????Pakistan said so.Idk why you guys are dumb enough to think that a company will own that one of it best jets was downed by a Mig bison.

  33. There is a famous say…”muh se mungfali nahi tutati, aur ga**d se akhrot fodne ka sapna dekhna”.

    This best suits here as, LM’s F16 could not stand against Mig21 and dreaming it in comparison with Rafale.

    So, LM is not a revolver salesman instead its selling a stick to a swordsman.

    • Absolutely disgusting analysis by the writer, there is a way difference between a generalist and specialists approach. IAF is a organisation of trained and intellectual people and they knows better what is good for them or not because their job is to deliver security and they are performing it extraordinarily.
      Actually the issue is Lockheed Martins F-16 after the the Balakot incident has proven a junk and LM is just doing its face saving .
      Moreover LM these days doing R&D in doing propoganda rather then refining its technology.

  34. People in comments screams ng about paid article or Indian Airforce is great at integration of various weapons with many different platforms doesn’t understand one simple point.
    Simplicity, simplicity of operations is what improves operational efficiency. All this talk of how IAF integrated missiles into Su-30 and its an brilliant job is absolutely silly.
    India has to develop an Ad-hoc method to integrate two different systems and its patchwork at best and bad behavior at worst in long term.
    This Article is brilliant and says a lot about how Indian armed forces are thinking about modernizing. Pretty pathetic actually.

    • Indian air Force has been proving their abilities since the day IAF was formed from nirmaljit singh to abhinandan every generation proved themselves and talking about modernisation and making new generation parts india made one of the best cruise missiles ballistic missile and even nuclear missiles which can even be equipped with sukhoi and what you think making an aircraft engine missile or body is child’s play it takes years of research and resources to make a single prototype and dealing with a vast country comes vast responsibilities . It doesn’t matter you give 100% result in 2 years or 5 years what matters is that India has always given jaw dropping results to the world in every field not only defence but in every sector the latest example is *chandrayaan 2* , gslv mk3 , cryogenic engine .

  35. Indian armed forces have excelled in each war they have fought based on the shear choices of man and machine made; history is witness to it. Poorly researched and peddled articles are not going to change that anytime in the near future!

  36. Is he not the same analyst, who spent time in jail for derogatory remarks about Konark temple in Orissa. How am I going to trust his opinions on defence matters. There is nothing in his paper which is anything new or his analysis of great importance. Only words come to my mind is – Get Lost.

    I agree with a post earlier that Shekhar Gupta is playing into wrong hands.

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