Will the f-16 rule the Indian skies?

Experts are sharply divided over Monday’s announcement at the Paris Air Show that Lockheed Martin had inked a deal with Tata Advanced Systems to shift the production line for its iconic but ageing F-1

Experts are sharply divided over Monday’s announcement at the Paris Air Show that Lockheed Martin had inked a deal with Tata Advanced Systems to shift the production line for its iconic but ageing F-16 aircraft from Fort Worth, Texas, to India. The agreement, if finalised, would allow India to manufacture and export this fourth-generation fighter aircraft, and probably service some of the 3,000 or more aircraft already in use by 26 countries. In an obvious attempt to placate the US president known for his vehement opposition to jobs going abroad, the joint release stressed that the deal would support “thousands of Lockheed Martin and F-16 supplier jobs in the US.”

The timing of the announcement is also significant, as it comes days before PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the US to meet President Trump, and days after the Centre’s announcement that the Air Force was conducting ‘limited trials” of two foreign fighter jets—the F-16 and the Swedish SAAB Gripen—to choose a partner to produce 120 single engine combat aircraft under the Make in India project. SAAB is yet to announce any Indian partner, but has been hard-selling the fact that the aircraft is almost future-proof, as an obvious counterpoint to the ageing American platform. It has also offered to help build engines for the Naval version of the Tejas for India’s aircraft carriers.

As a veteran Indian fighter pilot put it, while the decision would be political, India would benefit from the technology from either of the platforms. However, he quipped, choosing the F-16 would be like choosing to buy the production line of Hindustan Motor’s iconic Ambassador car in the early 1980s, just when Maruti was launched in India, on the grounds that it was a tried and tested platform with cars being exported to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Having said that, the Lockheed Tata agreement is just an agreement, still subject to approval by India and the US under an unpredictable Trump.  And the Devil, as they say, is in the details.

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