Lockheed May Pitch F-35; GoI Says No Plans to Buy F-35

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plugwater

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Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) may offer its latest F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to India in a bid to rejoin the Asian country's $11 billion combat-jet contest after the older F-16 model was eliminated earlier in the evaluation process.
Lockheed's chances of offering the F-35 for the 126-plane order were boosted when the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee last week asked the Defense Department to study by November the "desirability and feasibility" of a future JSF sale to India, Patrick Dewar, senior vice president for corporate strategy and business development, said in an interview at the Paris Air Show.

The Senate report accompanying the Pentagon's 2012 budget "opens the window to fifth-generation fighter technology release to India, however the Indian services want to deal with it," Dewar said. The contents of the Senate report, due to be published this week, couldn't immediately be confirmed.

Dewar said the Senate request for a Pentagon study on selling F-35s to India was part of a broader amendment on U.S.- India military ties offered by Senators John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, where the JSF is produced, and Joseph Lieberman, Independent of Connecticut, home to United Technologies Corp., which makes the plane's engines.
Cornyn's spokeswoman Jessica Sandlin confirmed in an e-mail that the panel "overwhelmingly adopted" the India-F-35 language.

Mig-Replacement


Lockheed's F-16, based on a 30-year-old design, was eliminated in April from the six-way Indian contest to replace its aging fleet of 1970s-era Mig-21s, along with Boeing Co. (BA)'s F/A-18 Super Hornet. On the shortlist are Dassault Aviation SA (AM)'s Rafale and the Eurofighter made by BAE Systems Plc, Finmeccanica SpA and European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co.

The competition is one of the largest in recent years and also attracted bids from Russia's OAO United Aircraft Corp. and Sweden's Saab AB (SAABB), which offered the Gripen. President Barack Obama had lobbied on behalf of Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed and Chicago-based Boeing.

"I certainly believe it's possible," Dewar said when asked if the potential F-35 offer could lead to the Indian Air Force reopening the contest. India "might think differently about the competition" should the stealthy jet become available.
Admitting the JSF to the bidding at this stage would be "contrary" to India's established weapons-acquisition procedure, said Mrinal Suman, an arms-procurement adviser at the Confederation of Indian Industry. "It's too late in the day," he said. "It would be seen by many as succumbing to U.S. pressure."
Indian defense ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar couldn't be reached for comment.

Lockheed May Pitch F-35 to Rejoin $11 Billion India Jet Bids - Bloomberg
 

Oracle

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Good news.

If US do pitch in those F-35's, IAF sure would go for a tight discussion.

If delivery schedules are not affected and ToT is offered (which is very unlikely) and if US do pitch F-35 in, F-35 would be selected.
 

plugwater

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Not so good news, It will screw lot of things if selected.

F-35 means no AMCA.
 

utubekhiladi

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IAF have already clearly mentioned earlier. Having India's own FGFA and AMCA program, India is not interested to buy any american stealth which comes with thousands of conditions and strings. Even if India select F-35, it will not see delivery before 2020-2025. by 2018 India's own FGFA will be finalizing user trails and getting ready for FOC.
 

ganesh177

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Yupp that sounds good.

Although it cant be predicted how much serious india is for TOT, coz then in case of F-35, india might have to give up on it a bit.

But , US giving india F-35's will give a loud message to china and pakistan, and i will love that.
 

bhramos

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does 126 F-35's fit in this $11bn bill???
if so it would be great???
 

utubekhiladi

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Yupp that sounds good.

Although it cant be predicted how much serious india is for TOT, coz then in case of F-35, india might have to give up on it a bit.

But , US giving india F-35's will give a loud message to china and pakistan, and i will love that.
i won't compromise my operational combat freedom by buying f-35 just to send a loud message to china and pakistan. buying F-35 is equable to committing suicide by drowning into a cup of water
 
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Yes we have :)

We will spend more than 40 billion on FGFA alone.
US is looking for countries that can offer 12 billion + to participate if we are interested kill the MRCA and go for this.
 

Oracle

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I think GoI should upgrade Mig-21 bisons to F-35 standards. :D
 

ganesh177

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does 126 F-35's fit in this $11bn bill???
if so it would be great???
Its more than 11 bn, have read it on many articles.

i won't compromise my operational combat freedom by buying f-35 just to send a loud message to china and pakistan. buying F-35 is equable to committing suicide by drowning into a cup of water
Why wud operational combat be compromised with f-35 ?
 

Oracle

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/\/\/\ Strings that are attached with American military products.
 

plugwater

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US is looking for countries that can offer 12 billion + to participate if we are interested kill the MRCA and go for this.
Only if they give full ToT that is the basic rule to enter MRCA competition right ? We wont gain much if we select this aircraft.
 
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