Imported Single Engine Fighter Jet Contest

[WolfPack86]

Lockheed Martin first to respond to invitation to build single-engine fighter in India

On Monday, US defence giant Lockheed Martin became the first international vendor to respond to an Indian Air Force (IAF) letter, soliciting interest in building a single-engine, medium fighter aircraft in India, with full transfer of technology. “We sent our acceptance [to the IAF] earlier this week”, Lockheed Martin’s Randy Howard, who markets the F-16 worldwide, told Business Standard.Meanwhile, Swedish defence corporation, Saab, which was sent a similar invitation, is learnt to be finalising its acceptance. “We will definitely say ‘yes’; most likely by the end of this month”, says a Saab official. As Business Standard reported (October 8, “IAF kicks off contest to make single-engine fighters in India”) the IAFsent out letters last week to top global aerospace vendors, inviting them to build a single-engine fighter in India. Defence ministry sources confirm The Boeing Company has also been approached. UnlikeLockheed Martin and Saab, which are actively marketing single-engine fighters — the F-16 Block 70 and the Gripen E respectively — Boeing has no single-engine fighter to offer. Instead, it has been offering its twin-engine F/A-18 E/F. Nor does Eurofighter, the European consortium that builds the twin-engine Typhoon, whose member firms also reportedly received the IAF inquiry. The contours of the “single-engine fighter” contest are therefore emerging — Lockheed Martinand Saab seem poised to be the only contenders. As this newspaper reported (August 16, “Gripen, F-16, compete in MMRCA re-run”), both companies had earlier submitted what IAFboss, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, described as “unsolicited offers” for building single-engine fighters in India. Now, with Lockheed Martin having responded positively to the IAF’s inquiry, Saab’s acceptance, when received, will formally kick off a multi-vendor acquisition process. The F-16 is amongst the older fighters still in frontline service, but Lockheed Martin describes to Business Standard an attractive offer that would make India the F-16 global hub, galvanizing aerospace component fabrication in the country. The offer involves transferring the world’s only F-16 production line from Forth Worth, Texas, to India. Thereafter, every F-16 built, and a large share of the spare parts and sub-systems for every F-16 flying across the globe would come from India. “Our offer is not for just building a hundred F-16s in India; or even another hundred F-16s for the export market. The real value would come from the tens of thousands of spare parts, components, sub-systems and systems that would sustain the 3,200-plus F-16s still flying in the US, and in 24 other countries”, says Howard. Intriguingly, that could mean spares and expendables for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet would be sourced largely from India. Lockheed Martin points out that bringing the production line to India would be “a strategic opportunity”. In truth, India would have little control over the F-16 components it builds for the global F-16 fleet, including Pakistan’s. Governed by a “global F-16 sustainment programme”, the components would go into a chain of US-controlled warehouses across the globe, from where user air forces would draw their requirements. In discussions with Lockheed Martin officials, it is evident that they are concerned by the negativity in India caused by Pakistan’s long association with the F-16. Yet the company is banking on an attractive business case to tamp down Indian reservations. For Lockheed Martin, shifting the F-16 line to India would be a double benefit. With the F-16 ending its prodigious production run (of 4,588 F-16s ordered over the years, just 15 remain to be delivered), Lockheed Martin now wants to build the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at Forth Worth. Yet, an F-16 line is essential, since the US Air Force (USAF) plans to operate its late-model F-16s (Block 40 and Block 50 versions) for another 30 years, till 2045. Transferring the production line to India would assure Washington that its F-16s would be reliably sustained. Howard argues that F-16 production is not yet closed. Bahrain and other West Asian countries are negotiating purchases and there are potential buyers in former Soviet countries in NATO, Indonesia and Columbia. He holds out the possibility of building these orders in India. It remains unclear how much weightage cost would have in selecting a light fighter for the IAF.Lockheed Martin is confident of offering the cheapest fighter in its class, having more than amortised its production line while building over 4,500 fighters. “Transferring the line to India will make the F-16 even cheaper. And that will bring in even more export orders”, predicts Howard, optimistically. There is little clarity, however, on whether Washington or New Delhi would have the casting vote on foreign sales of F-16s built in India. It seems likely that both governments would have to concur on third-party, export sales. Lockheed Martin strongly rejects the notion that the F-16, first built in the 1970s, is obsolescent. Howard points to the Block 70’s battle-proven Northrop Grumman APG-83 airborne electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a key fighter combat system. That leverages technologies developed for the F-35’s fifth-generation AESA radar. “Nothing in the world compares with the experience in AESA radars that Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman bring to the table”, argues Howard. To be sure, the F-16 Block 70 is a versatile combat platform. It flies faster, climbs quicker and carries more armament than most fighters in its class. The “conformal fuel tanks” in late-version F-16s allow long-range operations. With two additional 370-gallon drop tanks and predominantly air-to-air armament, the F-16 has a combat radius of 1,500 kilometres — comparable to the much bigger Rafale. With the heavier air-to-ground weaponry that the F-16 carries for strike missions, the radius of action is still an impressive 700 kilometres. Alongside an aggressive marketing pitch to the IAF, Lockheed Martin is also moving ahead strongly with developing vendors in India, and a supply chain that would feed into an Indian F-16 line. On November 7 and 8, a vendors’ conference is planned in Bengaluru.
http://idrw.org/lockheed-martin-fir...tion-to-build-single-engine-fighter-in-india/

 

[WolfPack86]

Reports confirm Livefist's June scoop about India's next Make-in-India fighter contest being single engine
https://twitter.com/livefist?lang=en

 

[WolfPack86]

Has India Chosen Government-to-Government Path For ‘Make-In-India’ Fighter Jet Program?

Indian MoD sent invitations through Indian Embassies to ‘some overseas participants’ to partake in India’s new single engine fighter jet program
The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) seems to be keen on approaching foreign governments rather than individual companies to partner it for manufacturing fighter jets under the ‘Make-in-India’ program.
The MoD, earlier this month sent invitations through Indian Embassies to ‘some overseas participants’ to partake in India’s fresh program to acquire single-engine fighter aircraft to be built in India on the basis of foreign technology transfer and also for export from India, an Indian business newspaper reported last week.
Unlike earlier fighter jet procurement programs such as the MMRCA, India has not contacted the companies capable of delivering the fighters but has contacted the aircraft producer-countries through its embassies. The invitations have been sent even before floating an RFI (Request for Information) which is the standard route to seek what is available and then send out a request for proposals (RFPs) to shortlisted parties. According to the report, the invitations have been sent to Russia, Sweden and the US.
Several foreign fighter jet manufacturers appear to have gone into overdrive expecting to pitch for the lucrative Indian contract for about 130 odd fighter jets which also has an export component to it. The Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha had mentioned of receiving “unsolicited offers” from Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Saab for building their fighters in India - the F-16 Block 70, F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Gripen E respectively during the course of a press conference in New Delhi in the first week of October.
“This is very much on the table (a post-Rafale procurement of fighters) and I’m sure whoever gives the best deal [will win]. All the aircraft are very capable, so it will depend upon who provides the best transfer of technology; and, of course, the price tag. It’s on the table; nothing is decided as yet.”
Raha added, “This will not be just licensed manufacture. It will be proper transfer of technology with India becoming a hub for manufacturing, as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) for other air forces in the region.”
Both US- based Lockheed Martin and Swedish Saab have offered to set up manufacturing facilities with full transfer of technology to Indian entities involved with them in the manufacture. If indeed the single-engine jet request from the Indian MoD is true, the will be left with only these two companies to contest ruling out Boeing, Dassault and Russian MiG and Sukhoi as they do not manufacture single engine fighter aircraft.
It makes sense to make deals directly with a foreign country rather than individual company as it means sovereign guarantee of technology transfer, pricing, joint export and other tricky issues which could sour if the foreign power and India are less friendly than at the time of signing the company-to-company or company-to-India contract.
Besides the fighter jet program, India recently signed government-to- government deals with Russia for setting up a joint production facility for Kamov helicopters, purchase of at least five systems of S-400 air defense missile system and, four Admiral Grigorovich-class guided-missile stealth frigates of which two will be manufactured in India with Russian collaboration.
The agreement was signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at BRICS Summit 2016 last week.
http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2016/10/has-india-chosen-government-to.html

 

[WolfPack86]

F 16 Vs F 35 Dogfight, Shocking Result

 

[WolfPack86]

Leaked: New F-35 fighter jet beaten by F-16 from 1970s

 

[WolfPack86]

Saab links Gripen bid with Tejas to counter F-16 production numbers
The contest to supply the Indian Air Force (IAF) a single-engine, medium fighter is currently playing out as a two-horse race. US giant, Lockheed Martin, is the Goliath looking to slay the David that is Swedish firm, Saab.

Lockheed Martin, which has offered to shift its F-16production line to India, is the world's biggest defence firm, with $46.1 billion in sales last year and an order backlog of almost $100 billion. Saab, which has offered its latest fighter, the Gripen E, appears a relative minnow, with $3 billion in sales last year, and an order book of $12.9 billion.

Yet, Saab is an extraordinarily accomplished minnow. Visitors to the Swedish Air Force Museum near Saab's aerospace facility at Linkoping, two hours by train from Stockholm, encounter an aerospace tradition that has, since 1926, kept pace with the world's best.

The museum displays the J-29 "Flying Barrel", the first "swept-wing" fighter after World War II; the Draken, Europe's first supersonic fighter, which pioneered the "double delta wing", and the Viggen, the first mainstream fighter to feature the canard - now common in high-performance fighters. India came close to buying the Viggen but Washington, which provided the engines, blocked the sale in 1978. The IAF bought the Anglo-French Jaguar instead, which still remains in service.

As Saab's marketing team never tires of telling Indians, this excellence in defence production stemmed from Sweden's traditional strategic independence - similar to India's. After remaining neutral through World War II, Sweden declined to join NATO in 1949, choosing to cater for its own defence against Russia.

Responsible for its own defence, Sweden leveraged an existing scientific and engineering culture to develop an advanced aerospace and defence industry. In the late 1950s, the Swedish Air Force was the world's fourth largest, fielding over 1,000 frontline aircraft.

Anticipating that a Soviet invasion would quickly render its airfields unusable, the Swedish Air Force insisted on light, versatile fighters that could operate from short stretches of highway, refuelling and rearming in minutes before re-joining battle.

This is the tradition that shapes the JAS-39 Gripen E, Saab's latest and most advanced fighter that is expected to make its first flight by end-2016. Unlike Dassault's Rafale, which endured tortuous years of wait before Egypt became its first export customer, the Gripen E has been selected by Brazil even before its first flight. In winning the Brazil tender, the Gripen E beat the Rafale, and Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

In sheer aerodynamic performance, the Gripen E will probably be a match for the F-16 Block 70. While the former has still to fly, its predecessor, the Gripen D, was extensively evaluated by theIAF - mainly to its satisfaction - as part of the 2007 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) tender. The Gripen E, incorporating a new General Electric F-414 engine; is larger, heavier and more powerful than the Gripen D, which had an older F-404 power plant.

Even the avionics are comparable. The F-16's Northrop Grumman APG-83 airborne electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is a proven, highly effective combat system. But the Gripen E could score with more sophisticated data networks that bring together inputs from multiple sensors - such as airborne warning and control systems (AWACS), satellites and a fighter's own AESA radar - fusing data to present a comprehensive picture of the air battle in a cockpit arrangement that is amongst the world's most pilot-friendly.

With combat performance similar, the choice between the F-16 and Gripen E could boil down, asIAF boss, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said last month, to two factors - procurement and operating cost, and technology transfer.

In procurement cost, Lockheed Martin would score by transferring a fully amortised assembly line from Forth Worth, Texas to India. Further, by creating a vendor and sub-vendor eco-system in India to sustain a global inventory of 3,200 F-16s, spares and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) would be cheaper.
http://www.business-standard.com/ar...r-f-16-production-numbers-116102100047_1.html

 

[StealthFlanker]

Leaked: New F-35 fighter jet beaten by F-16 from 1970s

This has been debunked as a hoax age ago , the test was a high AoA test

 

[WolfPack86]

SABR AESA Radar for the F-16

 

[WolfPack86]

Exclusive: Why Pakistan May Stop Getting F-16 Fighters From US

New Delhi: Pakistan is the past, India is the future. That appears to be the message from the American fighter-jet manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which has indicated to NDTV that India acquiring its F-16 fighter-jet will effectively mean that the Pakistan Air Force will not be able to acquire the latest variant of the jet that it has operated for 33 years.
That's because Lockheed Martin has proposed to the Indian government that it is willing to transfer its entire F-16 manufacturing line from Fort Worth in the US to India as part of the government's Make in India policy. In doing so, Lockheed would also aim to transfer the production of structural components of the F-16 from production facilities in Greece, Israel, and Turkey in a phased approach. If new-build F-16s are eventually constructed in India, there would be no question of them being exported to Pakistan. NDTV has also learned that Lockheed Martin would not be in a position to set up a production facility for the supply of just a handful of new-build F-16s to Pakistan.
Earlier this week, Lockheed Martin officially responded to an Indian government letter asking whether they would be able to provide the Indian Air Force with a high performance, single engine, multi-role fighter. Lockheed, which had also submitted an unsolicited bid earlier this year, has always stated that its F-16 should be the fighter of choice for the IAF despite it being the main fighter operated by its adversary, the Pakistan Air Force.
Senior executives of Lockheed Martin have indicated to NDTV that the transfer of the F-16 production line to India would mean that India and the US will have an altogether new strategic relationship since India would become the world's largest supply base for the 3,200 F-16s being operated by 24 countries around the world. Pakistan would be unwilling to acquire a made-in-India F-16 Block 70, the latest variant of the jet being proposed for India. India would, obviously, not be willing to supply its primary adversary with a fighter jet.
That said, Pakistan could, hypothetically, acquire components of its existing F-16 fighters from India if the production line were transferred here though Lockheed Martin executives point out that these spares would be stocked at company facilities outside India which would meet the requirement of any country.
Inputs from the F-16 radars and other sensors would be processed and presented through multi-function displays in the cockpit and a helmet-mounted sight worn by the pilot.
Importantly, the variant of the jet that Lockheed is offering India is far more advanced than that operated by Pakistan since it would include technology used in the latest US Air Force fighters, the F-22 and the F-35. According to Randall L. Howard, who looks after F-16 Business Development for Lockheed Martin, "leveraging the technology that we've designed and integrated on F-22 and F-35, we are reintegrating those technologies back into the F-16. We're putting state of the art mission computers, data management systems, a 1 Gigabyte ethernet data system and a new center pedestal display" onto the F-16 Block 70. In simple terms, this means that the F-16, if acquired by the Indian Air Force, would have unparalleled data-fusion whereby inputs from its radars and other sensors would be processed and presented to the pilot in a cogent, easy-to-understand format on multi-function displays in the cockpit and a helmet-mounted sight worn by the pilot. The pilot would be able to simultaneously detect dozens of targets and threats in the air, on the ground and out at sea depending on the terrain.
But Lockheed Martin knows that winning a multi-billion dollar contract in India will not be easy. Swedish firm Gripen International is also responding to the Defence Ministry's letter by offering its state-of-the-art Gripen-E fighter which has recently been acquired by Brazil. Gripen’s parent company SAAB has offered to work with Hindustan Aeronautics to develop a new variant of India's Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and also transfer technology for India to develop its next indigenous fighter, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), which has a stealth design. The Gripen is also, fundamentally, a newer design than the F-16, having entered service for the first time in the late nineties as opposed to the F-16, which was developed in the seventies.
Ironically, both the F-16 and the Gripen had been rejected by the Air Force when it shortlisted the more capable French Dassault Rafale fighter as part of its Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft tender. That tender, however, fell through, and India ultimately had to acquire just 36 Rafale fighters in an off-the-shelf purchase from France in a deal worth approximately 58,000 crores though its initial requirement was for at least 126 jets. The F-16 and the Gripen are now back in contention because the government has decided to operate different categories of fighter aircraft - the Sukhoi-30 (a heavy fighter), the Rafale (a medium weight fighter), the F-16 or Gripen (a light to medium weight fighter) and the indigenous Tejas (a light weight fighter).
http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2016/10/exclusive-why-pakistan-may-stop-getting.html

 

[kamaal]

Just Pathetic, choosing a new single engine platform will be a nightmare for the maintenance staff of IAF.

 

[WolfPack86]

Lockheed Martin Plans India - Centered Global Supply Chain

The world's largest defense corporation US-based Lockheed Martin has become the first company to submit letter of interest for supplying F-16 fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, reports CNBC-TV18.
Last week the Ministry of Defense issued a request for information to global OEMs for acquiring single-engine fighter jets to replace the MIG-21s - close on the heels of the Rafale deal.
Lockheed Martin's global team is in India this week and met with various government departments to pitch for the F-16. The company's top executives today told CNBC-TV18 that not only will the company shift its entire F-16 manufacturing line from Texas to India but will export the fighter jets to other countries after India's requirements are met.
Below is the verbatim transcript of Randall L Howard and Abhay Paranjape's interview to Surabhi Upadhyay and Ronojoy Banerjee on CNBC-TV18.
Q: Have you responded to Ministry of Defence request for single engine fighter jets?
Howard: We receive some correspondence from the government late last week and we responded to that and our response went out early this week so very much so we are looking forward to conversation with your government about this acquisition and the opportunity for us.
Q: The one big thing that Lockheed Martin has put on the table is possibly shifting the entire F-16 manufacturing plant from Forth Worth, Texas to India. Tell us a little bit about that?
Howard: Yesterday all our F-16 were built in Forth Worth, Texas as you know we spoke earlier we have the history of having built up industrial capacity around the world. We built up F-16 in the past in Korea, in Turkey and Belgium and The Netherlands, but today they are only built in Texas, so the offer is to take our production line as it is existed in Forth Worth and bring it to India for Indian aircraft, but also for all the aircraft produced from this point forward.
Q: Even after the Indian requirements are met then if India does give you the contract and if they do start buying F-16 from you then even for future you will be supplying these F-16 out of India?
Paranjape: That is correct, what as Randall mentioned what we are looking at is establishing global supply chain that will be centered in India, so the F-16 production line will move to India that means that we will start manufacturing not just assembling the aircraft, but we want to move the entire aircraft as much as we can and we want to start manufacturing in India.
Once we start doing that then this becomes the focal point of the F-16s worldwide and future exports will also be handled to the same production line here.
http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2016/10/lockheed-martin-plans-india-centered.html

 

[WolfPack86]

India to Buy US Lockheed's F-16 Fighter Plane, Fix Deal on Howitzers

 

[shankyz]

India to Buy US Lockheed's F-16 Fighter Plane, Fix Deal on Howitzers

Not sure on the report reliability , it starts off with saying India's Rafale deal with 'Russia' ....

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy J7

 

[WolfPack86]

Exclusive: Why #Pakistan May Stop Getting #F16 #Fighters From #US
https://twitter.com/hashtag/f16

 

[WolfPack86]

Lockheed Martin Takes Step In Moving F-16 Production To India

Lockheed Martin sharpens F-16 pitch to India
by James Bach
Lockheed Martin Corp. signaled to the Indian government this week its interest in supplying the country with F-16 fighters, touching off the start of a process that could see the Bethesda-based defense manufacturer move facilities out of Fort Worth, Texas, and into India.
Randy Howard, director of F-16 Business Development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, told me that last week India reached out to the company to gauge its interest in helping build a future fleet of single-engine fighter crafts and Lockheed quickly responded in the affirmative.
Lockheed isn’t just looking for a new customer in India, but a new manufacturing partner and base of operations for the final assembly of F-16s. The company’s proposal will "hit the sweet spot of ‘make in India'” initiatives that Lockheed has pursued more aggressively this year, Howard said. Lockheed already builds C-130J Super Hercules empennages out of Hyderabad in partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) and sees an opening to expand those opportunities following the inking of a U.S.-India agreement in April to share defense logistics.
Over the coming months, Lockheed will continue to have discussions with India, though Howard said the timeline on a future competition is still unclear.
On Sept. 23, India signed a deal with French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation S.A. for 36 of its Rafale fighter jets. The negotiations for those jets had begun in 2012, but dragged on for years. India had originally planned to procure 126 but trimmed it down to 36, citing high costs.
But as Howard and other analysts have pointed out, that still leaves India with a shortfall. And the long-term needs could go beyond just the 90 scrapped from the Rafale deal. New York credit rating firm Moody’s Investors Service wrote in a report last month, it’s far from certain that any future deals would favor the incumbent.
"Even though the Rafale was selected for this initial batch of aircraft, there will be stiff competition from other competing bidders/equipment...for any follow-on business,” the report said, pointing to Lockheed and The Boeing Co. as potential future bidders.
Howard said that should Lockheed emerge as the winner in any future Indian fighter deal, there’s a potential opportunity to sell about 100 F-16s to India — though he added that’s more of a loose estimation than it is a firm number.
But Lockheed wouldn’t stop at India. It’s potential future Indian operations would build F-16s for export as well. Howard said customers could include Indonesia, Colombia, the Middle East and Eastern European countries still using old Soviet fighters.
http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2016/10/lockheed-takes-next-step-in-moving-f-16.html

 

[republic_roi97]

According to Wikipedia, F-16 Block 70/72 is the most advanced, state-of-art, F-16 that is made specially for Make in India program, now the question is weather it has the F-35's Diverterless Supersonic Inlet ?

And I personally think that we should go for F-16 in place of Gripen since its proven and we are getting a lot of advantages because of Lockheed's Make in India ambition.

 

[AmoghaVarsha]

According to Wikipedia, F-16 Block 70/72 is the most advanced, state-of-art, F-16 that is made specially for Make in India program, now the question is weather it has the F-35's Diverterless Supersonic Inlet ?
View attachment 11181

And I personally think that we should go for F-16 in place of Gripen since its proven and we are getting a lot of advantages because of Lockheed's Make in India ambition.

What iz especial about F 16 block 70?

 

[WolfPack86]

What iz especial about F 16 block 70?

From @LockheedMartin's media brief today: kit/capabilities on F-16 Block 70 that competes for a @MakeInIndiadeal.

Here's the F-16 Block 70 that @LockheedMartin offers to build in India contingent on firm Indian orders.

 

[Pash]

And I personally think that we should go for F-16 in place of Gripen since its proven and we are getting a lot of advantages

Could be please lets know advantages of F16
Will USA give us engine tec etc,... I think no.. Never
Production line to be in India .... Minimum how many years Do you think will take to be in India and to be manufactured all; not like SU 30 MKI
Spare parts..---- We will be never able to stop them to selling to other nations including Paki. Reason
Lockheed Martin want and will maintain Spare stock in USA for USAF and Global F-16 fleet

 

[WolfPack86]

F-16 Fighter Aircraft