Don't make big statements which you yourself can't explain. Just because USA supplies arms doesn't mean the relationship is valuable. 8f USA doesn't supply, it can be substituted with others. USA doesn't supply any critical arms that causes long term dependence.
Yes, India is buying USA arms to offset trade surplus. I don't see how that is going yo make relationship strong. India is spending time and money doing exercise with everyone. India exercises with Oman, with Singapore, with Indonesia, with China and so on. The intention is to be ready to have good coordination in case of joint effort needed and to gain best practices from each other.
We don't buy critical technology from USA. THE c130 & P8 can be substituted by modifying a civilian airliner.
Rest all are forced purchases without real needs. They are just meant to reduce trade surplus. Apache, for example has no use. LCH or Rudra could have done same job. Apache may be bigger but that can also be taken down just as easily as Rudra by MANPADS. M777 is just light weight but has 27km range. Dhanush could be used 14km farther from M777 die to 41km range. These items if USA stops selling, will not cause any major problem and can be easily substituted. Calling them strategic shows shallow thinking.
I don't see a single use of USA defence relationship. I understand the need for Russian or Israeli but USA is simply wasteful. Which technology is USA going to give India at all? Why does India need that relationship if there is nothing on offer.
IOR belongs to India. Why should USA, Australia or Japan have any say here? I don't see why India should not try to get rid of USA in IOR instead of joining hands?
LEMOA is just logistical cost saver and not something strategic. It doesn't give permission for countries to use bases in wartime. BECA, COMCASA is useless for India. They are only useful for USA. India gets no access to data from COMCASA whereas USA will get the data.
Again, bullshit. It was UPA that created problem, not Russia. Russia gave good support but UPA would not stockpile spares and instead order at last minute, causing logistical problem. Russia can't deliver goods in short notice. This is common sense everywhere. But the management is Indian duty.
USA doesn't offer anything meaningful yo be happy about. These shallow arguments don't cut it.
Only an uninformed nincompoop ****** makes useless statements like this without going into the context of why certain purchases were made. Military purchases aren't made to cater to trade balances but as assets needed to conduct a respectable war.
C-130J was ordered since IAF's fleet of IL-76s in early 2000s were increasingly unable to fly due to lack of spares and were being cannibalized. A400 wasn't ready and C-130J was the only option thus order was placed to fill a gap in IAF's ability move shit around. Specially the SF which would have had severe problems in their ability to deploy fast. 6 were ordered first another 6 added to help with mobility with the new Mountain corps coming up in Pangargh, WB.
C-17 was ordered to since IAF wanted an enhanced strategic lift ability i.e moving things like tanks, missile launchers, massive shit tons of gear to advanced landing grounds, again it was the only bird available. This need was felt to be critical since back then roads leading upto Arunachal and other Eastern areas were underdeveloped and work was going on a snail's pace (still is). IAF thus allowed for reactivation of many advanced landing grounds to cater to this ability. IAF/IA love this bird, heck they even wanted 6 more alas, only 1 was left.
P-8 was the victor of the LRMR contest. a lot of Indian kit was installed on it since COMCASA wasn't signed but since it's signed now, it will get a lot of US kit as well if needed. It's maritime radar with air search mode is unique was only customized for Indian initially. The IN from day 1 has loved this bird and they have always wanted more. 24 will be operated anyways but I know from internal documentation that need is set at 36. IN couldn't give two shits about your analogy. It is strategic asset as far as IN is concerned (because they have a shortage of subs, ships with (active towed array sonars, torpedos, critical to detect AIP subs in shallow waters) and they can hold of PLAN. Last I checked The Chinkis have a quantitative advantage over us which is a quality in itself.
M-777 was ordered since IA needed a light weight gun in 155mm category that could be easily transported to very high altitude areas via helos again to support the upcoming Mountain Corps. This need was felt for the Eastern Theater.
S-70 won the the tender for 123 helos for IN but that deal stalled (due to NH-90 bitching), so 24 MH-64R ( a cousin) is being purchased to quickly plug gaps due to Sea Kings showing their rust. It's almost certain another 100 will come since Tata already makes a chunk of fuselage and other things in India.
Chinooks were ordered since IAF needed heavy lift helos to move SF, troops, guns and kit etc plus to replace the old 6 Mi-26. But the newer Mi-26 was just to expensive to operate, a bigger juicier target and just old in comparison to the Chinook which had all the latest bells and whistles. 15 were ordered and 7 more will be ordered soon, that is a given
Apache was ordered because the Mi-35 was showing it's rust, Mi-28 Hunter and Apache were evaluated and Apaches were the victors. Now 22 + 6 on order, another 39 are a given. Since both IAF and IA squabbled over who would use them. IA will get their own. While it can be bolstered with the Rudra and LCH. LCH is a light attack helo while Apache is a proven workhorse heavy attack helo, it's the best in the business.
So ******s go about how these purchases are not strategic, well try mobilizing without C-17s and C-130s, let's see how long it would take for a deceive counter punch against any urgent need. During Dokhlam, a couple of C-17s in a few sorties moved over a battalion worth of troops in a matter of couple of hours. In less than 24 hours that re-enforcement was well over a brigade.
All these purchases also mostly happened when there was no pressure on India to offset trade surpluses.
IOR is for now still open game, to say it belongs to India now is an utterly stupid overstatement (nigga please). USN/USAF in Diego Gracia and a few other bases around IOR alone can muster more fire power than all IN combined. You want get rid of the US from IOR
Please my homies, someone please throw some sand on this nigga.
First let's buy some heavy torpedos, active towed array sonars, continue to add LR-SAM on principal naval ships and then talk about how we dominate the IOR. Brahmos, Vikky alone isn't enough to say, this is our backyard.
You seem to have no clue on all the issues faced with Russia on MKI, T-90 and others. Both sides are to blame here. Ever wonder why the PAKFA deal crumbled which isn't even India's fault? TOT offered for PAKFA was around 25% if I recall.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/5-point-explainer-india-united-states-sign-comcasa-1912387
Nigga you shouldn't be talking about things you don't understand.
https://thediplomat.com/2018/09/what-the-recently-concluded-us-india-comcasa-means/
COMCASA will give us direct access to Common Tactical picture For example, a US ship that would have picked up a Chinese submarine movement near the Malacca Strait would transfer information like its speed, location and direction to the Indian Navy in real time as well a live Video and Comms. We don't have such a level of agreement or real time intel or data sharing even with our closest ally Russia. COMCASA is also signed with no Indian obligation for US specific deals by the way and that is a fact. Realtime Intel sharing has already begun by the way.
https://thediplomat.com/2018/09/what-the-recently-concluded-us-india-comcasa-means/
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...-information-from-us/articleshow/65710975.cms