That's a weird thing you said man. Israel helped us always and how can you say it cannot be trusted? Trust always has to start from somewhere. If we keep this Soviet-era Socialist mentality nothing will change and we will never benefit. When signing deals like the one I mentioned with Israel, there are a lot of pacts that bind the other country from selling stuff to other countries. That is the same set of agreements that we have with Russians on PAKFA and BrahMos. It isn't so easy to sell secrets to others.
Why would Israel sell our secrets to who? China is already making its own 5th generation fighter and has what it needs. Russia is also making and so are we. Japanese are already going to get help from US on ShinShin and that leaves only Pakistan. Israel and Pakistan are loggerheads with each other and its an open secret.
Both are US allies I agree. But both are strong India supporters as well. Singapore has extensive security agreements with us and a significant part of their weapons are stationed in India. That's not a joke on international level. Israel has supplied us reliable weapons at reasonable prices when we needed them most starting Kargil war's excellent on time delibery of shells. Israel was also the only Country in middle east and the only country apart from Russia and France who welcomed our nuclear tests with an open heart. The Arabs cheated us there again and sided with Pakistan.
Israel has recently reduced the number of F-35 it is going to by from US from 75 to 25. Singapore will need to replace its other fighters apart from F-16s (it already has new F-15SGs). Israel is also in a security environment that needs them to have things according to their customized requirements.. US is not allowing that on F-35 and hence the decrease in units. With our AMCA project, they have a 50% say in both technology contribution as well as how they want to modify it. Even we can gain from their expertise and mixing it with our own knowledge, AMCA would pack quite a punch.
F-35 is a supposed replacement for old F-16s and 25 won't be enough. They have aroun 110 F-16 fighters. Even if they order another 60 F-35s in next 10 years, what about their F-15 'Neshers'? They need a medium twin-engined 5th generation fighter that has a longer range than JSF. AMCA fits the bill.
Well, mate, I agree that Israel has helped us more than once but they have done that since there was no objection from the US, always keep that in mind !! More than being strong India supporters, they are more importantly principal allies of USA, and that relationship is more important to them than being strong India supporters, since they are more dependent on the US than us and will be for the foreseeable future !!!! Get your facts on strategic partnerships and foreign policy right, mate.
Secondly, China is making is own 5th genr. fighter, but then as everybody knows they are always in the lookout for advanced technology that they can get their hands on from the international market, their adversaries and even their partners !! But that can be countered by having a binding deal with the Israelis in which we clearly spell out our requirements from them !
Singapore has extensive security agreements with us and a significant part of their weapons are stationed in India
By the way, what exactly do you mean by the latter part of the statement ?? And what technical expertise does Singapore have in avionics and aeronautics that can help us ?? Care to enlighten us !
Finally, what I feel is that the AMCA should stay an Indian project with limited and necessary cooperation from other nations !! Israel can help us with avionics and weaponry, then we can source the required components from them just like we have done in the past for the MKI. Radars, we can build on our own, and if we face some issues, then we can consult either the Russians, the French or the Israelis again !! If we keep making excuses that such advanced technology components need to be sourced from countries that have experience in that field, then we will forever be dependent on them. Rather, we should involve own private sector for sourcing these components, and make do with foreign components critical to the project, till the time they come up with indigenous versions of critical components. That way, our own industries will develop valuable expertise and gain from this experience in the future. Frankly, I think the Indian private sector can do as good a job as that of any developed nation if they have the required resources which shouldn't be a problem with government and private sector funding !!