In the perfect world Sancho !!! I do read your discussion with @
Oscar. You have point but economics is not with you. Like it or not our forces will be the only
major customer HAL will ever have.
I wouldn't mind that, since I want them to develop and build mainly for our forces of course, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't look to exports (small or big) to not only increase HALs profits, but to reduce unit and operational costs of LCA, Dhruv, LCH, LOH for example. The same reason why I would go for a partner country in the development of AMCA, instead doing it alone (which we can't) and only for our requirements.
However, marketing a made in India product is not easy and therefor a foreign partner with credibility and know how would be great to sell LCA but also to improve the general view of HAL in the aero field.
- HAL will not sell LCA under Israeli banner. More of a ego thing.
Hehe, but they don't have to. The product remains to be an Indian one and would be sold so, but having IAI for example as a partner, that would invest into the export version on the one side, but also gains from the profits on the other side would be a win win solution.
- If so , Israeli company doing "marketing" for HAL will be expecting befits and profits for them as well. Increase in cost.
You have an apple and try to sell it, but nobody buys it. Then I suggest to sell it to a friend of mine, with 25% of the profit for me. What's better, having 0 profit or 75% profit?
- Any country ( you mentioned in other thread ) will have very very small order.
Of course, HAL / India can only aim at countries with low budgets and requirements at the moment, especially at those that can't afford modern 4.5th gen fighters from other countries. Do you think we would have any chance in a competition against EADS, Dassault, LM, Boeing or Sukhoi? Not going to happen, so we have to find the niche, where cost advantages makes our products more interesting.
Another example could be Brazil currently, they want the Rafale as a fighter, but moreover the industrial and political advantages of the deal. However, at the current stage they might not be able to afford as many Rafales, as they might need to replace older fighters. That's where LCA MK2 with RBE 2 AESA, possibly the Damocles pod (produced by BEL), FSO-IT & Topsight HMS (produced by Samtel), in higher numbers and as a licence production in Brazil would come in handy. High commonality, between the fighters at lower unit and operational costs. They already use Derby and Python missiles, could integrate Rafales weapons if they want, although far more interesting for them and us, would be if they intgrate Brazilians weapons like A-Darter, MAR1...
If we would have fielded LCA MK2 we wouldn't had any chance, be it as a fighter, nor for political or industrial benefits. But the niche of being more cost-effective, while offering commonality to Rafale, or their currently available weapons and techs would be an interesting advantage.
- and major set back for Mark-1 is IAF saying it will never see combat duty. Why in world will any other airforce buy indian platform which indian airforce wont be using them-self ???
Says who? We have 2 squads on order, IAF insisted on flight and weapon tests (loaded flight tests) at high altitude areas, while these squads will be raised in the south, most likely for air policing and maritime attack roles. The idea that MK1 would not be capable enough, nor would not see combat duty is plain wrong, since we have other borders to protect than those to Pakistan and China, (although I would prefer if they would do the same under IN's control, but that's a different issue).
If you remember same arguments were made for Chinese planes. But I really don't know if they have succeed in selling any platform.
China is facing exactly the problems I meantioned, they have to join competitions, where Russians or US are offering fighters too, Myanmar, Serbia, maybe Egypt. So they have to compete not only on political level which they can, unlike us, but also on technical level, which they couldn't so far (J10A vs foreign counterparts). We would be as lost as they are, but that's where a foreign partner would make a huge difference in marketing, industrial and political advantages!
The best for LCA as a fighter would had been, if we had taken the chance and the offer of EADS, to develop and Advanced trainer of it, with the EJ 200 engine and jointly marketed. The whole fighter development would had been boosted, we would gain from PR and possible exports of the trainer, but also would have higher chances to sell LCA as a combat version. A huge chance that we missed there!
Anyway, the point was, there are other ways to gain money for HAL, than spreading shares around and there the aim must be to be more efficient anyway.
may be lets see how it works 
