In exclusive deal, India to get ‘Most Advanced’ F-16 fighter jets by 2019-20

[dadeechi]

This is what I said back in April.

https://defence.pk/threads/india-wants-second-line-of-fighter-jets-report.427596/#post-8255380

 

[That Guy]

Its media hype for now. Till we hear anything from Indian MOD officially, take it with a good bucket of salt.

Agreed. I highly doubt this actually went through, and I also doubt that the Indian opposition is going to sit back quietly.

 

[ito]

Also, I don't know why India is going for F-16s, seems like a poor choice. They'd be adding a new system, one that is a fairly old design, and just adding to their over all operational costs. I don't know, it seems like this was more of a political decision, rather than one based upon Indian defense needs.

Not to mention that people are starting to stir away from the F-16, because a F-16 successors already exists...they're called the Rafale and Typhoon.

I have mixed feeling about the news, but coming from the CEO of LM there could be some element of true, \
The only reason why India will go for F 16 is to fill the void left by Mig 21's. And the rate of production of Tejas seem not in proportion to fill Mig 21s

 

[DesiGuy1403]

F 16 makes no sense at this point.

Unless the deal is part of something much bigger, I don't see it being a sensible move.

 

[That Guy]

I have mixed feeling about the news, but coming from the CEO of LM there could be some element of true, \
The only reason why India will go for F 16 is to fill the void left by Mig 21's. And the rate of production of Tejas seem not in proportion to fill Mig 21s

I highly doubt the CEO of LM actually said this, and even if it did occur, it's hard to tell if this is nothing more than putting pressure on India's government to accept, or a way to convince lawmakers to convince India to go for it.

The CEO of LM was also saying that the deal with Pakistan was done, and it was only a matter of delivery, but we all saw what happened.

 

[Nilgiri]

Agreed. I highly doubt this actually went through, and I also doubt that the Indian opposition is going to sit back quietly.

AFAIK the plan is Tejas for tactical interdictor, Rafale for medium multirole, Flankers+FGFA for air superiority + heavy multirole....plus whatever legacy airframes continue for a while (M-2000, Mig 29 etc).

I don't see where F-16 is going to fit into this unless its literally Lockheed setting up a production line in India for exporting newer blocks to other countries, which doesn't make that much sense to me....but makes more sense than the IAF going for F-16s.

 

[That Guy]

F 16 makes no sense at this point.

Unless the deal is part of something much bigger, I don't see it being a sensible move.

It could be a way to get the Indians invested in the F-35 project, like LM originally intended. Right now, we have zero information, other than a questionable article.

 

[Nilgiri]

I highly doubt the CEO of LM actually said this, and even if it did occur, it's hard to tell if this is nothing more than putting pressure on India's government to accept, or a way to convince lawmakers to convince India to go for it.

The CEO of LM was also saying that the deal with Pakistan was done, and it was only a matter of delivery, but we all saw what happened.

She didn't announce anything. This media report is based on a "source" and "officials".

Standard parlance in Indian media for speculation/hype esp after a few rounds of chinese whispers.

 

[ito]

I highly doubt the CEO of LM actually said this, and even if it did occur, it's hard to tell if this is nothing more than putting pressure on India's government to accept, or a way to convince lawmakers to convince India to go for it.

The CEO of LM was also saying that the deal with Pakistan was done, and it was only a matter of delivery, but we all saw what happened.

It went further than that, I guess, there seem to be an agreement signed on this while the CEO of LM was on the tour of India last week.

 

[That Guy]

It went further than that, I guess, there seem to be an agreement signed on this while the CEO of LM was on the tour of India last week.

Again, we have zero information and evidence. If by this time tomorrow, we hear nothing, it was probably a false report, written by a journalist that should be fired.

 

[Nilgiri]

It went further than that, I guess, there seem to be an agreement signed on this while the CEO of LM was on the tour of India last week.

Its all speculation from some "source" or "official". LM and various vested media interests come out with such stuff every few months for the last few years now. Its getting tiring to be honest.

 

[ito]

Again, we have zero information and evidence. If by this time tomorrow, we hear nothing, it was probably a false report, written by a journalist that should be fired.

At least the OP seem to suggest that the agreement has been signed. Anyway, India need a fighter plane to fill the void left by Mig21s, and MKI and Rafale don't fit the bill and Tejas production rate is too slow. There are only two fighter that fit the bill: F-16s and Gripen. India has to go for either of the one.

Its all speculation from some "source" or "official". LM and various vested media interests come out with such stuff every few months for the last few years now. Its getting tiring to be honest.

Yes, you could be right; LM is desperate for this deal, so they might have planted this in media. But something is happening behind the scene for filling the gap of MiG21. Even SAAB is quite active now a days.

 

[The SC]

What if they want to make an F-16 block 70/72 with AESA, IRST and American EW/ECM for around 50 to 70 million $ to compete against the Russian Mig-35 and SU-35 and the Chinese J-10.. they certainly have their eyes on cheap labour ...

 

[Water Car Engineer]

At least the OP seem to suggest that the agreement has been signed. Anyway, India need a fighter plane to fill the void left by Mig21s, and MKI and Rafale don't fit the bill and Tejas production rate is too slow. There are only two fighter that fit the bill: F-16s and Gripen. India has to go for either of the one.



Yes, you could be right; LM is desperate for this deal, so they might have planted this in media. But something is happening behind the scene for filling the gap of MiG21. Even SAAB is quite active now a days.

Something is most definitely happening outside of Rafale. With the comment of another fighter under the MII from MoD in the TATA-Boeing Apache fuselage plant recently. They're trying to get a private sector production going. Eyes are on TATA.

 

[TylerDurden07]

if you notice THE HINDU is India's most reputable(or India's equivalent to leftists newspaper NYT,The Guardian) newspaper. so I don't think it will report falsely.but i also think it has an agenda bcoz THE HINDU is also batting for LM since last 2-3 articles. and also what is block 70/72? what will be its additional features? i am curious to know that.