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Alliances of the Air by Shashi Tharoor - Project Syndicate
NEW DELHI – India’s recent
decision not to purchase
American warplanes for its $10
billion-plus fighter aircraft
program – the largest single
military tender in the country’s
history – has stirred debate in
defense circles worldwide. India’s
defense ministry deemed the two
American contenders, Boeing’s
F/A-18 Superhornet and
Lockheed’s F-16 Superviper, not
to fulfill the requirements that it
sought in a medium-size multi-
role combat aircraft. With the
Russian MiG-30 and the Swedish
Gripen also eliminated, two
European planes, the Eurofighter
Typhoon and the French Rafale,
are the only aircraft still in
contention for an expected
order of 126 planes.
India had never previously
purchased an American fighter
plane, and the United States
hoped that India would cement
the emerging bilateral strategic
partnership with a hefty check.
Indeed, US officials, including
President Barack Obama, had
lobbied for the deal, which
would have pumped money and
jobs into the ailing American
economy. The “deeply
disappointed” US ambassador to
India, Tim Roemer, promptly
announced his resignation. But,
in a typical comment, Indian-
American strategist Ashley Tellis
observed trenchantly that India
had chosen “to invest in a plane,
not a relationship.”
The notion that a major arms
purchase should be based on
broader strategic considerations
– the importance of the US in
India’s emerging Weltpolitik –
rather than on the merits of the
aircraft itself, strikes Indian
officials as unfair. Some deny
that the decision reflects any
political bias on the part of
India’s taciturn, left-leaning
defense minister, A. K. Antony.
The choice, they aver, is a purely
professional one, made by the
Indian Air Force, and only
ratified by the ministry.
The two European fighters are
generally seen as
aerodynamically superior, having
outperformed both US-made
aircraft in tests under the
adverse climatic conditions in
which they might have to be
used, particularly in the high
altitudes and low temperatures
of northern Kashmir. Experts
suggest that the American planes
are technologically ten years
behind the European ones, and
it doesn’t help that Pakistan,
India’s likely adversary if the
aircraft were ever pressed into
combat, has long been a regular
US client for warplanes.
Alliances of the Air by Shashi Tharoor - Project Syndicate
NEW DELHI – India’s recent
decision not to purchase
American warplanes for its $10
billion-plus fighter aircraft
program – the largest single
military tender in the country’s
history – has stirred debate in
defense circles worldwide. India’s
defense ministry deemed the two
American contenders, Boeing’s
F/A-18 Superhornet and
Lockheed’s F-16 Superviper, not
to fulfill the requirements that it
sought in a medium-size multi-
role combat aircraft. With the
Russian MiG-30 and the Swedish
Gripen also eliminated, two
European planes, the Eurofighter
Typhoon and the French Rafale,
are the only aircraft still in
contention for an expected
order of 126 planes.
India had never previously
purchased an American fighter
plane, and the United States
hoped that India would cement
the emerging bilateral strategic
partnership with a hefty check.
Indeed, US officials, including
President Barack Obama, had
lobbied for the deal, which
would have pumped money and
jobs into the ailing American
economy. The “deeply
disappointed” US ambassador to
India, Tim Roemer, promptly
announced his resignation. But,
in a typical comment, Indian-
American strategist Ashley Tellis
observed trenchantly that India
had chosen “to invest in a plane,
not a relationship.”
The notion that a major arms
purchase should be based on
broader strategic considerations
– the importance of the US in
India’s emerging Weltpolitik –
rather than on the merits of the
aircraft itself, strikes Indian
officials as unfair. Some deny
that the decision reflects any
political bias on the part of
India’s taciturn, left-leaning
defense minister, A. K. Antony.
The choice, they aver, is a purely
professional one, made by the
Indian Air Force, and only
ratified by the ministry.
The two European fighters are
generally seen as
aerodynamically superior, having
outperformed both US-made
aircraft in tests under the
adverse climatic conditions in
which they might have to be
used, particularly in the high
altitudes and low temperatures
of northern Kashmir. Experts
suggest that the American planes
are technologically ten years
behind the European ones, and
it doesn’t help that Pakistan,
India’s likely adversary if the
aircraft were ever pressed into
combat, has long been a regular
US client for warplanes.
Alliances of the Air by Shashi Tharoor - Project Syndicate
