All,
Let's try to be unbiased and evaluate the claims.
Agreed, from scratch it took 30 years for India to produce a bare minimum 4th gen plane with numerous imported components.
Now understand what is the time line for a true 4+ gen plane aka MWF... 8 years... Even 10..that is a substantial improvement.
No one in Indian Subcontinent, including China, will be fielding an all 5th gen fleet even by 2040. Its prohibitively expensive.
Lets take a practical scenario... In 2035...India manufacturers everything domestically except for the. Utting edge tech....Take the analogy... Akin to saying that in 15 years India is capable of equipping its regular forces 80-85%domestically and imports 80-85% for special forces... Still its a massive military industrial comex that can then strive to compete internationally.
We all love BMWs and Audis.... But majority of vehicles even in USA are Ford's, Toyota's and Honda's.
So jingoism aside, let's be unbiased and aware of the bigger picture.... There is a reason why Defence Minister has set a goal of only 70% indigenisation by 2030.
Indian Private Military Complex will grab all the low hanging fruits... Easy, doesn't require massive R&D and creates jobs.
Me being totally unbiased as an active Investment Manager