Lockheed Martin may sell fifth generation F-35 to India

[lilaspr]

I would say India should go for PAK-FA and put focus on developing indigenous MCA. Regarding navy FGFA naval variant is coming soon too till then Mig 29k id not a bad choice. Anyway India will never go to war with USA (NATO) or Russia, for others Mig 29k is beauty and it can very well save India ocean.

But if there is question weather to go for PAK-FA or F35. I would say PAK-FA technically and strategically both.

 

[weaponx]

I think India should buy at least 150 F-35's to counter Chinese threat in future and it also will provide them a high end Western Technological edge over its neighbors .

Thanks

economically.....150 F-35 's will be too costly....with india heavily investing in FGFA(PAK-FA) and in future may be in MCA prgrm...

strategically...Russia wont be happy if we give preference to USA..india has to balance ..tough task for the defence and foreign affairs strategists...

militarily...F-35 lightning II will be prefered in Indian Navy...FGFA and MCA for IAF....

so If Indian Navy buys F-35 Lightning II..they will go for max 50 plans or roughly 2 squadrans ....but not 150 planes...

 

[Kompromat]

economically.....150 F-35 's will be too costly....with india heavily investing in FGFA(PAK-FA) and in future may be in MCA prgrm...

strategically...Russia wont be happy if we give preference to USA..india has to balance ..tough task for the defence and foreign affairs strategists...

militarily...F-35 lightning II will be prefered in Indian Navy...FGFA and MCA for IAF....

so If Indian Navy buys F-35 Lightning II..they will go for max 50 plans or roughly 2 squadrans ....but not 150 planes...

well these are all lame excuses and why would you worry about russians too much?

Having a diversity in Platform would be always good and it will increase your reliability .

India's booming economy can accommodate all that money.

 

[sancho]

i think F-35 lightning II is naval variant..correct me if iam wrong...if it is..then i think in any future Indigenous aircraft carriers(I and II) F-35 lightning II will be front runner coz if india needs a 5th gen fighter plane in its IAC1 and IAC 2 then PAK-FA is still along way to go..and to develop a FGFA naval variant will take atleast 10-12 yrs....comparing IAC 1 and 2 will be inducted by 2017(If Sources are to be believed)..

F35 B (vertical take off and landing) and C (catapult start version) can be used as carrier fighters, the A is a dedicated land based version.
Gorshkov and IAC1 will come till 2015, F35 will only be available from 2016 on, with delays and for a simple export customer like India possibly later. This time frame makes it also not usefull as a MMRCA contender, so the only use would be instead of MCA from 2020 on, or for IAC 2, from 2018 on.
By that time Pak Fa and even naval versions of it are possible, so why chose a foreign figher with no commonality and at high costs and a lot of restrictions instead?
The only reason for F35 would be, if the naval Pak Fa can't be used with catapults, because it's not sure what kind of deck layout future Russian carriers will have, but IN seems to go for CATOBAR types.

 

[sancho]

Having a diversity in Platform would be always good and it will increase your reliability .

Where is the diversity in platform if MCA is meant for the same roles that F35 is meant for? The only difference will be US weapons, against Indo-Russian/Israeli/European weapons on MCA.

 

[adrenalin]

Desperate times call for desperate measures!
But we should not forget old friends, in this case Russia.

Whatever, be the case with MMRCA, atleast 2-4 squadrons of Mig 35 should be bought by India, a way of honoring Russia's time tested friendship.

And we don't need F-16, even if it is a newer version coz' Pakistan has it. LM is trying to sweeten the deal by offering F-35s.

No thank you LM!

 

[Parashuram1]

Now this is a very unexpected development. My opinion is:

From a domestic stand point since you are already developing the project MCA, it is pointless to waste your recently earned wealth and economy potential on F-35 Lightning II especially since you are already focusing on indigenous 5th generation projects. Please remember that 5th generation fighter capability demands higher costs in operating these high-tech equipment and therefore the more diverse platforms you have, the more difficult it will be to manage during an economic crunch which is an inevitable part of every country' economy.

From a foreign affairs perspective, this is a very inviting news. Certainly this kind of a deal would enhance USA-India cooperation, meaning that the gates to sensitive technologies would be flung open for New Delhi not just from the United States but also close allies like United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Japan etc.

It ultimately boils down to how your Ministry of Foreign Affairs can play a role in balancing your long term partner Russia and your newly acquired friend United States.

 

[sancho]

Desperate times call for desperate measures!
But we should not forget old friends, in this case Russia.

Whatever, be the case with MMRCA, atleast 2-4 squadrons of Mig 35 should be bought by India, a way of honoring Russia's time tested friendship.

That's why we buy additional Mig 29Ks!

 

[lilaspr]

I think Russians have proven on many occasions that they can build cheaper and yet better jets than the Americans. India is building the MCA(NGFA) which can be termed as the F-35 equivalent (minus the vertical takeoff/landing). Besides Lockheed stated many times they are willing to include some "F-35" technologies into the F-16IN aswell.

FGFA (I guess Indian version will have some Israeli and European touch to make it more lethal.) + MMRCA (Typhoon best choice) + MCA(NGFA)= Looks good.

What others say?

 

[manglasiva]

Now this is a very unexpected development. My opinion is:

From a domestic stand point since you are already developing the project MCA, it is pointless to waste your recently earned wealth and economy potential on F-35 Lightning II especially since you are already focusing on indigenous 5th generation projects. Please remember that 5th generation fighter capability demands higher costs in operating these high-tech equipment and therefore the more diverse platforms you have, the more difficult it will be to manage during an economic crunch which is an inevitable part of every country' economy.

From a foreign affairs perspective, this is a very inviting news. Certainly this kind of a deal would enhance USA-India cooperation, meaning that the gates to sensitive technologies would be flung open for New Delhi not just from the United States but also close allies like United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Japan etc.

It ultimately boils down to how your Ministry of Foreign Affairs can play a role in balancing your long term partner Russia and your newly acquired friend United States.

U said it

 

[Kinshuk]

What stupidity is that? India should never go for F-35. It is not like trying different cusines that you can have all of them. I would be very disappointed if India opts for F-35...

Ahhh!!! pretty smooth plane though

 

[Kinshuk]

I think Russians have proven on many occasions that they can build cheaper and yet better jets than the Americans. India is building the MCA(NGFA) which can be termed as the F-35 equivalent (minus the vertical takeoff/landing). Besides Lockheed stated many times they are willing to include some "F-35" technologies into the F-16IN aswell.

FGFA (I guess Indian version will have some Israeli and European touch to make it more lethal.) + MMRCA (Typhoon best choice) + MCA(NGFA)= Looks good.

What others say?

I second that. Vertical take off is just an added advantage but its not that fighters can't land or take off without it.

No more surprises please IAF..

Get Rafale as MMRCA and invest in good love from Russian PAKFA.


And can someone tell me if it is finalised, I mean inked on Paper that India is investing in FGFA???

 

[weaponx]

well these are all lame excuses and why would you worry about russians too much?

Having a diversity in Platform would be always good and it will increase your reliability .

India's booming economy can accommodate all that money.

They may be lame excuses to u...but not to us...Russia has been a stead fast ally to us..they have been with us in our high and low....so yes, we think about their feedback....But yes F-35 is a aircraft worth buying..but the biggest drawback will be ..we will not get ToT..whereas we wil have the ToT of FGFA...

 

[Kinshuk]

BlackBlood,

I think you haven't heard or seen any video where manmohan singh clearly states Russia being the closest of all and has top most priority in foreign policy, Same Mr. Dimitry said, India is on top in or foreign policy. These are not excuses. It is just good business, goodwill.

 

[su-47]

We should seriously evaluate PAKFA and F-35 before buying F-35. If F-35s performance falls below that of PAKFA, then no point in buying them!

Also, F-35 should only be considered if there's full ToT. Otherwise it'll be a waste of money.