Lockheed's F-16 Is Likely Forerunner For India's Next Fighter Jet Order

[[Bregs]]

The f-16 is going to be more of an assembly plant, air frames etc. It wont bring in any cutting edge technology least of all with US

 

[JanjaWeed]

Unity in diversity..Migs, Mirages, Jaguars, Tejas, Sukhois, Rafales & now F16. No other AirForces in the world will have such a diverse collection of fighter aircrafts in their inventory!

 

[Skull and Bones]

It surely will but Air crafts are not the only thing you want to Put your money on right ? upgrading , maintaining the old fleet , SAM , AWAC's , Radars , and so many other things , if you just keep stuck with Rafale and F-16's it wont be any good ..

Yes, and given that the platform age is 25-30 years, and if the payment is distributed over a period of time. Then all of it is fairly affordable.

 

[Papa Dragon]

@Starlord What you said is totally right. I don't see a logical point why IAF is trying to induct more platforms which only creates a logistical nightmare and maintenance issues at the same time sucking all of IAF's funds. This would also result in laying a death kneel for any indigenous project like the LCA. We don't have any immediate threat right now and we could possibly make it with the existing fighters as of now. Developing the Kaveri GTX engine with Dassault and order 1-2 more squadrons of Rafale and partner with Dassault to develop and enhance the combat radius & range of LCA-1A and make the LCA-Mk2 into a world class fighter and also increase its production rate by giving the assembly & manufacturing to private entities and get the FGFA/PAK-FA in the long run. Inducting the Falcon isn't a logical choice as it is an american aircraft and comes with a lot of strings attached and PAF pilots know in and out of the falcons and are well versed with it. Even if IAF is offered the F-16 Block 70/72 which maybe 60-70 mil a pop is damn expensive and may only have an advantage against PAF in BVR combat but PAF will have a clear edge in dog fights due to it's experience as it is the same airframe.

 

[C130]

either the Gripen E/F or Falcon 70 would make sense.

thinking Gripen E/F would be the favorite

-low cost and maintainability
-can operate from short runways and roads
-swashbuckler radar+Meteor=unmatched BVR combat

but then the Falcon 70

-much better range
-better growth potential
-more diverse weapon selection
-potential upgrade to F-35 in the future
-troll Pakistan with better F-16 and weapons

 

[danger007]

capability Gripen E/F or Falcon 70 would make sense.

thinking Gripen E/F would be the favorite

-low cost and maintainability
-can operate from short runways and roads
-swashbuckler radar+Meteor=unmatched BVR combat

but then the Falcon 70

-much better range
-better growth potential
-more diverse weapon selection
-potential upgrade to F-35 in the future
-troll Pakistan with better F-16 and weapons

Growth potential .. F 16 reached its max capability.. can't expect more blocks..

 

[C130]

Growth potential .. F 16 reached its max capability.. can't expect more blocks..

not necessarily. still growth for avionics,EW and weapons. really talking about 10 years down the road. you would see a block 75

 

[danger007]

not necessarily. still growth for avionics,EW and weapons. really talking about 10 years down the road. you would see a block 75

F 16 stretched to its peak .

 

[YeBeWarned]

@Starlord What you said is totally right. I don't see a logical point why IAF is trying to induct more platforms which only creates a logistical nightmare and maintenance issues at the same time sucking all of IAF's funds. This would also result in laying a death kneel for any indigenous project like the LCA. We don't have any immediate threat right now and we could possibly make it with the existing fighters as of now. Developing the Kaveri GTX engine with Dassault and order 1-2 more squadrons of Rafale and partner with Dassault to develop and enhance the combat radius & range of LCA-1A and make the LCA-Mk2 into a world class fighter and also increase its production rate by giving the assembly & manufacturing to private entities and get the FGFA/PAK-FA in the long run. Inducting the Falcon isn't a logical choice as it is an american aircraft and comes with a lot of strings attached and PAF pilots know in and out of the falcons and are well versed with it. Even if IAF is offered the F-16 Block 70/72 which maybe 60-70 mil a pop is damn expensive and may only have an advantage against PAF in BVR combat but PAF will have a clear edge in dog fights due to it's experience as it is the same airframe.

That is my point , F-16 is better than mig-21 but the numbers are too great to be replaced , and it will not be a cheap adventure from IAF.. and lets not forget PAF is operating from Decades and IAF will need at least 5 years to induct them and make strategies out of it .. and i agree with you that if go for F-16's it will be a final nail in coffin of Tejas , or maybe for some show case your IAF will buy small numbers of Tejas for face saving ..

 

[ACE OF THE AIR]

Modi's closeness to US alone makes F16 the front runner.

It has nothing to do with that. USA wants India to have F-16's because this would allow India to select the F-35 once it has matured.

The requirement of India is aprox. 900 single engine aircraft but within the next 10-15 years the mig 29 and Jaguars would also need replacement.

Tejas has failed to deliver what it hoped for hence it might have to be scraped. Upgrading would cost more funds and time which India does not have. The choices are very limited for India in regard to getting single engine aircraft. A combination of F-16's and Gripen could give India enough capability even if replacement is not on 1-1 basis. (highly unlikely)

 

[C130]

F 16 stretched to its peak .

it's still got room for upgrades mainly avionics and weapons wise. it's still a 4th gen fighter though, but it's better than the Tejas which is also a 4th gen fighter.

could also make the F-16XL which can carry twice the ordnance 40% further, and this is before the upgraded engine and CFTs, so probably 60% further.

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

either the Gripen E/F or Falcon 70 would make sense.

thinking Gripen E/F would be the favorite

-low cost and maintainability
-can operate from short runways and roads
-swashbuckler radar+Meteor=unmatched BVR combat

but then the Falcon 70

-much better range
-better growth potential
-more diverse weapon selection
-potential upgrade to F-35 in the future
-troll Pakistan with better F-16 and weapons

Two more negatives for the Gripen are that it will be seen as a competitor to our Tejas and that Gripen uses a lot of Non Swedish equipment.
Positive for the F16 is that Israel operates them(IAF has reserves of Derby and Python AAMs) and IAF likes customised aircraft and Israel will be major source here(Su30MKI, Jaguar, Tejas all have Israeli equipment on board)

 

[Water Car Engineer]

Tejas has failed to deliver what it hoped for hence it might have to be scraped.

Too late to scrap it. One production plant is up producing initial batch, another plant will come up as well.

 

[Hassan Guy]

lmao Us Pakistani's are taking the L here

 

[Ram Mahadev]

in morning thread it was grippen . ohhh god pick me up until mmrca done here on this shitty planet

Let me put it in perspective. F16 with AESA procured from Sweden. May be armed with Meteor missiles. F16 at present form whatever the upgrades are US can't afford to TOT share some of its technologies. We recently saw Saab offered its specific Radars for India. May be they senses that India could go for f16. Large number of F16 could become a small potent mini airforce. PAF totally put it strategy on some 76 f16s as their front line fighter. Now think what 100+(may be 200) most advanced F16 with better AESA from SAAB can provide India.

Gripin in itself a western state story of Tejas. Weapons, engines avionics etc assembled into an air frame. So I don't think SAAB will be worried if we select F16. F16 offers superior features that gripin. Proven platform. Best we can get for single engine fighter. Now transfer of whole assembly line to India gives us additional advantages over PAF which depends on F16.

Only advantage of gripin over f16 is its Meteor Missiles. If we could customize f16 with SAAB advanced AESA Iam sure we could fit it Meteor too. Now that's makes it a sweet deal for all. Europe Sweden Israel American Indians.

Hope we go for F16s keeping Chinese in mind. Gripin could be outperformed by J11s and advanced J11s and su fighters. But with Larger quantities F16s and create havoc to both our neighbors