Exclusive: Why Pakistan May Stop Getting F-16 Fighters
From US
All India | Written by Vishnu Som | Updated:
October 21, 2016 19:57 IST
NEW DELHI:
HIGHLIGHTS
1.
Lockheed Martin has offered to builld F-16 fighters in India
2.
Pak won't be able to acquire India-built F-16s
3.
India has recently bought 36 Rafale jets from France for 58,000
crores
If India were to acquire the US-designed F-16 fighter it would effectively mean that the Pakistan Air Force will not be able to acquire the latest variant of the jet that it has operated for 33 years.
That's because Lockheed Martin has proposed to the Indian government that it is willing to transfer its entire F-16 manufacturing line from Fort Worth in the US to India as part of the government's Make in India policy. In doing so, Lockheed would also aim to transfer the production of structural components of the F-16 from production facilities in multiple countries in a phased approach. If new-build F-16s are eventually constructed in India, there would be no question of them being exported to Pakistan. It is also unlikely that a production facility would be set up for the supply of just a handful of new-build F-16s to Pakistan.
Earlier
this week, Lockheed Martin officially responded to an Indian government letter
asking whether they would be able to provide the Indian Air Force with a high
performance, single engine, multi-role fighter. Lockheed, which had
also submitted an unsolicited bid earlier this year, has always stated
that its F-16 should be the fighter of choice for the IAF despite it being the
main fighter operated by its adversary, the Pakistan Air Force.
Senior executives of Lockheed Martin have indicated to NDTV that the transfer of the F-16 production line to India would mean that India and the US will have an altogether new strategic relationship since India would become the world's largest supply base for the 3,200 F-16s being operated by 24 countries around the world. Pakistan would be unwilling to acquire a made-in-India F-16 Block 70, the latest variant of the jet being proposed for India. India would, obviously, not be willing to supply its primary adversary with a fighter jet.
Senior executives of Lockheed Martin have indicated to NDTV that the transfer of the F-16 production line to India would mean that India and the US will have an altogether new strategic relationship since India would become the world's largest supply base for the 3,200 F-16s being operated by 24 countries around the world. Pakistan would be unwilling to acquire a made-in-India F-16 Block 70, the latest variant of the jet being proposed for India. India would, obviously, not be willing to supply its primary adversary with a fighter jet.
That said, Pakistan could, hypothetically,
acquire components of its existing F-16 fighters from India if the production
line were transferred here though Lockheed Martin executives point out that
these spares would be stocked at company facilities outside India which would
meet the requirement of any country.
Inputs from
the F-16 radars and other sensors would be processed and presented through
multi-function displays in the cockpit and a helmet-mounted sight worn by the
pilot.
Importantly, the variant of the jet that
Lockheed is offering India is far more advanced than that operated by Pakistan
since it would include technology used in the latest US Air Force fighters, the
F-22 and the F-35. According to Randall L. Howard, who looks after F-16
Business Development for Lockheed Martin, "leveraging the technology that
we've designed and integrated on F-22 and F-35, we are reintegrating those
technologies back into the F-16. We're putting state of the art mission
computers, data management systems, a one Gigabyte ethernet data system and a new
centre pedestal display" onto the F-16 Block 70. In simple terms this
means that the F-16, if acquired by the Indian Air Force, would have
unparalleled data-fusion whereby inputs from its radars and other sensors
would be processed and presented to the pilot in a cogent,
easy-to-understand format on multi-function displays in the cockpit
and a helmet-mounted sight worn by the pilot. The pilot would be able to
simultaneously detect dozens of targets and threats in the air, on the ground
and out at sea depending on the terrain.
But Lockheed Martin knows that winning a multi-billion dollar contract in India will not be easy. Swedish firm Gripen International is also responding to the Defence Ministry's letter by offering its state-of-the-art Gripen-E fighter which has recently been acquired by Brazil. Gripen’s parent company SAAB has offered to work with Hindustan Aeronautics to develop a new variant of India's Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and also transfer technology for India to develop its next indigenous fighter, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), which has a stealth design. The Gripen is also, fundamentally, a newer design than the F-16, having entered service for the first time in the late nineties as opposed to the F-16, which was developed in the seventies.
Ironically, both the F-16 and the Gripen had been rejected by the Air Force when it shortlisted the more capable French Dassault Rafale fighter as part of its Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft tender. That tender, however, fell through, and India ultimately had to acquire just 36 Rafale fighters in an off-the-shelf purchase from France in a deal worth approximately 58,000 crores though its initial requirement was for at least 126 jets. The F-16 and the Gripen are now back in contention because the government has decided to operate different categories of fighter aircraft - the Sukhoi-30 (a heavy fighter), the Rafale (a medium weight fighter), the F-16 or Gripen (a light to medium weight fighter) and the indigenous Tejas (a light weight fighter).
Original post: ndtv
Got to really love the pro-US camp in India keep
selling the F-16. Why chose F-16 just to stop Pakistan? When India can buy the Gripen E which is an
F-16 killer!
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