Thursday 21 February 2019

Lockheed Martin Deletes Claim That Its Rebranded F-21 Could Be A Path To Indian F-35s

Lockheed Martin


Lockheed Martin Deletes Claim That Its Rebranded F-21 Could Be A Path To Indian F-35s: JOSEPH TREVITHICK - FEB 20, 2019 4:28 PM EST - Lockheed Martin has rebranded its latest advanced F-16 offering for India as the F-21 and has shown the jet would have new features, including a revised glass cockpit and other advanced features. But the pitch appears to be much more about opportunities industrial cooperation in India, a major factor in the latest iteration of India's fighter jet tender, than technological enhancements. It might even pave the way for the country to join the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program – a claim the company scrubbed from its official F-21 webpage shortly after it went live.

Lockheed Martin


The Maryland-headquartered defense contractor revealed models of the F-21 and released a computer-generated video presentation about the jet to coincide with the beginning of this year’s Aero India trade show on Feb. 20, 2019. 

Lockheed Martin’s fighter jet is squaring off against Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, France’s Rafale, the European Eurofighter Typhoon, Sweden’s Gripen E, and Russia’s MiG-35 Fulcrum and Su-35 Flanker for India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition. The Indian Air Force hopes to eventually purchase at least 115 aircraft through this program, a deal that could be worth up to $18 billion, which has been a more than decade-long saga that you can read about in more detail here.

“The F-21 is different, inside and out,” Dr. Vivek Lall, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said in a statement. “The new designation highlights our commitment to delivering an advanced, scalable fighter aircraft to the Indian Air Force that also provides unrivaled industrial opportunities and accelerates closer India-US cooperation on advanced technologies.”


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