The proverbial “no smoke without fire” would resonate more than the “curious coincidence” explanation for the detailed statement from aviation major Lockheed Martin on its proposal to manufacture its F-16s in India. That statement virtually followed up the talk between the US Secretary for Defense and the Indian defence minister, and it would be fair to assume that Lockheed Martin received some kind of signal on a possible sale to the Indian Air Force. Hence the effort to secure the approval of the Trump administration, which has generally opposed American manufacturers operating outside the United States ~ a move that could hit other American firms too. The line Lockheed Martin has sought to sell the White House is that the units produced in India will not be sold to the American military, and the arrangement will not impact American jobs.

Rather, kept open will be American jobs as some components and sub-assemblies will continue to be manufactured there. Those jobs of American workers might have been at risk when the F-16 production line in Texas shut down, as the military there has now opted for the F-35. It is highly unlikely that Lockheed Martin would have gone public without an assurance that the F-16 was among the jet fighters “under consideration” by India, which is in need of  200-250 planes to arrest the depletion of its combat fleet after the Russian MiG series approached obsolescence.

There has been no word from the Defence Ministry or IAF on the matter, but taking a “close look” at the F-16 might be seen as turning the clock backward. For the aircraft had been evaluated, but did not make it to the short-list when the IAF had narrowed down its preference to the French Rafales and the British/European Typhoon as a deal for 126 Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft was being processed. The Rafale got the final nod, but high prices and a change of government in New Delhi curtailed the arrangement to an outright purchase of 36 planes. Now that the US has discarded the F-16, the commercial considerations might have become more attractive, so too the proposal for joint production with an Indian partner.

While it is true that the F-16 has been consistently upgraded, questions of it being “dated” do arise, so the government must place all the cards on the table ~ lest speculation be triggered that there were “political” rather than professional factors at play in the re-look at the allegedly outdated F-16s. It is an open secret that India recently agreed to “cement” military ties with Russia by buying a class of warships that could well have been built in Indian yards. Such suspicions should not be fuelled when combat aircraft are being acquired.