link : No proposal yet to buy F-16 fighters for the Indian Air Force
No proposal yet to buy F-16 fighters for the Indian Air Force
The Sukhoi Su-30MKI, which Indian aviation enthusiasts venerate more than any other fighter, owes much of its success to the DRDO-run Project Vetrivale, which was possible only because of the sweat and toil that went into the LCA programme. In the process, the nation has developed a respectable system of specialised companies and suppliers that can contribute to future projects. Astra Microwave, Data Patterns, and Samtel are just a few examples of companies that cut their teeth on the LCA and now offer world-class aerospace components, subsystems and services.
The benefits of the technologies and infrastructure developed as a result of these programmes extend beyond individual projects. Owing to their strategic nature, they have the potential to strongly influence economic and national security outcomes for the better. One could argue that they already do. They have enabled the manufacture of engineered systems for civilian and military use that are tailored to local requirements, as well as spin-offs in other sectors of the economy.
To take just one example, some of the technologies developed in the course of the Tejas’ Kaveri engine programme are now used by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in the manufacture of gas turbine engines for power generation. If exploited properly, they shall go a long way towards limiting the expenditure of foreign exchange on imported weaponry that generates very little economic benefit. More importantly, they shall empower the nation to take (or threaten) military action while limiting the risks of coercive pressure from hostile countries that might use technology embargoes or the termination of military sales to restrict the supply of critical military equipment.
And that is the real benefit of inducting a locally-made jet in large numbers, even though it may fall short on certain performance parameters. As Shiv Aroor so rightly says, the endless bickering over minute technical details has to stop. The enormity of what has been achieved cannot be allowed to come to naught because the Tejas’ turn rates are a couple of degrees short of what is required, or because the nose cone could be improved to achieve better radar performance.
With a home-grown fighter, the IAF gets a weapon that it can tinker with in unlimited amounts without having to seek approval from vendors guided by their own narrow interests. It gets the freedom to not treat that weapon as a scarce resource that has to be rationed across the breadth of the national border and not worry about treating as a scarce resource.
And with the technological know-how as well as an industrial ecosystem largely in place, the development of the next generation of fighter is bound to be a little smoother, a little less uncertain, and constrained by fewer technological hurdles than the LCA was.
" data-image-meta="[]" data-image-title="The Naysayers Are Wrong. Here’s Why India Must Celebrate The Tejas" data-large-file="" data-medium-file="" data-orig-file="" data-orig-size="" data-permalink="http://ift.tt/2wsnkeC" data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tWSvvpqOsfihdF6E3x83Xb1cGFaGLBNvloEwb8-y_Qr6En7K3YqBBlAJGJ4etrZ6i3MS_GbD9V=s0-d">There is no proposal to buy F-16 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force at the moment, the government said on Friday.
This comes as Tata Group and American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin have signed a deal to jointly produce the F-16 fighter jets in India, which was signed during the Paris Air Show in June.
Under the deal, Lockheed will shift its Fort Worth, Texas plant to India.
“There is no immediate proposal to procure F-16 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force. Details of agreements entered into by Indian companies in this regard are not held by the government,” Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
“Any future procurement of fighter jets for the Indian Air Force would be undertaken under the extant procurement procedures,” the Minister said.
Earlier this week, Bhamre was asked in the Rajya Sabha if India and the US have agreed for transfer of sophisticated technology and production of F-16 fighter jets under ‘Make in India’.
The Minister replied in the negative.
After signing the agreement in Paris, Lockheed Martin in a statement had said: “The F-16 Block 70 is ideally suited to meet the Indian Air Force’s single-engine fighter needs and this unmatched US-Indian industry partnership directly supports India’s initiative to develop private aerospace and defense manufacturing capacity in India.”
Source:-ET
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