Posted on 06/13/2006 8:31:06 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
India may buy advanced Israeli aircraft
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: India may be buying Israeli-made advanced fighter aircraft, according to Defence News, an online military and defence news portal.
In a Tel Aviv-datelined dispatch, it said, “Fighter jets vying for India’s $8 billion Medium-range Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme may have to make room for a late entry: the Israel Air Force F-16I Sufa, or Storm. In an unprecedented move aimed at sharpening its edge over fellow US and international competitors, Lockheed Martin is eyeing the F-16I as a low-cost, high-performance alternative to the French Rafale, the Swedish JAS 39 Gripen, the Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing’s F/A-18E/F and the Russian MiG-35.”
The report, quoting US and Israeli sources, said that the precise configuration of the single-engine aircraft offered would depend on the operational and industrial requirements detailed in New Delhi’s upcoming request for proposals (RfP). However, Lockheed’s Fort Worth, Texas, Aeronautics unit has begun asking the US government for third-country export licences.
“We have submitted a request for licensing of an F-16 configuration that we think will match the Indian Air Force requirements, pending our receipt of the RfP,” said Lockheed Martin spokesman Joe Stout. He declined to elaborate on specific technologies and subsystems that could be included in the company’s bid. He said a team dedicated to the MMRCA programme has been working since the beginning of the year on a number of F-16 configurations that may prove more compatible with operational needs as well as New Delhi’s requirements for offsets and industrial cooperation. Other options could include a variant of the F-16 Block 60, which carries advanced US avionics and the Northrop Grumman APG-80 active electronically scanned radar, or on the Block 50/52 versions flown by the US Air Force and now being produced for several air forces.
Defence News said if Lockheed offered the F-16I to India, it would be the first time an extensively modified US fighter containing non-US-made avionics, weaponry and major sub-systems had been offered at the front end of an international competition. Lockheed has sold to Chile and Singapore F-16s that contained significant Israeli content, but those items were demanded by the customers from the start. “To the best of my knowledge, the idea of pitching a US fighter with significant, technologically advanced third-party content hasn’t been done before,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at the Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va.-based aerospace and defense consulting firm. “If this is the case, and the US government allows Lockheed to offer a clone of the Israel Air Force plane, it’s another indication of the unprecedented military and diplomatic initiatives being taken to promote a US win in this strategically important programme.”
The new MMRCAs are expected to complement New Delhi’s high-end fleet of Su-30MKIs and the lower-end, locally developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft. Initial requests for information called for 18 aircraft to be delivered directly from the prime contractor, with 108 to be produced under license in India. Since then, however, the Indian Air Force has been lobbying to expand the buy to more than 200 planes, as a hedge against additional delays of the Tejas. Indian Air Force sources said MMRCA orders could be split among two countries. According to these sources, a decision to award more than one contract would speed deliveries to the Air Force while doubling the political benefits to be accrued through tandem cooperative programmes.
How proven are the American radars vis-a-vis the Euro ones???Again open to debate,coz all sensible nations will export only downgraded systems when it comes to the point be it the European AMSAR or Raytheon APG-79.The chances of Europe imposing sanctions are the same,if not a little lesser than that of the US-history has proven that part.If Europe will sell to China,well, India's largest supplier,Russia already does that.And the US arms Pakistan.It's a big bad world.
If the Rafale hasn't had any buyers,well so hasn't the F/A-18 E/F which has evoked little interest outside the USN & the SuperHornet is the only one with a chance to win the IAF contract.The level of support offered by LM or Dassault is directly proportional to the state India's ties with those mother nations.Enuff said!!
IF saying India is weak nation gives you some sort of vicious satisfaction,you are more than welcome to do so!!
The point is moot. Europe still doesnt have one. And all our next generation fighters are going to come equipped with AESA. Where is the comparison. Show me a Toooornadoo with an AMSAR Radar on a production line and we can talk. Right now even the UAE F16s have the AESA and I havent heard anything bad about it. So what is there to compare?
If the Rafale hasn't had any buyers,well so hasn't the F/A-18 E/F which has evoked little interest outside the USN & the SuperHornet is the only one with a chance to win the IAF contract.The level of support offered by LM or Dassault is directly proportional to the state India's ties with those mother nations.Enuff said!!
We as a country can support the SH in enough numbers? Can the French do the same? Anyways, what is the use of beginning a strategic partnership if you guys cant even trust us? LM has offered consistently good support as a vendor, the US Congress and sanctions..ahh..that is a different story. Many Indians online are commenting on how Dassault charges you an arm and a leg for support and maintenance.
I dont think India will ever go to war to help us. I have a bad feeling that India is playing both sides - us and the chinese. But my interpretation of recent indian history is that she is weak and indecisive. India didnt stand up to China on Tibet and then got a bad whipping from the Chinese in 1962. I hope things have changed but I tend to be skeptical
Even Kilo class quiet D/E subs can interdict China-bound oil. Maybe send naval SEAL-type commandos to hijack the oil tanker and divert it to an Indian port rather than let 280000 tons of crude oil go up in a smoky mushroom conflagration.
You forgot one more Eurocanard fighter: Gripen
That’s right. China is one hell of a threat to India. Why? Because the latter would be threatened in an instant when 200 million PLA soldiers and their war material march through the Karakoram pass westward toward Israel. And India has every right to defend itself and its ally Israel.
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