The acquisition of the S-400, differing points of view on the war in Ukraine, eye-watering costs, a domestic 5th gen fighter program and never having operated any U.S. fighter aircraft are some of the reasons why India can’t and shouldn’t consider the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
Indian armed forces personnel with less than the qualifying 10 years of service are now eligible for invalid pension, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has delegated powers for urgent purchases of upto INR 300 crore or USD 40 million to the armed forces to meet their emergent operational requirements, U.S. Navy continued firefighting efforts onboard the USS Bonhomme Richard light aircraft carrier for the fourth day, Japan has announced it will operate the Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing F-35B from the helicopter destroyer JS Izumo and former Afghan vice president and ethnic Uzbek warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum has been promoted to the highest military rank of marshal by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
“Unfortunately the LCA has not been able to meet the carrier capability required. So that is why we need an alternate aircraft now,” said navy chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba.
The new concept is a spin-off from the hollow titanium blisk (bladed disk) of the Trent 700 engine and also derived the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem for the Pratt and Whitney F-135 vertical lift engine for F-35B.
Steven Gillard of Rolls-Royce spoke to StratPost about the Naval Aircraft Yard milestone of overhauling the 50th Sea Harrier Pegasus engine and the role played by his company in helping achieve it.
