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.
The U.S. is the only country to send fighter aircraft to Aero India 2023. Other U.S. fighters at Aero India 2023 include two Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets and two Lockheed Martin F-16s.
Boeing, Saab and Lockheed Martin are offering to build fighters in India and each is bringing something different to the table.
‘One would naturally think we’d be good, with our IT and knowledge economy. The fact is, we haven’t identified, trained and nurtured talent on an institutional basis. India may have a lot of whiz kids but we still haven’t tapped them as a force-multiplying resource.’
