BENGALURU: The United States has brought its latest fighter jets, F-35s, F-16s, Super Hornets and B-1B bombers to India for the first time this week as Washington seeks to dislodge New Delhi’s conventional approach. Military supplier, Russia.
IndiaEager to modernize its large Soviet-era fighter jet fleet to bolster its air power, the war in Ukraine worries Russian supply delays and distance it from Moscow in the west. There is pressure.
The week of the American delegation Aero India Show In Bengaluru, which ends on Friday, the show is the biggest in the show’s 27-year history and highlights the growing strategic relationship between the US and India.
In contrast, Russia, the largest arms supplier to India since the days of the Soviet Union, had a nominal presence. Its state arms exporter Rosoboronexport had a joint stall with United Aircraft and Almaz Inti, displaying miniature models of planes, trucks, radars and tanks.
In previous editions of the show, Rosoboronexport had a more central position for its stall, although Russia has not brought a fighter jet to Bengaluru for a decade after India began considering more European and American fighter jets.
Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets have already entered the race to supply fighter jets for the Indian Navy’s second aircraft carrier and Lockheed Martin’s F-21, due for delivery to India at Aero India in 2019. An upgraded F-16, also designed, is being offered. To the Air Force
A $20 billion Air Force proposal to buy 114 multi-role fighter jets has been pending for five years, focused on tensions with China and Pakistan.
According to an Indian Air Force (IAF) source, India is not considering the F-35 “yet”, but the display of two F-35s for the first time at Aero India was a sign of New Delhi’s growing strategy. Importance to Washington
Angad Singh, an independent defense analyst, said it was “not a sales pitch” but an indication of the importance of bilateral defense ties in the Indo-Pacific region.
He added that “although arms sales are not the basis of the relationship, there is cooperation and collaboration at the military level between India and the US”.
The US is selective about which countries it allows to buy the F-35. Asked if it would be offered to India, Rear Admiral Michael L. Baker, the defense attache at the US embassy in India, said New Delhi was in the “very early stages” of considering whether it wanted the aircraft. Or not.
An IAF spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on its interest in the F-35s.
Ahead of the show, Russia’s state news agencies reported that Moscow had supplied New Delhi with about $13 billion in arms and $10 billion in orders over the past five years.
The US has approved more than $6 billion in arms sales to India over the past six years, including transport aircraft, Apache, Chinook and MH-60 helicopters, missiles, air defense systems, naval guns and the P-8I Poseidon. Includes surveillance aircraft.
India also wants it. More defensive production Equipment at home with the help of global giants, first to meet their own needs and finally to export the latest weapons platforms.