Lockheed Martin (LM) is ready to shift production line to India from Texas, if New Delhi agrees to acquire 100 F-16 fighter jets.
Over the weekend, the American global aerospace, defence, security and advanced technologies company with worldwide interests hinted that it would fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of ‘Make in India’ by manufacturing the jets in the South Asian country. Apart from LM, several other American defence equipment manufacturing companies have expressed the same interest.

Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently received a letter from the Indo-American Business Council in which it was clearly mentioned that LM would not be responsible, if there was any defect in the aircraft because the company would have to manufacture the jets jointly with an Indian partner as a condition mentioned in the government’s ‘Make in India’ programme. The American company has made clear that it has no confidence in Indian partners as far as technology is concerned.
Boeing, another American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures and sells planes, also expressed desire to manufacture the most advanced F-16 jets in India, if New Delhi agreed to purchase those. Both the American companies want to sell the aircraft to the Indian Air Force.

The Council informed the Modi government that LM is now making F-16 jets in Fort Worth, Texas. But, it will shift production line to India, if the Indian Air Force acquires at least 100 jets. In that case, Tata Advanced Systems will be LM’s partner in India. As per the Indian law, LM will have 49% share in the joint venture and Tata Advanced Systems the remaining 51%.
Boeing, too, wants to sell F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, but the top management of the company has some doubts about their potential Indian partner’s experience.

F-18 Super Hornet
Pratyush Kumar, the President of Boeing India and Vice President of Boeing International, said that there were concerns about Indian private firms’ lack of experience in the aerospace sector. “We are not very sure about the Indian partner’s experience in this particular sector. It’s a matter of great concern to us,” stressed Kumar.

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Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das