Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Dr. Thompson over at the Lexington Institue has a theory why India did not select the F-35 over the winner, the allegedly inferior Rafale.

"New Delhi is a complicated place, and there were probably multiple reasons for the decision. But here's one factor that hasn't been reported. India made three different requests for information to the U.S. government over the last several years about sea-based versions of the F-35, and somehow nobody in Washington ever managed to answer any of them. Not surprisingly, the Indians eventually went away, but the lack of a U.S. response can't have made a good impression."

http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/one-r ... amp;c=1171

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"allegedly inferior Rafale"

Not leaving much to the imagination about your bias there Wink

http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories462.htm
The linked article is dated January 2010 and showed that info was provided to the Indian Navy.
As for the MMRCA, if Dr. Thompson is accurate, the US probably didn't want to preempt the F-16 and SH bids which were still in the running at that point. It was only after the US jets were excluded that Hillary Clinton publicly announced US willingness to consider the F-35 for the Indian Air Force.. really a desperate measure at that point and the Indians were not swayed.

Technology transfer is your answer - there wasn't sufficient scope for that in the Indian bid.

SpudmanWP wrote:

"allegedly inferior Rafale"

Not leaving much to the imagination about your bias there Wink

Exactly.

Should have just said totally inferior Rafale

The F-35 was never officially in the competition, even though noises were made in a rather lame attempt to throw a monkey wrench into the selection process after the F-16 and F/A-18 were rejected. As for why India may still reject the F-35, that probably has more to do with LM's determination the make the entire system as proprietary as possible (a sort of "iFighter" if you would). I'm sure customers will quickly find ways to "jailbreak" their copies if necessary, but that would probably "void the warranty," making long-term support difficult. For political reasons, I'm guessing that India will usually opt for full access to second-best rather than partial access to top-of-the-line.

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Why India May Not Have Picked F-35