India to build F-16 Block 70

[knuckles]

What lockheed needs to develop with Israel and India is a sort of semi robot f-16 for the poor excuse of goat humper pilots in the mid east.

They can call themselves fighter pilots while computers and our operators on the ground do most of the babysitting/flying the systems for them they do not know how to use or maintain. Then you give them their chocolate wings and seals and they can call themselves Obama-pilots.

My man, That was lowkey racist of you! I agree that it's a slippery decision to tech transfer to India, they are not the best at keeping tech close to their chest at all. On top of that I saw how "well" they performed at RF. It was show pony all over the place.

LOL! Which race are we talking about over there? I think that was prejudiced against anyone who would fornicrape goats. Besides, India is not part of the middle east and not too many people would imply Israel's fighter pilots suck. Yeah, the RF thing is pretty well known. So many of "those countries" just have armed, supersonic flying clubs for the royalty. The people training their pilots and fixing their aircraft are mostly scumbag, pig eating infidel westerners. Aloha snack-bar!!!!!!

And Pakistanis....

[leslie.recruiterngc]

I'd rather support the engineers who want to stay stateside... We're doing at a lot of recruiting at my company and now we're going to target F-16 professionals because of this vulnerability they might be feeling with all the press.

[milosh]

My man, That was lowkey racist of you! I agree that it's a slippery decision to tech transfer to India, they are not the best at keeping tech close to their chest at all. On top of that I saw how "well" they performed at RF. It was show pony all over the place.

Yeap. This is what Russians need to deal. Indians would change type of oil without asking anyone. Then they are forced to ground whole Su-30 fleet and then they bitch how plane isn't reliable even though other users didn't have that type of malfunction at all (do I need to say they didn't change oil type without asking engine manufacturer).

Or they would leave Su-30 on open for days on hot Indian sun, which would damage french avionics in cockpit.

No wonder why Dasso didn't want to gave them warranty on "made in India" Rafales.

[weasel1962]

Looks like LM may have dodged a bullet. Indian Government has asked the IAF to cancel the procurement in favor of the LCA aka Tejas. The IAF naturally came back swinging explaining the well known shortfalls of the Tejas including its short legs, conveniently leaving out the bits where the Tejas can carry tanks or conduct air refuelling.

However the request is a sure sign that the Government is not supportive of the buy i.e. no budget which means that no matter how much the IAF wants, its not going to get gripens or f-16s. Its overall good news for the Pakistanis and Chinese who will have to face the fighters in the air.

[basher54321]

http://www.tata.com/article/inside/tata ... -f16-wings


Tata, Lockheed Martin to build F-16 wings in India
Landmark ‘Make in India’ move strengthens US-India defence ties

Mumbai: Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) and Lockheed Martin Corp. [NYSE: LMT] announced today an agreement to commence production of F-16 wings in India for export. This strategic initiative positions TASL to become the provider of wings for all future customers and strengthens its role in the F-16 global supply chain.

Production of F-16 wings in India will further strengthen TASL’s capability to address global aerospace requirement of fighter aircrafts and support ‘Make in India.’ The planned F-16 wing production move to India is not contingent on the Government of India selecting the F-16 for the Indian Air Force.

Sukaran Singh, chief executive officer and managing director, TASL, said, “We are delighted with the decision made by Lockheed Martin to select Tata Advanced Systems Limited for the production of F-16 wings in India. This positions TASL as a global provider of F-16 wings in future. TASL and Lockheed Martin, through a long-standing joint-venture, have been manufacturing airframe components of the C-130J aircraft and S-92 Sikorsky helicopter at the Hyderabad facility. This development now again gives us an excellent opportunity to showcase our technological expertise and advance our capability development, as we reinforce our commitment to both the Indian and global aerospace industry. The production of the F-16 wings in India, for global application, is set to place the country at the centre of the world's largest fighter aircraft ecosystem and make it a preferred destination for aerospace manufacturing.”

[popcorn]

Pretty transparent move by Marilyn Lockheed.

[Corsair1963]

Especially, with so few F-16 orders left on the books....

[vilters]

Well, so far no wings have fallen off.
Guess there is room for a "first".