Choice is simple for India! F-35 or Su-57?

[Corsair1963]

QUOTE: Will the IAF want to induct 4.5 gen fighters between 2028-2035 when India’s principal adversary China has already inducted its 5th generation J-20 fighter? China is also working on another 5th gen fighter the J-31 for exports and Pakistan is likely to be its first export customer.


Given the timeline, the IAF should look for a 5th generation fighter. It will narrow India’s options down to Lockheed Martin’s single engine F-35 and the Russian twin engine Su-57. Since those are the only two 5th Generation Fighter options......

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 100982.cms

[kimjongnumbaun]

QUOTE: Will the IAF want to induct 4.5 gen fighters between 2028-2035 when India’s principal adversary China has already inducted its 5th generation J-20 fighter? China is also working on another 5th gen fighter the J-31 for exports and Pakistan is likely to be its first export customer.


Given the timeline, the IAF should look for a 5th generation fighter. It will narrow India’s options down to Lockheed Martin’s single engine F-35 and the Russian twin engine Su-57. Since those are the only two 5th Generation Fighter options......

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 100982.cms

Has the F-35 even been offered to India?

[sunstersun]

probably should just go under the India F-35 post.

[vilters]

What day are we today?
Because tomorrow they"ll change their mind, and other pockets to fill.

[mixelflick]

This is news?

[spazsinbad]

Hello Allo HELLyes. India has changed their collective minds. VILTERS wins a prize.

India seeks local warplanes as overseas purchase plan stalls
15 May 2020 Sudhi Ranjan Sen - Bloomberg

"India plans to switch to locally-made fighter jets, two years after asking global companies to submit proposals to supply 114 combat aircraft

India plans to switch to locally-made fghter jets, two years after asking global companies to submit proposals to supply 114 combat aircraft in the world’s biggest warplane contract.

The country’s air force is fnalizing plans to induct indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas to boost the capability of its aging combat aircraft feet, Chief of Defence Staf Bipin Rawat said in an interview in New Delhi. It will buy an additional 83 jets, apart from an earlier deal for 40 aircraft, for $6 billion, he said.

“The Indian Air Force is switching that to the LCA,” Rawat said, when asked about the global tender for jets. “The IAF is saying, I would rather take the indigenous fighter, it is good.”

The decision is a set back for the likes of Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Saab AB who were in the race for the $15 billion order and another sign that India is abandoning costly foreign defense purchases which have been plagued by bureaucratic delays and a funding crunch. Prime Miniser Narendra Modi this week stressed the need to buy locally made products to boost an economy battered by the COVID-19 outbreak....

...The process to buy fighter jets started more than a decade ago. India scrapped a long-awaited order with Dassault Aviation for 126 Rafales worth $11 billion in 2015, but has since bought 36 of the planes to speed replacement of older aircraft. In April 2018, India floated a global tender seeking responses from global manufacturers to purchase 114 jets. The deal attracted initial ofers from global giants like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Sweden’s Saab AB and the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30Mki and Su-35. At leas 85% of production was to be in India, according to the initial document.
While New Delhi is the world’s third-biggest military spender, its air force, navy and the army are sill equipped with weapons that are largely obsolete.

Local Production
The move to indigenous fghters marks a shift to sart using locally made weaponry, Rawat said. The defense forces will be using a lot more domestically produced goods, and there is an understanding there may be some quality issues in the beginning, but these will be improved, he said....

...India desperately needs new aircraft to replace ageing Soviet-era jets. It needs about 42 squadrons of fighters to defend its western and northern borders simultaneously but is making do with about 31 squadrons only. By 2022, it is likely to add on two more squadrons of the Rafale fighter.

While the IAF is backing the indigenous fighter program, there are several glitches, including faster delivery schedules and quality issues that sill need to be ironed out. As per plans, the 123 Tejas fighters are to be followed by the Mark-II variant which are medium weight fighters. The test fight for the next generation Tejas aircraft is likely in 2022."

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/i ... 37897.html

[XanderCrews]

Assuming no Finland or Canada, last gasp for the Swedish 6th gen

[lbk000]

India just deploying haggling tactic #1: pretending to walk away.

[XanderCrews]

India just deploying haggling tactic #1: pretending to walk away.

Theyll be back in 5 years to start another 5 years process no doubt

[mixelflick]

India just deploying haggling tactic #1: pretending to walk away.

Theyll be back in 5 years to start another 5 years process no doubt

THIS!

Except I doubt it'll take 5 years. Tejas models (take your pick) will be delivered only to (surprise), be found unsatisfactory. Then they'll re-start a new fighter acquisition process, lol. They won't be offered the F-35, and the SU-57 still won't be ready. Or if it is, it'll be prohibitively expensive. No way they'll be equipping their front line units with entire wings of them. Hell, the Russians MAY be able to afford 76. Maybe.

They should have just bought the SH block 3. Would give them something to counter Chinese/PAK 4++ fighters, and it could fly off their boat too. True multi-role, most bang for the buck.

[milosh]

They should have just bought the SH block 3. Would give them something to counter Chinese/PAK 4++ fighters, and it could fly off their boat too. True multi-role, most bang for the buck.

Very likely but Boeing still didn't tested SH for ski jump:
https://www.flightglobal.com/singapore- ... 00.article

And US fighters are irrelevant because India want noticeable tech transfer.

Tejas in Jan 2020 landed on carrier so it will not be long before we see in on their carriers alongside MiG-29K. Rafale M was only mentioned but it is expensive and not small deck space compared to Tejas but even compared to MiG-29K becuase it doesn't have folding wings