By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
Here’s a cautionary note to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Dassault or anyone else who wants to bag one of the biggest defense deal in recent years – if you’re hoping to win the $20 billion contract to build India’s Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft, you’ll have to build the entire plane there.
According to the Indian Express, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will insist on making a deal with a company that will set up manufacturing facilities in India for full production of the up to 114 aircraft. The government is also said to be insisting on the winning partner setting up a joint venture with an Indian company. Plus, there must be a transfer of technology.
Modi’s government has pushed a “Make in India” initiative for defense procurement, but that has meant that only parts of foreign-made weapons systems be made there. This change in policy is likely to further delay the plane’s acquisition.
A number of fighters are said to be in the running. Lockheed has proposed building the F-21, a joint project with India’s Tata that it says would create tens of thousands of jobs in India.( F-21 | Lockheed Martin) Other planes being considered are Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault’s Rafale, SAAB’s Gripen, the Russian MiG-35 and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Indian has already bought 36 French-made Rafale jets. But Dassault is said to be less than enthusiastic about the idea of transferring technology so a new fighter plane could be built in India.
India is in a race to replace aging planes bought from the old Soviet Union at a time when two possible foes, China and Pakistan, have upgraded their air forces. China has deployed its J-20 fighter near the contested border with India, while Pakistan has shown interest in buying the Chinese-made FC-31, which is similar to the US F-35, and the Turkish KAAN – both of which are stealth fighters.
India’s eventual goal is to deploy 450 fighters each along the borders with China and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Modi’s government is pushing ahead with co-production deals with Western countries to help catch up with its rivals.
India and the US are on the verge of signing a co-production deal in which General Electric and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics would build GE-F414 jet engines in India for the country’s Tejas Mk-II fighters. The Pentagon has agreed to more than 80 percent of the necessary technology transfer.
Meanwhile, Lockheed is exploring options for building the C-130J in India, if India agrees to buy more of the transport planes. Lockheed already has a joint venture with Tata known as TLMAL, building tail assemblies that are installed on C-130s being built in the US.
Last year, the two countries launched the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X). The goal is to facilitate partnerships among US and Indian defense companies, incubators and accelerators, investors and universities.
At the time, a senior Pentagon official said the US and India were increasingly doing things in a military partnership that people wouldn’t have said was possible two decades ago. In addition to the joint production deals, India is now joining the US in air and naval exercises in the region.
