THE F-35 GAMBLE

There are more questions than answers in India deciding to procure America's best fighter aircraft

- PRAKASH NANDA

Fairly regularly, Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, reminds the country that we are "very badly off" when it comes to the number of fighter jets in service and the air force needs about 40 combat aircraft a year. But then it is something India cannot indigenously manufacture as the Hindustan Aeronautic Limited (HAL) simply does not have the capability to produce what it claims.

Therefore, buying foreign fighters or co-producing them in India is considered by many experts to be the best way of boosting India's air power. And here, U.S. President Donald Trump's offer of the F-35 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their meeting last month assumes significance.

However, in case of any procurement of such a platform, either the country wanting to buy or the country wanting to sell has to show or make a formal/ official proposal. That has not been the case here. President Trump's offer is an informal one, as informal as that of the then head of Pacific Command Admiral Philip S. Davidson in 2018 stating that the F-35 could be offered to India.

And when a proposal is formally made, India has a cumbersome, slow, and complicated weapons acquisition process. It is really so time-consuming that it could make a President like Trump get irritated and lose interest.

It may be noted that India took nearly fifteen years to negotiate the Rafale deal, forcing the Indian Air Force's requirement of 126 planes to be cut to 36. Similarly, the process of co-producing a Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft in India was first made in 2019 but has gone nowhere.