Indian Military

[Stratpost]

The Indian Defense Secretary on Wednesday dismissed the possibility of India planning the acquisition of a fifth generation fighter aircraft, alternate to the Russian PAK FA.

Pradeep Kumar, who is the top civil servant in the Ministry of Defense told reporters on Wednesday that, while the agreement for design and development of the PAK FA is expected to come through with Russia, after the Indian Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approves the details, “You can’t have two types (of fifth generation fighters).

Pointing out that even the US was, even now, working on the development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Kumar categorically repeated, “There is no question of having two fighters.”

The Indian Navy, in a Request for Information (RFI) for carrier-borne fighter aircraft issued last year, had asked for information on the F-35 from the US defense and aerospace major, Lockheed Martin. The company, along with other vendors, had made presentations on the aircraft to the navy, but presumably, the idea of acquiring the F-35 has gone no further than that.

WASHINGTON: The offer of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to India is an example that US holds India's military modernisation in high regard, a top Pentagon official has said.
"What's clear is that the F-35 is something that we would be more than willing to talk to the government of India about should they request to find out more information about purchasing," Deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, Robert Scher said.
"We have made no assertions or promises, and we have not received any request for this," he said.
"But certainly it's an example of the high regard that we hold India's military modernisation, what we think they can usefully potentially use and looking at technology exchange, that we could be able to proceed on," he said.
The Pentagon in a report on Tuesday had informed the US Congress that it was willing to offer the world's most advanced flying machine F-35 to India if it expressed interest in this regard.