SOURCE: DEEPAK HILORI/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG
It seems like the Indian Air force is finally okay with the entry of the 5th generation fighter jet in the MRFA tender for 114 jets that are to be locally assembled in the country the only 5th gen aircraft that is in production is the American F-35 that too won’t be able to cut through Indian requirements due to high indigenization content that is requested by the IAF.
As far as the ToT clause goes, F-35 made in India will require to have an eco-system of its spares and supply chain that could require local production at any given point of time so that it is not affected by external supply chain issues that can’t be interrupted by war or sanctions.
Making the entire F-35 fleet operated by the Indian Air Force sanction-proof will be a huge task for India since the American administration will like to control the technology that indirectly allows them to maintain pressure on the host country that operates the American weapon system on various International issues.
Americans won’t like Indian-operated F-35 near any base that has been installed with a Russian S-400 Air defense system not even in its vicinity due to fear that Russians will have backdoor entry to the Tracking sensors that will be able to track aircraft and captures its radar signature which in turn will help Russians to improve it tracking algorithms for F-35 aircraft that will be operated by other NATO countries.
India of late has been developing air-launched weapons of its own like beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles or anti-radiation missiles. India wants to have its entire fighter fleet have common weapons system that is not exclusive only to one type due to logistical challenges but this will be a huge task to incorporate Indian systems on American jets as a very small percentage of countries have such privileged access and even this countries still use a majority of the American made weapons on this platforms.