Will India hand out another lifeline to a badly struggling American economy at the expense of the Indian tax-payer and bail out American defence contractors desperately seeking international contracts to cut costs and boost profits in an era of declining economic power? Well, a last ditch attempt by American defence and aerospace giant, Lockheed Martin, would see its stealth, ground attack, F-35 Lightning II programme being offered to the IAF.

A bid by Lockheed Martin Corp to offer its latest F-35 stealth fighter, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), for the MMRCA contract would effectively scuttle a long-drawn out procedure, only just completed by the IAF, to select a multi-role fighter for future service and replace its ageing fleet of Soviet-era aircraft.

Lockheed Martin's offering, the F-16IN, was eliminated from India's $11 billion, 126 aircraft, medium-range, multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) tender for the Indian Air Force along with rival Boeing's F-18IN Super Hornet offering. The MMRCA deal was touted as the 'mother-of-all-defence deals' in the international defence industry.

Despite the considerable hype invested into marketing both the American aircraft the IAF determined that both these 30-year old platforms, despite being hugely upgraded, would be effective in today's sophisticated warfare environment for another 5-10 years only, whereas they were looking for a futuristic platform that would render adequate service for another three decades.

The IAF has short-listed the French Dassault Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon for final consideration as their platforms for the future.

India has only a few weeks ago confirmed an order for an order for 10 Boeing C-17 transport planes, an order valued at about $4 billion. The IAF holds options for another six. The order effectively prolongs the life of the Boeing production plant by another full year and firming up the order for another six would see the life of the plant being extended by another  six to seven months.

The Senate orders a re-look

Lockheed's chances of re-entering the MMRCA race with the stealth F-35 as the contender received a huge boost last week when the US Senate Armed Services Committee asked the Defence Department to study the ''desirability and feasibility'' of a F-35 JSF sale to India.

According to Patrick Dewar, Lockheed's senior vice president for corporate strategy and business development, the Senate committee report accompanying the Pentagon's 2012 budget ''opens the window to fifth-generation fighter technology release to India, however the Indian services want to deal with it.''

Dewar revealed the development through an interview at the ongoing Paris Air Show.

When asked if he thought the Indian Air Force would re-open the contest should Lockheed's stealth candidate make an entry, Dewar replied, ''I certainly believe it's possible.''

He added that India ''might think differently about the competition'' should the stealth jet become available.

The Senate committee request for a Pentagon study on selling F-35s to India is part of a broader amendment on US-India military ties offered by Senators John Cornyn, (Rep, Tex.,) and Joseph Lieberman, (Ind, Conn.,).

Whilst Cornyn's state Texas produces the F-35 JSF, Lieberman's state Connecticut is home to United Technologies Corp, which produces the engines. Cornyn is also the co-founder and co-chairman of the Senate India Caucus.

The broad amendment, according to Senate sources, was ''overwhelmingly adopted'' by the Senate defence committee. The provision is a so-called ''Item of Special Interest'' that takes effect immediately after the bill report is issued. It doesn't need House approval and ''takes effect regardless of what happens to the bill itself,'' senate sources confirmed.

Experts in Delhi feel that the move to introduce the F-35 in the MMRCA at this stage may come in too late in the day and would lead to perception problems in the country about Delhi once again succumbing to US pressure.

The Senate defence committee's request to the Defence Department to look at a possible F-35 sale to India is part of a broader provision that will require the Obama administration to prepare a ''detailed assessment of the current state of US-India security cooperation.''

The bill seeks a five-year plan for more joint military exercises, defence trade and support for India's military modernization, homeland security and coastal defence, and maintenance of secure sea lanes of communication.

The Senate committee has also asked the Pentagon to study the possibility of a US-India partnership for development of a replacement for the US Air Force's T-38 trainer jet. The venerable aircraft have been in use since the 1960s.

The F-35 jet is still in development. The US Government Accountability Office has estimated that the planes would cost about $133 million each in today's dollars. The Pentagon plans to buy more than 2,400, which means that at an estimated $382 billion, it is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons programme ever.

A rough estimate has it that at $133 million per unit the cost of acquisition for the MMRCA tender would go up by 50 per cent should the IAF opt for the F-35. This would inflate the $11bn MMRCA tender to $17bn.