Lockheed may scuttle IAF’s MMRCA tender with F-35 offer

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.