No Agreement Signed Between India and Lockheed Martin for F-16 Production

A lot of noise was created by Lockheed Martin, the US based aerospace giant, but the reality is that no agreement has been signed between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US for the production of F-16 Block 70 / 72.

Lockheed Martin wanted to move the production of its F-16 fighter aircraft from Texas, US to India with the view to fulfill Indian and global requirement. 

However, a condition has been placed, i.e. Indian Air Force (IAF) will have to include this fighter aircraft in its fleet.

According to sources, no decision to fulfill the particular requirement of the IAF is expected to be taken in the next six months. 

It is worth noting here that there is no difference between the Block 70 / 72 F-16 fighter aircraft and the Block 60 aircraft that are being manufactured for the UAE air force.

These are the same aircraft that had taken part in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition to supply 126 of such aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and were rejected.

One of the prominent reasons for the failure of F-16 during that time, as explained by a former fighter pilot, was that there was no way improvements or changes can be made to those aircraft.

Also Read: Lockheed Martin Meets TATA Group May Build F-16 Fighters in India

Source: FinancialExpress