Introductory Note :
Is US President Trump's offer mere hot air or is there any substance in it ?
Can India afford to invest in YET TO BE PROVEN AND EXTREMELY DIFFICULT AND COMPLICATED MACHINE FOR INDIAN MILITARY?
Although it will not happen but if it does it will be the biggest DISASTER ever in context with the acquisition from foreign vendors . My detailed views are given below .
F-35s OFFER FOR IAF?
I am not a fan of Elon Musk. Nevertheless I will share his views on F-35s posted on twitter. I quote;
“The F-35 design was broken at the REQUIREMENTS LEVEL because it was required to be TOO MANY THINGS to too many people. This made it an expensive & complex JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE. Success was never in the set of possible outcomes.”
Talking about drones flying in coordinated formation, he added “Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35s.” Unquote.
An Overview of F-35 Project
Posted below in bullet format for easier comprehension is the unedited summary of F-35 development and problems faced as in 2025.
· Concept of IOC For USAF Fighters. Few Examples Are:
F-4 and F-104: 10 Years
F-15 (Original Variant): 13 Years (F-15 EX is a different project)
F-22: 20 Years
F-35: 20 Years
But our HAL/DRDO claims to produce a brand new platform in two/three years!
F-35 Production Update; F-35 project was conceived by USA as an attempt to The F-35 program, pitched as a way to equip three services with one largely similar aircraft, has now produced “at least 14 different versions” of the Lightning II, according to a report from a government watchdog agency.
· F-35 has three variants, which includes carrier borne variant also. As on 25th Jan, 2023 department of defence USA posted. “LOCKHEED failed to develop a simulator to test the performance of F-35. This has caused a delay of four years on full rate production. Joint simulation environment testing was decided by department of defence in 2019.”
· So far 890 F-35s have been produced. Of these 540 F-35s are for US Military (all three variants).
· As per operators Lockheed is pushing into operational service underdeveloped aircraft. Strategists in USA have opined that this is a dangerous precedent for future acquisitions.
· As per a controlled but unclassified version of a 2021 report there are 845 OPEN DEFICIENCIES, which includes SIX CATEGORY 1 deficiencies. Cat 1 deficiencies are most serious deficiencies.
· Due to a F-35 crash further deliveries of F-35s was stopped in January, 2023. Further deliveries commenced end of 2023.
· Due to various delays in production schedule currently F-35s have ‘AT LEAST 14 DIFFERENT VERSIONS’ causing enormous confusion for maintenance crew. “Extensive” differences in the variants are complicating maintenance and sustainability, contributing to the program’s poor readiness, the Government Accountability Office said in its report.
· The problem can be traced back to the Pentagon’s early-1990s decision to start building the aircraft before it settled on a design, the GAO said. Subsequent fixes, upgrades, and new requirements mean early production jets look a lot different than those being delivered today.
· “Officials at the program’s two air vehicle depots opined that there are extensive variations in the workload required for each modification package, and they maintain different aircraft configurations because of hardware differences across production lots,” GAO said.
· This makes scheduling maintenance difficult because the time it takes to fix each F-35, and the type of work needed, “fluctuates considerably,” GAO said.
· The amount of time it takes for an aircraft to go through depot maintenance depends on the modifications planned for the aircraft, the JPO said.
· The problem can be traced back to the Pentagon’s early-1990s decision to start building the aircraft before it settled on a design, the GAO said. Subsequent fixes, upgrades, and new requirements mean early production jets look a lot different than those being delivered today.
· “The modification program executes a yearly Modification Workload Review with all program customers. During this review, the program office, depots, and each program customer agree to the aircraft modification requirements, which can vary driven by aircraft lot and individual customer input,” Goemaere said.
· Lockheed delivers F-35s in production lots, which are essentially batches of aircraft. But usually the company is delivering a blend of aircraft across different lots. The Pentagon and Lockheed finished negotiations for three batches of jets—known as lots 15, 16, and 17 last year, and the company said it hopes to reach an agreement on the next two lots, 18 and 19, before the end of the year.
· Additionally, the program is still in its initial operational testing and low-rate initial production phase, but the Pentagon is producing the aircraft as though it is in the full-rate production phase, exacerbating the program’s maintenance problems.
· Nearly 900 F-35s that have been produced face a critical problem, which will affect its operational utilization. Virtual Combat Testing programme is nearing completion. If the test results reveal problems, that would mean fixing all 900 plus aircraft already delivered.
Above details are from US reports. In addition to facts stated above there are few vital considerations that IAF must keep in mind before embarking on the ‘disastrous’ deal. These are:
· Environmental Factors. Will F-35 be able to operate in near 100% humidity conditions prevailing in the east/north-eastern airfields? Will F-35 be able to sustain nearly 50 degrees temperatures of Rajasthan?
· Technology Transfer. Will USA agree to transfer technology? Answer is ‘NO’.
· Production Facility in India. USA will not agree to set up production facility in India.
· Technology Absorption. Are we genuinely capable of absorbing the technology associated with F-35s? Will we be able to maintain, sustain and deploy the F-35s in the event of multi-front war? India now has THREE fronts.
And we want to consider buying an unproven/unreliable platform for IAF!
As far as acquisition of 114 fighters is concerned, Indian military is already 25 years too late. HAL/DRDO are not capable of bridging the gap. Hence a foreign vendor offer is the only option. IAF requires a platform, which will allow high utilization rate. Of the many platforms that are on ‘SALE’ only F-21s of LOCKHEED meet this requirement. How long shall we continue to drag our feet cannot be predicted.
Even F-21 acquisition, if agreed to, will take at least a decade. Development of LCA MkII, AMCA, TEDBF can continue along side and complement, not replace, the urgent requirement of bridging the gap. By end 2030, IAF will retire at least five more squadrons of fighters. Continuing to extend the life does not enhance operational capability.
Decision makers at the top have to think differently to find a solution to this insurmountable problem. I had proposed a concept of INDIAN MILITARY GLOBAL OPEN TENDER few years ago. Perhaps the MoD, Min of Finance may like to find time to absorb the contents. Excerpt from my original article are pasted below;
Indian Options (Excerpt from My Article IMGOT)
To the Original Equipment Manufacturers OEMs Only ( Arms Dealers are ineligible to apply)
Kindly send particulars of weapon systems/weapons/technology which you can offer for sale to Indian Military.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Part One
1. OEMs may like to send brief particulars (not exceeding 200 words in each case), which is available for sale to Indian Military.
2. The list of items offered must contain only those items, which are currently in production stage having undergone operational trials and having obtained all necessary operational clearances.
3. OEMs must be willing to bring the items to India and agree to demonstrate its use at a place and conditions as decided by Indian Military.
4. OEMs will bring equipment/s at their costs.
5. OEMs will be required to take the items back to their country after trials are over.
6. OEMs must seek prior approval from their respective government before making the offer.
Part Two
(Sample for acquisition of Flying Machines for IAF/Naval Aviation/Army Aviation)
1. IAF/Navy/Army will decide on a suitable air base/s and/or locations on which the flying machines will be based.
2. Government of India will provide power supply, fuel, technical and residential accommodation at operating base free of cost for entire period of operation. Hotel accommodation including to and fro transportation to operating base, if desired, will be at the cost of OEM.
3. OEM will be required to set up the technical facility at their cost. Suitable parking space will be provided free of cost.
4. OEM will be required to conduct suitable ground training/simulator training for technicians and pilots. Duration of training will be decided by the OEM.
5. OEM will provide technical and flying related documents (viz servicing schedule, pilots notes etc) to Indian trainees.
6. OEM will bring at least six fighters and two trainers along with flying instructors/operational pilots to train Indian pilots.
7. OEM should be prepared to fly at least 500 hours at their expense to be flown by Indian pilots, preferably within six but not exceeding 12 months.
8. OEM will be required to permit Indian Test Pilots to fly the machines for evaluation.
9. IAF/Navy/Army may decide about operations from other bases as well at mutually agreed time frame to evaluate environmental effects on operation of the machine.
10. OEM must bring weapons as well as pods etc, which will be offered for sale, if Govt of India approves the purchase.
11. Purchase of number of platforms with weapons, pods etc will be decided by the Govt of India. OEM will be required to specify the time frame in which deliveries will be made.
12. In the event of platform/weapons/pods etc not being selected for acquisition, OEM will be required to take back the entire equipment.
13. OEM may like to consider bringing dedicated mid air refueling platform in case Indian refuellers cannot provide mid air refueling due to different hook on systems.
14. Deciding factors will not only be the operational performance of machines but also the delivery schedule and overall financial package, payment terms and other aspects as deemed fit by Govt of India.
15. OEM may like to consider the offer of producing flying machine/weapons/pods etc in India at mutually agreed terms.
16. OEM will be responsible for any losses due to any reason viz loss of aircrew/technician/flying machine/equipment due to an unfortunate air crash or ground accident etc.
17. If the equipment offered is selected for acquisition, detailed agreement will be drawn up between the OEM and Ministry of Defence, Govt of India.
Proposed Action Plan
Our military will continue to be equipped with war machines acquired from friendly foreign countries at least for next 30 years. Existing machines viz Rafale will continue till 2070 A.D. As an example IAF flying machines except Su-30 MKI were acquired in mid 80s. Hopefully our ‘security agencies’ will not object to a foreign vendor operating from an operational base.
Proposed action plan of IMGOT may/ will need lot of refinement/modification before being placed for perusal of OEMs.
IMGOT model of weapons acquisition will be applicable to Indian Manufacturers as well. This model is not aimed at replacing the existing acquisition model. In fact IMGOT model is aimed at promoting and supporting the PM’s outstanding vision of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
A fundamental question that our ‘doubting Thomases’ will ask; ‘Will there be any takers for IMGOT proposal amongst international weapons manufacturers’?. World arms market is likely to touch USD ONE TRILLION. If there are nations with unresolved issues, there will always be more than adequate space for OEMs to produce weapons platforms and allied equipment.
In any case in the worst case scenario, there may be no takers for IMGOT. In that case we have our ‘proven and time tested’ DPP to fall back on.
It is time that India flexed its political, diplomatic, financial and military muscle to ‘tame’ the foreign vendors. Acquisition from foreign vendors by Indian military must now be viewed from position of strength because we provide the vendors ‘financial oxygen’ for their products. Evaluation of platforms done by Indian Military is acknowledged worldwide. Rafale is a case in point. France was struggling to sell Rafales but after Indian purchase it found six new customers.
Will our submissive decision makers discard the cloak of procedural correctness? I do not see it happening but it just might be worth a try. Will military stand by with concept of IMGOT? Will IAF allow foreign vendors to operate from their operational airfields? And most importantly do we have the guts to throw the gauntlet and tell foreign vendors either you accept our conditions of trial and evaluation or withdraw your offer?
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