India Should Not Buy F-16s and F/A-18s from the United States
As an Indian who has lived in the United States for a long period of time I am generally in favor of improved relationship between the two nations. For India its relationship with Pakistan, China and the United States are its three most important ones. For the United States its relationship with India is important but not vital. At least not yet. It will be as the Indian economy keeps growing and as India slowly but steadily transforms itself into a developed nation.
For the past few years India has been evaluating six top of the line fighter jets that will be inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) as part of the air force modernization program. The Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract is for 126 planes that are estimated to cost approximately $10.5 billion. This would make it one of the biggest defense contracts between two nations in the history of the world. The aircrafts that are being evaluated are: Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16IN Super Viper, Mikoyan MIG-35 and Saab Gripen NG.
I am not in favor of India spending all this money on planes that we will never use in a war. India’s wars with Pakistan and China has been and is very likely to be intense land battles with minor role by the air force and the navy (in the second and third war against Pakistan India decided to move its aircraft carrier out of the war zone and move it to India’s east coast). United States on the other hand projects its power all over the world using its mighty naval power.
India is also in the process of building the 5th generation fighter jets with the help of the Russians (many experts believe that the 5th generation fighter jets will be last fighter jets built in the world. The world will move on to pilot-less drones and other similar technologies and concepts). So if we are already developing 5th generation jets with Russia and if the fighter jets are about to become obsolete why are we getting ready to buy 4th generation planes for our air force at such an enormous cost?
It is quite possible that the American F-16 and the F/A-18 will be the leading candidates. Based on pure record they are clearly superior to the rest of the field. The four other aircrafts are very capable and might be technically superior but they have never fought in real battles as many times as the F-16 and the F/A-18. But should India pick these planes for its air force?
Picking the F-16 would not give us any strategic advantage over the Pakistan which already has the F-16s since 1983. Most of the F-16s that Pakistan purchased in the 1980s from the United States is probably used for parts now just like the planes that we bought from the Russians in the 80s. But what should concern us is the fact that the United States recently has started helping Pakistan refurbish these aircrafts and also shockingly promised them to supply new F-16s.
Clearly Pakistan does not need these aircrafts to fight terrorists. America itself is moving away from using air strikes in Afghanistan to more Special Forces operations on the ground. These air strikes cause civilian casualties and are unpopular in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. So why does Pakistan need more F-16s? It is clearly going to be used against India and the American government in this particular case is insensitive to Indian interests.
Not awarding the contract to Boeing and Lockheed Martin is a nice and polite way for India to express its displeasure over Americas continued support to building Pakistan’s armed forces. This support absolutely does not make sense considering the fact that the Pakistan’s army continues to have a stronghold on the country politically and continues to support terrorist outfits and operations in both Afghanistan and in India (Mumbai attacks and attacks in the Indian consulate in Afghanistan are clear examples).
But then the question for India would be whether we should buy planes that have not proven themselves in real wars? Maybe the real answer is that we should not buy any of these planes.
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Category: News & Government