Boeing's confirmation that the Super Hornet has flown off a ski-jump is a statement that it is ready to operate off existing Indian aircraft carriers.
With inadequacies in the Russian MiG-29Ks that India bought to operate off the INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant, the acquisition of a capable, long-range multi-role carrier-based fighters will be critical for India's naval power.
Along with HAL, Boeing intends to involve the Mahindra Group in building Super Hornets in India.
The marine version of the French-made Rafale fighter jet has been successfully flight-tested at a shore-based facility in Goa where conditions similar to that on the indigenously-developed aircraft carrier INS Vikrant were simulated, a top diplomat said.
Boeing expects the IAF to soon place an inquiry for twin-engine fighter jets to bridge a 200-aircraft gap in its armoury. And the Super Hornet is ready to fly in.
Boeing is likely to vie for the deal to supply 110 fighter jets to the IAF in one of the biggest such procurement in recent years globally which could be worth over USD 15 billion.
Boeing is pressing hard to win the Indian Navy contract for 57 aircraft carrier-borne fighters. It could offer the Super Hornet in the ongoing IAF procurement of 114 medium fighters; its upgraded F-15EX fighter also on the list.
The Indian Navy has decided that the twin-seat Rafale will not be disqualified on the basis of its inability to operate from an aircraft carrier.
The big question is whether Trump is any longer in command of the situation. For all practical purposes, the war seems set to cascade as the US is preparing for a potential ground operation in Iran and threatens to destroy 'bridges next, then electric power plants', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
16 days into the war, US forces were already running out of ground-attack missiles and Israel is about to expend its entire Arrow interceptor missiles by end March. To be sure, the Iranians are watching closely and that explains their defiant stance that 'Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its conditions are met', notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The navy is pushing hard for IAC-2 to be a 65,000-tonne, flat deck carrier that is designed and built in India, with technical and tactical consultation from the US navy -- the global masters in aircraft carrier operations.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
>The Indian Navy wants 'day and night capable, all weather multi-role deck based combat aircraft which can be used for air defence, air-to-surface operations, buddy refuelling, reconnaissance, electronic warfare missions' from its aircraft carriers.
SAAB's Sea Gripen constitutes a new option as the INS Vikrant's light fighter
The Rafale maritime fighter aircraft on Monday demonstrated its operational capability at a naval facility in Goa as the Navy plans to acquire a fleet of combat jets for its indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant, people familiar with the development said.
Boeing's plan involves setting up an Indian factory and the aerospace ecosystem to build the Block II Super Hornet.
United States aerospace major Boeing on Thursday said it received approval from the country's government to offer its F-15EX multi-role combat jet to the Indian Air Force.
The latest avatar of the F-15 is designed to deal with the world's most potent air threats that are emerging from China.
Capable of flying at Mach 2.5 (two-and-a-half times the speed of sound), the F-15EX is the world's fastest fighter aircraft. It carries 13.5 tonnes of weapons load, more than the Rafale or the Sukhoi-30MKI.
Navy said the landing demonstrated India's capability to design, develop, construct and operate indigenous aircraft carrier with indigenous fighter aircraft.
Boeing has pitched its FA-18 aircraft, while Dassault is building case for its Rafale jet.
India on Thursday approved proposals for purchasing 26 Naval variant of Rafale jets from France and procuring three French-designed Scorpene class submarines, a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wide-ranging talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
India's historical focus on its continental borders has overshadowed its maritime ambitions, but that is changing quickly, notes Ajai Shukla.
Costing Rs 500 billion, the INS Vishal will be the Indian military's single most expensive defence platform.
The IAF has paid French aerospace firms Dassault and Thales about Euro 350 million for 'performance-based logistics'. This requires the vendors to ensure that 75 per cent of the Rafale fleet is combat-ready at all times, notes Ajai Shukla.
On Friday, the 'raksha mantri' boarded the USS Eisenhower to view flight operations while the ship was at sea.
Malabar 2016 -- a trilateral maritime exercise involving the Indian Navy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the US naval forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific -- concluded on June 17.
Beyond the British and Russian strands interwoven into the Indian Navy's equipment profile and the strong drive towards indigenisation evident today, its future in aircraft carriers appears increasingly linked with America.
The US Air Force's (USAF) two newest fifth-generation supersonic multirole F-35A aircraft made a historic debut at Aero-India here on Monday, drawing strong interest and adding lustre to the five-day marquee event.
Two B-1B Lancer supersonic heavy bomber jets of the US Air Force on Tuesday joined the American exhibits at Aero India at the Yelahanka air base, in a reflection of the deeper strategic ties between the two countries.
For the defence ministry, Aero India 2021 is an opportunity to show its commitment to the prime minister's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.
New Delhi remains a priggish suitor to Washington's overtures, but it has begun appreciating potential tech benefits to ties with the US.
In rebranding the F-16 into the F-21, Lockheed Martin appears to have accepted what many have warned it for years: That the IAF would never buy a fighter whose very name is associated across India with the Pakistan Air Force which has operated the F-16 since the 1980s.
The IAF has just 33 squadrons, 9 short of the 42 squadrons needed to tackle China and Pakistan together, says Ajai Shukla.
'It was almost as though there was widespread relief that the defence bureaucracy, and the minister, could find someone willing to shoulder the blame for everything that had gone wrong with the services under Antony's charge -- the poor preparedness of the forces, slow acquisitions caused by indecision, cancellation of contracts and whimsical blacklisting of defence contractors over the tiniest suspicion that they may have paid speed money or kickbacks.'
Even as three Rafale fighters line up in Bengaluru for eye-popping aerobatics displays at the Aero India 2015 exhibition this week, senior ministry of defence sources say the proposal to buy the French fighter is "effectively dead".
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