As the race for bagging the US$ 10-billion Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft order from India hots up, US aerospace major Lockheed Martin raised its sales pitch on Monday saying its fighter plane, F-16IN, is tailored exclusively to meet the Indian Air Force's requirements.
India's ace shooter and first Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra joined the elite VVIP list of fliers privileged to fly in a fighter jet.
The Tridents squadron which is now also known as the "Defender of the North" has replaced the MiG-21 squadron at the Srinagar air base which has traditionally been responsible for taking care of the threat from Pakistan.
In a tweet, Pakistani military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said, "Repetitions don't make truth of a lie. Despite claiming possession of evidence on shooting F16, IAF still short of presenting it."
With both aircraft likely to meet the IAF's performance requirements, the winning bid could be the one that offers the lowest cost and the best industrial proposal.
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 Indian Air Force on Monday reiterated that it shot down an F-16 jet of Pakistan Air Force during the February 27 aerial combat and showed radar images of the engagement to assert that it has 'irrefutable evidence' of downing the enemy jet.
Having lost out on the multi-billion Indian Air Force contract, the Pentagon said American fighter jets -- F16 and F18 -- would have provided India unbeatable platforms with proven technologies at a competitive price.
Essentially there is no change in the US policy on the security aid to Pakistan which is currently under freeze.
'They will keep him there for quite some time.' 'There are no easy options.' 'It won't be unusual for a foreign power to intervene and get him released after some time, but not immediately.'
United States aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corporation has offered India its tailor-made advanced F-16IN Super Viper aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
"Whether it was F-16 or JF-17 which shot down 2 Indian aircraft is immaterial," Pak military spokesman said.
'During the aerial engagement, one MiG 21 Bison of the IAF shot down an F-16 in Nowshera sector,' the IAF said in a statement.
Group Captain Murli Menon (retd) reveals how India can neutralise the Pakistan air force's combat capabilities without firing a shot.
Given Congressional objections, we have told the Pakistanis that they should put forward national funds for that purpose," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
The Raksha Mantri was unable to address media queries about how much the Modi government was paying for 36 Rafales compared to what the UPA government had negotiated.
'It seems likely that the February 2019 crisis is over.'
Production in India would be open for companies other than HAL
In the light of India's increasingly 'darkening' threat environment and the convergence of strategic interests between China and Pakistan, the IAF's declining combat capabilities are a cause for concern, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The defence minister needs to focus on human resources-related issues at the same pace in 2017 as he did on acquisitions in 2016,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
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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