<p>Aviation major Lockheed Martin has offered to shift its production line for F-16 fighter jets to India in partnership with a local company.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The US firm said it wants to close down its original production in Fort Worth in Texas, which has produced more than 3,600 F-16s so far, and create a major industrial facility in India to continue with the production. Lockheed Martin, however, seeks a ‘significant’ order from the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a part of the package deal on the switch, company officials said here.<br /><br />Besides supplying the military jets to the IAF, the Indian production line will also be used as a hub to export the jets, Randall L Howard, who heads the Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Business Development programme said here on Thursday.<br /><br />The proposal comes months after US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said they will encourage their respective defence industries to develop new partnerships in the cutting edge technology projects.<br /><br />“Both the sides have agreed to encourage their respective defence industries to develop new partnerships in the pursuit of a range of cutting edge projects. In support of the Make in India initiative, the US shared two proposals to bolster India’s suite of fighter aircraft for consideration,” a joint statement issued after the Carter-Parrikar meeting in April stated.<br /><br />Lockheed’s competitor Boeing and European firm Saab too proposed to set up aircraft production facilities in India. None of them, however, suggested closing down an existing production line.<br /><br />One of the conditions from Lockheed is to have an order from the IAF, which needs more fighter jets because of its dwindling squadron strength.<br /><br />While the IAF needed 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft, the government cancelled that tender and decided to order 36 Rafale fighter jets from the French firm Dassault Aviation.<br /><br />As its MiG squadrons are being phased out, the IAF had time and again stated its requirement to have more fighter jets to prepare for a two front war scenario.<br /><br />Lockheed seeks to complete its F-16 order book by the end of 2017 and waits for the US government’s decision to know where the next aircraft have to be delivered. The target schedule for that order may be around 2021.<br /><br />As officials from both the sides discuss the proposal, the company looks at a potential order of around 200 aircraft— 100 each for the IAF and for export — to create the planned industrial base in India.<br />DH News Service</p>
<p>Aviation major Lockheed Martin has offered to shift its production line for F-16 fighter jets to India in partnership with a local company.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The US firm said it wants to close down its original production in Fort Worth in Texas, which has produced more than 3,600 F-16s so far, and create a major industrial facility in India to continue with the production. Lockheed Martin, however, seeks a ‘significant’ order from the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a part of the package deal on the switch, company officials said here.<br /><br />Besides supplying the military jets to the IAF, the Indian production line will also be used as a hub to export the jets, Randall L Howard, who heads the Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Business Development programme said here on Thursday.<br /><br />The proposal comes months after US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said they will encourage their respective defence industries to develop new partnerships in the cutting edge technology projects.<br /><br />“Both the sides have agreed to encourage their respective defence industries to develop new partnerships in the pursuit of a range of cutting edge projects. In support of the Make in India initiative, the US shared two proposals to bolster India’s suite of fighter aircraft for consideration,” a joint statement issued after the Carter-Parrikar meeting in April stated.<br /><br />Lockheed’s competitor Boeing and European firm Saab too proposed to set up aircraft production facilities in India. None of them, however, suggested closing down an existing production line.<br /><br />One of the conditions from Lockheed is to have an order from the IAF, which needs more fighter jets because of its dwindling squadron strength.<br /><br />While the IAF needed 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft, the government cancelled that tender and decided to order 36 Rafale fighter jets from the French firm Dassault Aviation.<br /><br />As its MiG squadrons are being phased out, the IAF had time and again stated its requirement to have more fighter jets to prepare for a two front war scenario.<br /><br />Lockheed seeks to complete its F-16 order book by the end of 2017 and waits for the US government’s decision to know where the next aircraft have to be delivered. The target schedule for that order may be around 2021.<br /><br />As officials from both the sides discuss the proposal, the company looks at a potential order of around 200 aircraft— 100 each for the IAF and for export — to create the planned industrial base in India.<br />DH News Service</p>
