Trump offers India the F-35
February 17, 2025
At much the same time (or at least on the same day), at the Aero India 2025 airshow, the Indian Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, inspected the F-35A at Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bengaluru. The USAF’s participation at the event was meant to reinforce the US-Indian defence partnership, strengthening military-to-military relationships and showcasing US capabilities.
Among the US aircraft present were a pair of F-35As, one (19-5534, tailcode ‘AK’) from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and the other (18-5358, tailcode ‘VT’) from the Vermont Air National Guard, which had deployed some of its F-35As to Kadena Air Base, Japan.
Interestingly, the Eielson aircraft was built as c/n AT-15, which was first flown on 26 March 2021 as Turkish Air Force 18-0015, subsequently being reassigned to the US Air Force when Turkey was removed from the project in 2021 due to Ankara’s refusal to abandon its Russian S-400 surface to air missile system. This was ostensibly because Washington feared that the S-400 system could gather intelligence data about the F-35A (without Turkey’s knowledge), which could then be transferred to Russia.
In view of India’s understandable fear of defence procurements being derailed by possible US sanctions, the presence of a formerly embargoed aircraft was interesting, not least because India is also an operator of the S-400 missile system.
India does have a need for a new fighter, with manufacturers expected to offer local production and technology transfer under President Modi’s ‘Make in India’ policy. The aircraft is needed to meet the IAF’s Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) requirement, which aims to procure a foreign type to augment India’s various indigenous fighter programmes, deliveries of which seem set to be slow. The MRFA requirement initially saw a need for 114 single-engined fighter aircraft, with the Lockheed Martin F-21 (a re-branded derivative of the F-16 Block 70/72) and Saab Gripen E/F among the front-runners. More recently, the Boeing F-15EX, Dassault Aviation Rafale, and Eurofighter Typhoon have been under consideration.
Before the Trump/Modi meeting, tentative interest in the F-35A had been expressed, but no formal requirement had been issued, and thus Trump’s apparent offer to supply the type came as something of a surprise. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said to reporters afterwards that the F-35 acquisition was only a proposal.
“I don’t think with regard to the acquisition of an advanced aviation platform by India, that process has started as yet,” he said. “This is currently something that’s at the stage of a proposal.”
Both the US and India have lengthy procurement processes, and these have not started for the F-35A. India usually seeks information, and then proposals, from manufacturers before evaluating them. The US Foreign Military Sales process is even more labyrinthine.
The FMS programme was established through the 1976 Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and is a government-to-government program under which the United States Department of Defense acquires defense articles on behalf of the foreign governments through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). Effectively, this means that the Pentagon acts as an intermediary between US defence contractors/manufacturers and a foreign government customer. Customers are protected from contract risks in negotiating with the arms industry and receive the same contract benefits and protections that apply to US military acquisitions. The FMS programme is overseen by the United States Department of State and the United States Congress.
Foreign governments submit a Letter of Request (LOR) for Price and Availability (P&A) to obtain basic information for planning purposes, or a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA), to state an official expression of interest. The DSCA then reviews the FMS case to ensure compliance with the US requirements, laws and regulations. If approved the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) is then submitted to the State Department for its review and approval.
Congress has to be notified about arms sales 30 days before the issuance of a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for some programmes, and 15 days before the issue of an LOA to NATO members, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Israel or New Zealand. Congress has the authority to block a sale.
All of this makes for a slow process. It has taken six years for India to reach its decision to buy 31 MQ-9B SeaGuardian and SkyGuardian UAVs, for example.
India has historically divided its military aircraft purchases between Russia and the West (principally France and the UK), but has increasingly turned to the US in recent years (though not yet for a fighter aircraft). CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) sanctions and further measures imposed in the wake of Russia’s barbaric and illegal invasion of Ukraine make it increasingly difficult for anyone to buy military equipment from Russia.
Russia is, however, eager to regain India as a customer, and at Aero India 2025 in Bengaluru, Rostec was energetically marketing the Sukhoi Su-57. This marked the first time that the F-35A and Su-57 were displayed at the same airshow.
New Delhi was a partner in the FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) programme, which would have seen the IAF acquiring a two-seat derivative of the Su-57 (then known as the T.50). The T.50 was named as the Su-57 in July 2017, and India withdrew from the FGFA programme in 2018, after the Indian Air Force said that the aircraft did not meet its requirements, expressing concerns about performance, cost, and workshare.
Ever since then, Russia has been trying to re-interest India in the aircraft, offering Technology Transfer and full joint manufacturing. Reuters reported that an informal offer had been made at Aero India, and that the aircraft could go into production as early as this year if the Indian government were to accept the Rosoboronexport/Rostec offer.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) would assemble the Su-57 variant from CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits at its facilities in Maharashtra state.
