Pentagon chief to push ‘obsolete’ F-16 deal during India visit

As the Pentagon chief visits India this week, a potential F-16 fighter jet deal worth billions of dollars has come center-staged, with analysts speculating if the deal is a US bid to offload "obsolete" technology in the South Asian country.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis delivers a keynote address during the Air Force Association 2017 Air, Space and Cyber Conference, in National Harbor, Maryland, US on September 20.

‍US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will arrive in India late Monday for a two-day visit – a first by a top US official since President Donald Trump took office in January. The US Defense Secretary will hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his new Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

While issues such as Afghan security and the unfolding situation on the Korean Peninsula are likely to figure in the deliberations, observers say the key agenda for Mattis will be to persuade India to buy Lockheed Martin's F-16 Block 70 aircraft in a deal potentially worth 20-25 billion US dollars.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) and Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (R) in New Delhi this week.

The deal, however, has been slammed by some defense experts in New Delhi, who see it as a US attempt to dump outdated aviation technology onto India.

“The F-16, a 1970s-era aircraft with zero potential for further development, is a hard sell. The F-16 was the first to be dropped by the Indian Air Force (IAF) when short-listing aircraft for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) acquisition," Bharat Karnad, professor of national security studies at the New Delhi-based Centre for Police Research, wrote in an opinion piece published by The Hindustan Times.

"Lockheed Martin has not had much success pushing this aircraft as a single engine aircraft buy for IAF through the political channels either,” he added.

F-16: Obsolete and exposed

Some defense analysts in India feel that the F-16 is obsolete and has exhausted its potential for further development.

India, the world’s largest weapons importer, needs to replace over 200 aged MiGs that are already pushing the expiry date, experts say. The Russian-supplied MiGs have faced criticism over the years for alleged malfunctioning and frequent crashes that have killed scores of Indian pilots.

The Indian Air Force urgently needs an estimated 100 single-engine fighters in the next few years to maintain strategic air superiority in the region. This is where Lockheed Martin is competing with Swedish defense giant Saab, whose JAS-39 Gripen E made its maiden flight in June.

Ever since the US Air Force stopped buying F-16s in 1999, the production of the fighter jets has witnessed rapid decline. Lockheed Martin has offered India the most upgraded version of the fighter jet, the F-16 Block 70, with a promise to set up the production line in India in collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, according to a Reuters report.

The Indian Air Force needs to replace over 200 aged MiGs that are already pushing the expiry date. The Russian-supplied MIGs have faced criticism over the years for alleged malfunctioning and frequent crashes that have killed scores of Indian pilots.

Karnad however felt that the IAF is likely to favor the newer Swedish fighters over the F-16s.

“This is so for two reasons. The F-16 is obsolete and has exhausted its potential for further development. Upgraded avionics cannot make the F-16 fly and maneuver better than the version of the aircraft with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which is its other negative,” he reasoned.

“PAF long ago passed on an F-16 to China for its aircraft designers to study and to reverse engineer many of its technologies. So this plane is an open book for India’s two adversaries – a bad situation for any ‘frontline’ IAF aircraft to be in,” he added.

Can US jeopardize Sweden's bid?

Saab and Lockheed have both offered to build the jets locally to comply with Modi's "Make-in-India" initiative, which aims to cut imports and build a domestic defense industry. US giant Boeing has also offered to set up a plant in India for production of its F/A 18 Super Hornet aircraft if it wins a deal, according to an AFP report.

Saab has offered to build its Gripen warplanes in India with billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate as a partner, stepping up efforts to win a potential 25 billion US dollar contract that could be the world’s biggest fighter-jet order in play, Bloomberg reported this month.

The collaboration with the Adani Group would include design, development and production of the Gripen aircraft, along with other high-technology products, both the partners said in a joint statement.

Swedish defense giant Saab has offered to build its Gripen warplanes in India with the Adani Group as a partner.

Contrary to the Saab offer, Lockheed is unlikely to transfer proprietary technologies or even guarantee the performance of Indian made F-16s. This is unlikely to impress Indian negotiators and may go against the US firm, say experts.

Karnad noted however that the US could jeopardize Sweden's bid if it so decided. "Moreover, depending on how keen the Trump administration is to close the US trade deficit with India of 24.3 billion US dollar in 2016, Washington could veto Sweden’s sale of Gripen aircraft and technologies as 35%-40% of the components of this aircraft are sourced from the US,” he said.

Afghanistan, DPRK on the agenda

While the fate of the F-16 deal hangs in balance, Mattis is also expected to discuss security situations in Afghanistan and the Korean peninsula with the Indian leadership.

October 18, 2015: Anti-Taliban armed Afghan fighters listen to their commander during a patrol against the Taliban insurgents at Jamshedi, on the outskirts of northern Faryab Province.

Announcing a new strategy for Afghanistan last month, Trump urged India to increase its assistance to the war-torn country while slamming New Delhi’s arch-rival Pakistan for offering safe haven to "agents of chaos".

Mattis "will express US’ appreciation for India’s important contributions toward Afghanistan’s democracy, stability, prosperity, and security,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Friday.

Defense analysts do not predict any Indian boots on the ground, though there may be some role for Indian military expertise in supporting the US-led training and advisory mission with Afghan security forces. Last year India offered some one billion US dollars in aid to Kabul.

The Pentagon chief is also expected to brief Indian leaders on the heightened military risks in the Korean peninsula and seek New Delhi’s support amid global fears of a US-DPRK full-scale war following last week’s tit-for-tat provocative statements by Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

"The secretary will emphasize that the United States views India as a valued and influential partner, with broad mutual interests extending well beyond South Asia," the Pentagon said.

Mattis’ visit to India comes after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a bilateral meeting with Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting last week.

This was followed by a US-India-Japan trilateral meeting that included Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono to discuss the developing situation in the Korean Peninsula following the recent missile and nuclear tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The visit also comes in the backdrop of Modi and Trump announcing a two-plus-two strategic and defense dialogue between the two countries at the White House in June after the India-US summit.

(CGTN)