- Saturday, February 15, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
In an apparent bid to woo India away from its traditional military hardware provider Russia, the US has brought to the South Asian nation its most advanced fighter aircraft — F-35 — for the first time this week apart from F-16s, Super Hornets and B-1B bombers for its ongoing mega air show — Aero India 2023.
According to Reuters, the delegation from the US which has reached Bengaluru in the southern Indian state of Karnataka for the Aero India show which concludes on Friday (17), is the largest in the event’s 27-year history and speaks of the growing strategic ties between Washington and New Delhi.
Russia, on the other hand, had a nominal presence despite the fact that it has been India’s biggest weapons supplier since the days of the erstwhile Soviet Union. Rosoboronexport, its state-owned weapons exporter, set up a joint stall with United Aircraft and Almaz-Antey where miniature models of aircraft, tanks, radars and trucks were on display, the report added.
In the previous editions of the air show, Rosoboronexport had a more central position even though Russia has not brought a fighter plane to Bengaluru for a decade after India started considering more fighter jets from the west, the Reuters report said.
New Delhi, which has historically banked on Russia for its largely Soviet-era jets, is desperate for modernisation due to the presence of two hostile neighbours in China and Pakistan, but delay in Russian supplies due to the Ukraine war has left it concerned. Also, it has faced pressure from the West to distance itself from the Kremlin.
Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets are already in the race to provide fighter jets for the Indian Navy’s second aircraft carrier while Lockheed Martin’s F-21, an upgraded F-16 designed for India unveiled at the Aero India edition four years ago, are also being offered to the air force.
While the F-35 is not being considered by India “as of now”, an Indian Air Force (IAF) source was cited as saying, but the sight of two F-35s at the Aero India show for the first time indicated India’s growing strategic importance to the US.
It was “not a sales pitch” but rather a signal to the importance of the bilateral defence relationship in the Indo-Pacific region, Angad Singh, an independent defence analyst, told Reuters.
“Even if weapons sales aren’t the cornerstone of the relationship, there is a cooperation and collaboration at the military level between India and the U.S.,” he was quoted as saying.
When asked if the F-35 jet would be offered to India, Rear Admiral Michael L. Baker, defence attache at the American embassy in India, said New Delhi was in the “very early stages” of considering whether it wanted the aircraft.
The US is selective about which countries it permits to buy the F-35.
