Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!
India’s F-35 acquisition plan from US may involve taking ‘Rafale route’ — Explained
India plans to acquire F-35 fighter jets from the US. However, details are yet to be disclosed as talks between the two nations will start over the multi-million dollar deal. Technology sharing has also flagged some concerns over the data secrecy of US from nations like Russia.
F-35 Fighter Jet: India is currently in talks with the United States to acquire the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 and is likely to take the Rafale acquisition route to procure the jets from the US, the Economic Times reported.
The Rafale deal was carried out by the Government of India as the nation signed a government-to-government deal with France in 2016 to buy 36 Dassault Aviation-made Rafale fighter jets.
In a similar way, the F-35 deal is expected to be a government-to-government deal and will be marked as an arrangement to develop the jets under the Advanced Multirole Combat Aircraft programme, as per the report.
US President Donald Trump after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the discussions and the negotiations of the deal to acquire F-35 jets will start soon and are expected to be complicated as the US will protect the high-end technology onboard the aircraft.
Indian F-35 Fleet
Subject to the completion of this deal, India will join the list of nations that own a fleet of F-35 jets. The country may buy a limited number of jets due to the high cost of acquisition along with higher maintenance and operating costs.
The price of a single F-35 fighter jet is anywhere over $80 million per unit depending on which version of the aircraft is acquired, according to data collected from multiple media reports.
The number of aircraft purchased can be similar to that of the Rafale deal amounting to two air squadrons or 36 aircraft, according to the news portal's report.
US concerns over Russian access
The US F-35s are designed to avoid advanced Russian air defence systems and with India having the Russian S400 air defence systems, America's concern over the risk of access by Russian personnel is looming over India's F-35 deal, reported the Times of India.
According to the news report, no other nation currently operates both Russian air defence systems and US-made advanced aircraft. So a deal between the US and India over the fifth-generation fighter jets may require special and strict monitoring protocols to prevent a data leak.
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Business NewsNewsIndiaIndia’s F-35 acquisition plan from US may involve taking ‘Rafale route’ — Explained
First Published:17 Feb 2025, 04:23 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High