F-16s to fly at Aero India as US eyes Indian defence pie

F-16s to fly at Aero India as US eyes Indian defence pie
BANGALORE, DEC 24 (PTI)

The United States will display its frontline fighter F-16 for the first time in the coming Aero India international air show, beginning here on February nine, as Indian authorities are gearing up for making the aero event, one of the best in Asia. Several American aerospace firms like Lockheed Martin, Northrop and Boeing Corp will display their products to make a significant presence in Aero India after the US sanctions imposed in the wake of the 1998 Pokhran blasts were lifted in 2002. "We are going to have an American presence, they were not here in the previous two air shows. That is the big change actually (in this show)," IAF's Yelahanka Air Base commandant Air Commodore S P Singh told reporters here during the preview on the preparations for the mega five-day event.

The US will also display its maritime surveillance aircraft Orion PC-3, which it is planning to sell to both India and PAkistan, while the US Army will bring a helicopter. "Seventyeight aviation companies from 25 countries have confirmed participation in the event," Singh said. Indka will showcase its aircraft design capabilities in the three home-grown aircraft - Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv, the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and the Intermediate Jet Trainer, while IAF will have display of its famed Surya Kiran aerobatic and Saran helicopter aerobatic team.

Air Force Chiefs of 12 countries including China, Egypt, Japan, Sweden, Vietnam and Germany have confirmed taking part in the event, organised to showcase India's prowess in the aviation field.

IAF, Singh said, will have a flying display of its supersonic fighters - Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, MiG-21 Bison, Jaguar (Trainer) and Mi-35 and Dhruv helicopter, besides the IL-78 mid-air refueller.

The foreign firms which will display its aircraft include Lockheed Martin with its F-16 fighter, Gulf Stream business jet, Northrop, US Army with an helicopter, Tashkent Aircraft Corp with a Sukhoi fighter and BELL helicopters.

He said Israel will also display its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) at the air show.

"We are resurfacing the entire runway and also extending it by about 350 feet to a length of 7,650 feet," Singh said, adding additional space for parking aircraft and exhibition areas have been alloted for the event.

Aero India, organised by India's Defence Ministry, is expected to attract 50,000 people for air displays every day and about 25,000 business visitors each day.


- news source

That�s nice... Sell weapons to two people that want to blow each other up.

Hey, what F-16 variant and block are they going to show up in?

ChrisRT
That�s nice... Sell weapons to two people that want to blow each other up.

yep, thats what the US does to keep the playing field even. If two guys are fighting and one grabs a bat you give the other a bat, and if one grabs a gun you give the other guy a gun. If the field is level, not to many nations will take the risk without an assured victory.

[edit on 2-1-2005 by Murcielago]

Oh, I was talking about the P-3s... I know it's highly valued but wouldn�t one just get pissed at us for selling their 'enemy' the same class of weapons?

Just to clear things up except for the nukes there is no 'parity ' in the armed forces of India and Pakistan. So there's no question of 'keeping them at one leel to avoid conflict'...

Originally posted by Daedalus3
Just to clear things up except for the nukes there is no 'parity ' in the armed forces of India and Pakistan.

- Quite.

So there's no question of 'keeping them at one leel to avoid conflict'...

- ......but don't expect that to hold back anyone from attempting to profit from the region's misery, right?

Er, cos if we don't do it, they'll do it (nevermind even trying to construct a globally binding 'ethical' defense/arms sales market - at least on the big stuff if we can't on the little stuff - , huh?).

Originally posted by Daedalus3
Just to clear things up except for the nukes there is no 'parity ' in the armed forces of India and Pakistan. So there's no question of 'keeping them at one leel to avoid conflict'...

There is no parity between Indian and Pakistani military, but the more US weaponizes Pakistan, the more loss India would incur in a war with Pakistan.

Further, there is nuclear parity between India and Pakistan, in the sense that, both can destroy each other. I think Pakistan's president has made it very clear that any conventional war with Pakistan will result in a first nuclear strike.

[edit on 5-1-2005 by Indigo_Child]

yea, but India is already far ahead the Pakistani airforce when it comes to aircraft, there is no need, they're Su-30MKI's demolish Pakistani F-16's, especially with their, relatively, horrible training

and India's MiG-29's alone can take on the F-16's easily, if they want defence contracts, i don't think there is a spot open, the MiG-21BIS is getting replaced by the LCA, and India is developing an MCA, in the future, their airforce will consist of the LCA, MCA, and Su-30MKI

the MiG-29's will be upgraded, the Mirage 2000's will be phased out, i don't really see a gap

Yes nuke parity exists but paksitan cannnot 'destroy India completely with its current arsenal..not enough warheads and not enough yield..while india can do so..although one must keep in mind that in a mutual exchange of nuclear weapons no one comes out victorious..

Also the PAF training contrary to popular belief is quite good and they are a very professional AF. Infact IMHO the PAF F-16 squadron probably has the 1 of the best F-16 pilots in the world, as they have a gruelling awareness scheme. The F-16s are the only credible air superiority fighters that the PAF has...
Also I wonder why the Mirages would be phased out..beautiful aricraft they are...

a Mirage is a relatively nice aircraft, but i don't see a reason to keep it if they have upgraded versions of the MiG-29 and in the future they will have the LCA, and the MCA will take the MiG-29's place, the only aircraft left will be the Su-30MKI, they will have three tiers of aircraft i guess, Light Medium and Heavy

Light-LCA
Medium-MCA
Heavy-Su-30MKI

its an okay aircraft

India is always contributing its technical expertise to the PAK-FA project and the new 5th gen fighter called T-50 or something...

i think we should buy a couple of F-16's. I mean for training purposes. however i read it in a newsweekly that newdelhi might consider buying the orion's. wonder wats up on that

Training for what??...It wouldn't serve any purpose...
IMHO India's aircraft ambitoins are quite on track...like the above few posts suggest..
the orion would be for recon purposes ofcourse...the current soviet make recon aircraft the Indian AF has are quite old...

By selling F-16's, P-3C's to Pakistan, the US is losing a potential customer in india with far deeper pockets.

Besides Pakistan only got 1/4th the number of F-16's and P-3's it asked for.That too after almost a decade of frantic lobbying and negotiation.

On the other hand the Indian AF had been offered F-16's without they asking for it even during the Clinton administration.

India's was also offered more advanced maritime recon P-3's than what pakistan is currently getting in 2001(not sure if it was 2000 or 01) itself , again without the Indian Navy not asking for it.

Hmmm...i was just thinking...if the IAF got F-16's , it would be operating a wide array of aircrafts from another vast array of countries.

Mig-21, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 >>russia
Su-30K, Su-30MKI >>russia
Mirage-2000 >>france
Jaguar, Hawk, Sea Harrier >> UK
maruth, ajeet, kiran, tejas(LCA), IJT, donier >>india

and hopefully F-16>>USA

India has always been weary of Pakistani F-16's.So it may not be that bad an idea to buy a few in very small numbers so a to see if our fighters can handle them and train well using real time war training scenarios...

nah..buying legid F-16s from the US still would be a waste of precious money..if they really want some for training purposes then buy a few in black or sumthing...not many maybe 2 or 3..

i don't know about them buying F-16's, stick with the miG-29's i mean the F-16 is a nice plane, it looks nice, i think that both the MiG-29 and the F-16 have the same potentials, and are equal aircraft, i can't figure out which one is better, the F-16 has better supersonic maneuverability and the MiG-29 has better subsonic maneuverability, the F-16 has better avionics, in radar, i don't know, the MiG-29 has greater speed, it can actually outrun an AIM-9, the MiG-29 has a slight lead in speed at sea level, and it also has a better climb rate, it also has a considerabley higher combat radius than the F-16, but the F-16 has a considerable lead in weapons load, about 1000 kg's, really,i don't know which one is better, but it is a good idea to get your most likely oppenent's aircraft to test against, thats why America has MiG-29's and a very few Su-27's

also the F-16 is not a good fighter to invest in now..maybe would have been a better proposition in the the late 80s or even early 90s but now its beyond its age..the IAF should look ahead now...towards many projects planned with the Russians and towards its indigenous programs as well..

not necessarily, the Block 60 is very recent modernization of the F-16, and the Block 50/52 is an all-weather capable fighter, which is rather impressive, is the Block 40, the bomber version?

i want to get more familiar with American aircraft

Originally posted by Dima
i don't know about them buying F-16's, stick with the miG-29's i mean the F-16 is a nice plane, it looks nice, i think that both the MiG-29 and the F-16 have the same potentials, and are equal aircraft, i can't figure out which one is better, the F-16 has better supersonic maneuverability and the MiG-29 has better subsonic maneuverability, the F-16 has better avionics, in radar, i don't know, the MiG-29 has greater speed, it can actually outrun an AIM-9, the MiG-29 has a slight lead in speed at sea level, and it also has a better climb rate, it also has a considerabley higher combat radius than the F-16, but the F-16 has a considerable lead in weapons load, about 1000 kg's, really,i don't know which one is better, but it is a good idea to get your most likely oppenent's aircraft to test against, thats why America has MiG-29's and a very few Su-27's

Why dont you contribute some of your views to my first ATS thread :
Mig 29 better than F-16 ?