America wants to sell F-35 fighters to India

“We will increase the sales of weapons to India to another billion dollars, and are working to be able to provide F-35 stealth fighters for the country,” US President Donald Trump said in the game. The press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on February 13.

Mr. Trump did not give specific timelines, but the contracts of selling American weapons to foreign countries, especially related to advanced technology such as F-35 fighter jet, often takes many years to negotiate and conduct. .

Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri later said that New Delhi had a strict process of foreign weapons procurement, which requested the proposal of defense contractors. He affirmed that India has not yet launched this process for the US F-35 series. “The problem is in the proposal period,” said Foreign Minister Misri

The US Defense Group Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35 series, said any discussion about the ability to sell this aircraft to India took place at the government level.

American weapons trading transactions and foreign countries are considered to be an agreement between governments, in which the Pentagon plays an intermediary role between American weapons production corporations and customers.

In the joint statement published after the press conference, the two sides published new agreements on shopping and cooperation in producing anti -tank missiles Javelin, Stryker infantry fighting vehicles in India. New Delhi will also buy 6 more P-8i Neptune reconnaissance, based on the US Navy P-8A Poseidon series.

India has agreed to buy weapons and military equipment with a total value of more than 20 billion USD from the US since 2008. New Delhi last year reached an agreement to buy 31 drones (UAV) MQ-9B after The discussion lasts more than 6 years.

The US National Assembly research agency said India could spend more than $ 200 billion in a decade to modernize the army.

The F-35 fighter is the most widely implemented fifth-generation fighter today, with more than 1,000 F-35s that have been handed over to customers, including the US military and allies like the UK, Australia , Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Israel, Japan, Korea and Belgium.