Air Force looks to buy US stealth fighter F-35
In what would be a huge capability jump, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is increasingly interested in procuring the American F-35 Lightning II for its depleting fighter fleet.
BusinessStandard learns the IAF top brass is formally requesting for a classified briefing by the F-35’s prime builder, Lockheed Martin, on the capabilities of the sophisticated, fifth-generation fighter developed under the US Joint Strike Fighter programme.
The US government has not formally offered the F-35 to India. A classified briefing would require formal clearance from the US Department of Defence (the Pentagon) and the State Department. The grant of such a clearance would be an important first step towards permitting the sale of F-35s to India.
It is learnt the IAF wants to procure 126 of the variant called F-35A – the air force version of the fighter that incorporates “conventionaltake-offandlanding”. Another variant, the F-35B, incorporating “short take-off and vertical landing”, has been developed for the US Marine Corps. A third version, developed for the US Navy, incorporates “catapult assisted take-off but arrested recovery.
The Indian Navy, which has never ruled out operating the F35 off Indian aircraft carriers, has received a briefing on the F35 as far back as 2010, Lockheed Martin official Orville Prins told this correspondent. However, at that stage, the F-35 was still grappling with serious development challenges.
The F-35’s affordability is also attractive for New Delhi. In contrast to the bare-bones price of $115 million for each Rafale fighter (with India-specific enhancements, spares, logistics and weapons all extra), the F35A cost customers $94.6 million last February. Lockheed Martin says it will reduce the cost to $80 million by 2020.
A fifth-generation fighter is characterised by a “stealth design”, making it far more difficult for radar to detect; “supercruise”, or the ability to fly at supersonic speeds without engagingengineafterburners; andhighlynetworkedavionicsthat detectandengageenemyaircraft using a range of sensors and weaponsacrossthebattle-space.
The only true fifth-generation fighters in service are the US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II. China is developingtwostealthfighters– the J-20 Chengdu and the J-31 Shenyang. Russia is developing its own fifth-generation fighter, the PAK-FA, and has offered Indiaapartnershiproleindeveloping the PAK-FA into the eponymous Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) for the IAF. Negotiations on roles and costing are over, but the Indian defenceministryisyettoaccept.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) defence minister, A K Antony, had ruled out buying the F-35, stating that India would meet its short-term requirement of fifth-generation fighters with the FGFA. For the IAF’s long term needs, the Defence R&D Organisation is developing the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft.
Sources close to the Pentagon say India would not be sold the F-35 as long as it is partnering Russia in the FGFA co-development project. That is because Washington would guard against the leakage of F35 technology into the FGFA.
Senior officers say the IAF is notenthusedabouttheFGFAproject. They point out the F-35 is further advanced in development and has already entered servicewiththeUSAFandsix-sevenairforcesofAmericanallies.
For Lockheed Martin, an Indian request for the F-35 would create a dilemma. The US company would rather have the IAF buy the F-16 Block 70, which it has offered to build in India in partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd.
For Lockheed Martin, that would keep alive the F-16 assembly line, which has long functioned from Fort Worth, Texas, and has nowmoved temporarily to Greenville, South Carolina, where it is building a $2.8 billion order from Bahrain for 19 F-16V fighters.
The defence ministry and the IAF have not responded to an emailed request for comments.
Moreonbusiness-standard.com STAR India has attracted 11 brands for its telecast of the Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL). After the network's winning bid of the annual T20 for ~163.5 billion to telecast for five years, this is the first time the IPL will be available on the same network on TV and digital.
Anil Jayaraj, executive vicepresident and head for ad sales, STAR Sports, believes this has been the key driver for attracting brands.
He says, “Having both TV and digital platforms means brandsforthefirsttimehavethe opportunitytoleveragethepower of multi-screen. This allows brandstocombinethepowerof mass reach and targeted performance. We’ve gone to marketwithacombinedproposition but have been fluid in that if a brand wants to lean more heavily on either platform we’ve adapted. We’venotcomeacross a single brand yet that has refrainedfromeitherplatform.”
Some of the brands that have signed on the property include IPL regulars like Vivo (also the title on-ground sponsor), Kent and Parle. Newcomers include Elica Kitchens, Dream11, Polycab Wires and Coca-Cola. The global beverage giant has been a known brand in the past but had dialled back on cricket sponsorships in the recent past. However, it has started investing in cricket tournaments since last year.
“IPL has always lived up to its promise of being the most impactful media property and this year, there is the added attraction of the return of two popular teams. We are seeing good traction with our clients. STAR has developed a very strong marketing plan and created a lot of innovative opportunities for advertisers across their broadcast and digital platforms,” saysCVLSrinivas, CEO of GroupM South Asia.
Last year, Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) had roped in nine brands on TV while Hotstar had close to 10 brands associating with the property on the digital platform. While SPN earned around ~13 billion from ad-sales in IPL 2017, industry estimates peg Hotstar’s ad-sales revenues in the ~1.8 to ~2 billion range last year. Experts say it is too early to say how much STAR India would make from this year’s telecast of the tournament. However, market estimates say STAR India will be looking at ~20 billion in ad-sales revenue.
STAR India has extended the engagement duration on the IPL to six month, starting with the IPL player retention process (televised for the first time this year) in January, followed by the player auctions at the end of January. In the runup to the tournament, the network will be airing programmes around the teams and their preparation for IPL 2018, all monetisable assets on TV and digital.