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Falcon carrots: US offers sops for IAF aircraft deals
Posted on: Dec. 12th, 2005 || www.defenceindia.com

The US is now dangling the bait of spin-offs from its futuristic fifth-generation fighter programmes if its F-16 'Falcons' and F/A-18 'Super Hornets' bag India's lucrative $6.5-billion project to acquire 126 multi-role combat aircraft.

This, incidentally, comes soon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that India and Russia should now initiate expert-level talks to explore the possibility of jointly developing a fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

Another sweetener in the US offer is to help make India "a regional hub" in Asia for the production and maintenance of American-origin fighters being operated by other countries.

India, on its part, has shown interest in getting a technical presentation on the ongoing American-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project. The multi-role JSF, slated to become operational in 2008-09, will meet the futuristic needs of US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and close allies. It will, incidentally, also replace the F-16s as an air-to-ground strike fighter.

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