India Poised to Reject US Offers of F/A-18, F-16 & F-35

choi

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(1) Rajat Pandit, With own 5G jet plan, India 'rejects' US offer. Times of India, Jan 30, 2011.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/With-own-5G-jet-plan-India-rejects-US-offer-/articleshow/7389062.cms

Quote:

"India has no plans as of now to either join the US-led joint strike fighter (JSF) programme or buy the F-35 'Lightning-II ' fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) when it finally becomes operational [despite US cajoles and pushes, which include a rrecent visit by Pres. Obama].

"Over and above this [development cost], each of the 250-300 FGFA India hopes to begin inducting from 2020 onwards will cost around $100 million each.


My comment:
(a) What does the byline TNN stand for?

"The Times News Network or TNN is the news agency of the Times of India newspaper."
Times News Network
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_News_Network
(b) I do not know why a senior India official says in the report, "Our FGFA will be cheaper than the F-35."

Not much. See
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II
(table: Unit cost US$130 million (flyaway cost for LRIP IV F35A + LRIP III F135 engine))

, where LRIP stands for low-rate-initial-production.

(2) Manu Pubby, F-22 Raptor, 'smartest fighter' likely at Aero India. Indian Express, Jan 25, 2011.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Smartest-fighter-likely-at-Aero-India/741854

(5) Kaveri engine to power fifth generation fighter aircraft. Press Trust of India (PTI),
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article1127075.ece

Note: Kaveri is the name of a river in India. See Narmada River
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narmada_River
(The Sikta and the Kaveri join it below the Khandwa plain)

(3) Ajai Shukla, Buy MMRCA now, Gen-5 fighter later: US report. Economic Standard, Jan 29, 2011.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/buy-mmrca-now-gen-5-fighter-later-us-report/423364/
("With two US fighters — Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Super Viper and Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet — apparently trailing in the six-way, US$10-billion race to sell India 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), a new report by a top US-based analyst suggests that India buys the MMRCA as an economical, stop-gap measure, before buying a cutting-edge, fifth generation US-built stealth fighter for the Indian Air Force")

Note: The report cites

Ashley Tellis, Dogfight! India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft Decision. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Jan 26, 2011.
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=42361

(4)
(a) Fit to fly: The Tejas, first India-designed fighter jet. BBC, Jan 10, 2011.  
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12152063
("Tejas - meaning radiant")

It is Sankript for bright, luminous, and a boy's name, too.

(b) India gets its first homegrown fighter jet. RIA Novosti, Jan 10, 2011.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110110/162090932.html
("The first 40 jets will be equipped with General Electric F404 engines. Simultaneously, Indian engineers together with French experts are developing domestically-designed gas turbine engine, dubbed Kaveri.")

My comment:
(i) Kaveri is a name for girl.
(ii) There is no need to read the rest of this report.



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