US defence company Lockheed Martin yesterday said that talks were taking place between the US and the Indian government over its offer of setting up a factory to produce F-16 fighter planes in India.
Lockheed is pushing ahead with its proposal to transfer the F-16 production line to India to supply the Indian air force, but it understands that US
President Donald Trump’s administration may want to take a fresh look at such plans.
“The conversation at this point has progressed between governments,” Randall L Howard, Lockheed’s head of F-16 business development, told reporters at an air show in Bengaluru.
“We have had very strong support up to this point from the US government. We are deferring any concerns over to the two governments as discussions have progressed to the point where requirements need to be more fully articulated,” Howard said, adding that Lockheed Martin is fully supportive of those discussions.
Trump’s criticism of US auto and drug companies moving manufacturing overseas and then selling goods back to the US has raised concern over Lockheed’s plans, though in this case the factory would supply the Indian military rather than export to the US.
India’s defence ministry issued a request last year asking foreign manufacturers if they were willing to produce a single-engine combat plane in India in collaboration with a local partner as part of the government’s drive to build a domestic industrial base and reduce imports. Sweden’s Saab is the other contender, offering to make its Gripen fighter in India.
Meanwhile global aerospace major Boeing said that it saw a high potential for air travel growth in India during 2017.
“The major factors we watch – the exchange rate, fuel price and the profitability of the airlines – are all still favourable and we remain confident in the strong growth of India’s commercial aviation sector,” said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president, Asia Pacific and India sales, Boeing commercial airplanes.