India is a rising power that is looking to upgrade its fighter aircraft. It’s a huge contract: 126 fighter jets for $10 billion. India for decades has relied on first Soviet and now Russian weapons systems. No longer. They recently eliminated the Russian MIG-35 (which is a modernized MIG-29) from the contest. It’s now between two European systems, the EF-2000 Typhoon and the JAS-39 Gripen. A proposal by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to supply the F-18 and the F-16, was also rejected.
MIG-35? No Thanks
It’s interesting to note that part of the deal: eighteen planes will be supplied but the rest must be manufactured in India. In other words, look for India to get into the defense business in the future.
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