Will India buy F-35 fighter aircraft from the United States? Should it buy them? These are two questions the Indian media and commentariat seem preoccupied with ever since U.S. President Donald Trump discussed his wish list of American products that India should buy in his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week in Washington, D.C.
Eurasian Times has published many pieces on this subject over the last few days. However, the following paragraphs attempt to present a holistic picture of the subject. In the process, some not-so-well-publicized aspects are presented that Indian policymakers need to keep in mind while making a decision about whether or not to procure the aircraft.
To begin with, in case of any procurement of such a platform, either the country wanting to buy or the country wanting to sell has to show or make a formal/official proposal. That has not been the case here. President Trump’s offer is an informal one, as informal as that of the then head of Pacific Command, Admiral Philip S. Davidson, in 2018, who said that the F-35 could be offered to India.
When a proposal is formally made, India has a cumbersome, slow, and complicated weapons acquisition process. It is so time-consuming that it could irritate a president like Donald Trump.
It may be noted that India took nearly fifteen years to negotiate the Rafale deal, forcing the Indian Air Force’s requirement of 126 planes to be cut to 36. Similarly, the process of co-producing a Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft in India was first proposed in 2019 but has gone nowhere.
This being the case, if India wants to go for the F-35 as soon as possible, it has to repeat the “Rafale route” (India had acquired French Rafales through a government-to-government foreign military sales route) as an “interim measure” for some fighters (say two squadrons) under governmental-determined terms, conditions, and prices.
“Alternative” To F-35, After Saudi Arabia, Another “Cash Rich” M.East Nation Keen On KAAN Fighters
The rationale then has to be that the IAF badly needs fifth-generation fighters, given its inadequate 31 fighter squadrons compared to the sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons.
Even Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-35, has welcomed Trump’s initiative.
“We are encouraged by the recent announcement by President Trump to provide the F-35 to India. Lockheed Martin stands ready to support these government-to-government decisions. We look forward to working closely with both governments on upcoming strategic procurements, including the fighters, Javelins, and helicopters that will further empower the Indian Armed Forces with 21st-century security solutions and deterrence capabilities to address their pressing needs. This will be a huge step forward in the growing U.S.-India comprehensive strategic partnership”, the company has said in a statement.
Lockheed Martin says it has been “a trusted and strategic partner to India for over three decades and has been instrumental in establishing the foundation of the aerospace and defense ecosystem. We’ve proven our commitment through various production programs like the C-130J, S-92 cabin, and the fighter wings feeding into the global supply chain.”
If the decision is to acquire through this route, some interlinked questions do arise about quality, prices, coordination with other fighters, co-production possibilities, and conditions of operations.
As regards the quality, the F-35 is supposed to be the best of its kind. Manufacturer Lockheed Martin has produced F-35s that are single-seat, single-engine, and supersonic stealth aircraft designed for multiple roles, including strategic attack, suppression/destruction of enemy air defenses, offensive/defensive counter air, anti-surface warfare, strike coordination and reconnaissance, and close air support. It brings stealth, sensor fusion, and interoperability to enable access in contested environments and enhances situational awareness. It can also perform electronic warfare and gather intelligence through surveillance and reconnaissance (spying on enemy activities to collect important information).
Therefore, the F-35 has to be valued for its multiple roles, not for a specific one, such as attack or surveillance.
The F-35 has three versions: the F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C. The F-35A has conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) capabilities, the F-35B has short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities, and the F-35C is an aircraft carrier variant. F-35 Bs and Cs are for the Navy and Marines. In the context of India, the F-35A is supposed to be relevant.
Nineteen (19) countries have purchased or agreed to purchase F-35s; most are NATO allies in Europe and partners like Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Australia.
Incidentally, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has decided to procure 2470 F-35 aircraft (all three versions) as part of its largest procurement program, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The program is managed by a Joint Program Office (JPO) of more than 2,200 personnel worldwide.
The JPO oversees the development of all three variants and is responsible for upgrading the aircraft to remain relevant against future threats, such as advanced fighter aircraft, uncrewed aircraft, or long-range surface-to-air missiles. Those technical upgrades necessitate improvements to the F135 engine that powers the aircraft.
However, the latest F-35 upgrade program has faced technical challenges. In this context, it is also important to note that there have been about 12 accidents the program has met since 2018, the last being on January 28, 2025, when an F-35A fighter jet crashed at the Eielson US Air Force Base in Alaska during a training session. All this has furthered concerns about reliability, maintenance, project delays, and cost overruns.
“Alternative” To F-35, After Saudi Arabia, Another “Cash Rich” M.East Nation Keen On KAAN Fighters
Incidentally, the JPO has combined upgrades to the F-35’s software and other capabilities in an iterative development process known as Continuous Capability Development and Delivery (C2D2), which, in turn, is designed to improve the F-35’s ability to maintain air dominance against evolving threats. In the process, the C2D2 has some goals under what is called “Block 4” modernization of developing and integrating “an advanced sensor suite, improved electronic warfare systems, and long-range precision weapons such as the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range.”
The Block 4 modernization effort includes software development and a Technical Refresh 3 (TR-3) effort to enable the insertion of more than 50 software upgrades. However, these have not been done properly, which is why the U.S. Air Force stopped accepting deliveries of F-35s in July 2023. Though it resumed accepting F-35s in July 2024, it is reportedly withholding payment of $5 million per aircraft until TR-3 is complete.
The Pentagon’s Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2024, published in January 2025, states that “the F-35 program has shown no improvement in meeting schedule and performance timelines for developing and testing software designed to address deficiencies and add new capabilities.”
A Congressional Research Service report published in December 2024 quotes the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) as saying that “the F-35 fleet is not meeting performance goals for availability, reliability, and maintainability. Readiness challenges include a heavy reliance on contractors, inadequate training, lack of technical data, lack of spare parts, and lack of support equipment.”
Citing data from DOD and Lockheed Martin, the GAO report states that the Air Force fleet of F35A aircraft’s mission capable rate, a metric of a fleet’s health and readiness (availability for operation), was 51.9 percent in 2023—below the service’s 80% minimum target. The Navy and Marine Corps set mission capable target at 75%, but neither the F-35B nor the F-35C hit the minimum; the F-35B registered 59.7%.116 The F-35C notched the highest mission capable rate at 61.9%, according to GAO.
It may be noted that “Availability” is determined by measuring the percentage of time individual aircraft are in ‘available’ status, aggregated monthly over a reporting period.
No wonder why the Pentagon’s top testing office, the Director of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E), recently released its office’s annual report, which showed that the F-35 program has a fleet-wide full mission capability rate of only 30%.
The Pentagon’s finding also highlights the F-35 program’s ongoing struggle to replace its troubled maintenance and logistics network.
The F-35 fleet currently relies on the ground-based Autonomic Logistics Information System, or ALIS, to download diagnostic data from the aircraft, create maintenance work orders, track spare parts through the supply chain, and then guide crews through the necessary repair work.
Pilots also use the network to plan missions. For years, ALIS has been plagued with interface and connectivity issues. Operators often found the system so troublesome that they had to resort to lengthy workarounds to manually enter data. The problems became so bad that program officials finally decided to scrap ALIS and replace it with a new cloud-based network called Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN).
Like most aspects of the F-35 saga, the transition from ALIS to ODIN has faced major schedule delays. When officials announced the switch in early 2020, they said the new network would be fully operational by the end of 2022. However, the necessary flightline hardware has been delayed and will not be fully in place until sometime in 2025.
This is not to belittle the F-35’s capacity or worth but to point out its challenges. Even Lockheed Martin acknowledges that there are challenges, but there are also significant achievements notwithstanding them. The manufacturer delivered 110 F-35s in 2024 and nearly 1,100 worldwide across all variants.
How much will one F-35 fighter cost if India buys it? Pentagon’s 2023 Selected Acquisition Report estimated that the cost of a single F-35 would range from $62.2 million to $77.2 million, considering the benefit of selling aircraft to foreign governments. Some reports say the price could have gone up to $80 million by now. That, too, is the base price, the final one depending on the model and extra features. All this makes the F-35 among the most expensive fighter jets.
Besides, there are additional expenses for maintenance, pilot training, and spare parts that are equally high. In fact, the F-35 is equally expensive to operate, with each flight hour costing roughly $36,000.
Another important aspect worth noting is whether the U.S. would like to co-produce parts of the F-35 in India, considering that the F-35 program is its DOD’s largest “international cooperative program.”
The question is all the more relevant as the joint statement of the latest Trump-Modi meeting says, “ The leaders determined that the U.S. would expand defense sales and co-production with India to strengthen interoperability and defense industrial cooperation. They announced plans to pursue this year new procurements and co-production arrangements for ‘Javelin’ Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and ‘Stryker’ Infantry Combat Vehicles in India to rapidly meet India’s defense requirements”.
The point here is whether such co-productions will include the F-35, given that competitor Russia has co-produced the MiG and Sukhoi fighter series in India.
It may be noted that the U.S. has pursued allied participation as a way to defray some development and production costs and ensure export sales. Eight allied countries—the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Turkey, and Australia—initially participated in the F-35 program under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the SDD (Strategic development Partner) and Production, Sustainment, and Follow-On Development (PSFD) phases of the program.
These eight countries have contributed varying amounts of research and development funding to the program, receiving in return differing levels of participation in the program.
International participation in the F-35 program is divided into three levels, according to the amount of money a country contributes to the program—the higher the amount, the greater the nation’s influence on aircraft requirements, design, and access to technologies gained during development. Level 1 partner status requires approximately 10% contribution to aircraft development and allows for fully integrated office staff and a national deputy at the director level. The United Kingdom is the only Level I partner.
Italy and the Netherlands are Level II partners, contributing $1 billion and $800 million, respectively. Australia, Denmark, Norway, Canada, and Turkey joined the F-35 program as Level III partners, contributing $125 million to $175 million.
However, it may be noted that the U.S. revoked Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program in 2019 because of a disagreement over Turkey’s acquisition and intended fielding of the S-400 Russian air defense system. Before losing its partner status, Turkey was to build F135 engines and conduct engine maintenance and overhaul. After Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 program, Norway and the Netherlands took on engine maintenance and training work.
It remains to be seen whether India can be such a partner of the U.S. in developing the F-35 as both Trump and Modi, in their joint statement, “announced plans to sign this year a new ten-year Framework for the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership in the 21st Century” as “India is a Major Defense Partner with Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA‑1) authorization and a key Quad partner,” and the two countries are “building on the U.S.-India Roadmap for Defense Industrial Cooperation.”
Another important dimension regarding the use of the F-35 by the U.S. allies and partners also needs to be mentioned. Some F-35As are dual-capable aircraft (DCA), meaning that they can deliver conventional weapons as well as B-61 nuclear weapons. The U.S. follows strict procedures in case the aircraft carries out a nuclear mission.
Such a mission can only be undertaken after the authorization is received from the US President (and UK Prime Minister if used for NATO operations in Europe).
But then that is not all. The U.S. has additional laws or rules that say even if a country purchases US-made planes and weapons, the US government has to give permission before they can be deployed in a war. There are restrictions placed on the sale and use of advanced military technology through export controls and agreements, often including clauses about the intended use of the weapons or platforms.
It means that if India procures the F-35, U.S. approval is needed on how and where to use it. There is what is called the Permissive Action Links (PAL) system, which requires additional authorization to activate the weapon, even if it is in another country’s possession.
And here, the U.S. can go even beyond legal restrictions to consider the political implications of a foreign country using its products in a conflict, potentially impacting future arms sales or diplomatic relations.
In this context, it may be noted that during his first term, in 2020, when the Abraham Accords normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, President Trump proposed selling F-35s to the UAE.
In January 2021, the U.S. and the UAE reportedly completed negotiations for the sale of 50 F-35s worth an estimated $23 billion. However, shortly after taking office, U.S. President Joe Biden temporarily suspended the sale because of concerns about a UAE contract with the China-based 5G technology company Huawei. By December 2021, the UAE withdrew from discussions about the purchase of F35s.
Thus, using the F-35 in a war situation with Pakistan or China is not going to be India’s unilateral decision, something that has been ensured while using Russian or, for that matter, French weapons/platforms. In other words, it will be in direct conflict with India’s policy of strategic autonomy.
Finally, there is a ticklish issue with India’s future procurement of the F-35. The F-35 is designed to evade the most sophisticated air defense systems. India has such a system in the form of the S-400 from Russia.
This being the case, will the U.S. allow India to remain the world’s unique country to have arguably the best offensive fighter aircraft, the F-35, simultaneously with a formidable Russian defense system that could neutralise it?
As noted, the U.S. revoked Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program because Ankara had acquired and intended to field the S-400 Russian air defense system.
Or, will India, in order to get the F-35, dismantle the 3 (three) S-400 systems that it has already bought from Russia and cancel the delivery of two more that are expected to be completed by August 2026?
Two most difficult questions to be answered, indeed!
- Author and veteran journalist Prakash Nanda is Chairman of the Editorial Board of the EurAsian Times and has been commenting on politics, foreign policy, and strategic affairs for nearly three decades. He is a former National Fellow of the Indian Council for Historical Research and a recipient of the Seoul Peace Prize Scholarship.
- CONTACT: prakash.nanda (at) hotmail.com
