Jane Edwards
The Defense Department has expressed support to proposals by Lockheed Martin and Boeing to produce their respective F-16 and F-18 fighter jets in India as part of the Make in India program, Hindustan Times reported Monday.
Shishir Gupta writes Defense Secretary Ashton Carter relayed DoD’s support to the proposals to Manohar Parrikar, India’s defense minister, during the latter’s three-day visit to the U.S. in August.
Boeing and Lockheed would facilitate technology transfer and establish production lines in India for the F-16 and F-18 aircraft platforms should the proposals materialize, Gupta reports.
The report said the U.S. and India have also discussed India’s possible procurement of the General Atomics-built Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, the use of long-duration drones for maritime surveillance efforts and possible exchange of sensitive information related to defense platforms.
