India could get US invite for F-35 first flight

As Washington's most ambitious and classified fighter aircraft8212;the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter JSF8212;readies for a first flight next...

As Washington8217;s most ambitious and classified fighter aircraft8212;the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter JSF8212;readies for a first flight next year, the Pentagon is preparing to extend a special invitation to New Delhi to witness the event at Fort Worth, Texas. This is significant given that India is not a partner country in the multi-billion dollar project.

A senior source at the US Embassy here told The Indian Express, 8216;8216;In a sense, the programme is closed to non-partner countries. But with the new Indo-US strategic partnership, the US government feels it is appropriate to keep India abreast of the latest technology. It augurs well for future cooperation.8217;8217;

Expected to be a high-profile event, the invitees are likely to include the IAF chief, the Defence Secretary and senior South Block officials.

The JSF project8212;primarily an Anglo-US project8212;has developed the F-35, an advanced fifth generation fighter for all three forces, which is cheap to procure and maintain, and also capable of performing all possible roles. The partner countries in the project are Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway, who will induct the fighter over the next 15 years.

A spokesperson for the JSF project told The Indian Express in an e-mail from Fort Worth, 8216;8216;I can tell you that F-35 JSF partnership in the strict sense of the term is closed, but we anticipate selling many F-35s to non-partner nations.8217;8217; He added, 8216;8216;As you may know, the decision to allow the sale of F-35s to any country is made by the US government, not by Lockheed-Martin.8217;8217;

The invitation to Fort Worth, while significant in itself, comes as part of a long line of specific gestures by Washington: Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi took flight in a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet at the Paris Air Show earlier this year; former chief S Krishnaswamy took off in an Israeli F-16 Falcon in October last year; Indian teams have witnessed the Patriot-3 in action at White Sands, New Mexico; and India8217;s interest in the cutting-edge Boeing P-8A maritime multi-mission jet has been received favourably by the Office of Defence Cooperation.

8216;8216;The Super Hornet and Falcon are formal contenders for commercial purchases by New Delhi, but witnessing an event of this magnitude is symbolic. It shows that the Bush administration is willing to involve India, even at a non-critical level, in its most exclusive projects,8217;8217; the US Embassy official pointed out.