It’s time to sell F-35 fighters to India

Summary and Main Idea: India, the world’s largest democracy and fifth largest economy, is under threat from a nuclear-armed Pakistan and a hostile China. Developing fifth-generation fighter jets is part of its military modernization drive, although domestic efforts have slowed. India would prefer to have the American F-35, but the acquisition of the Russian S-400 system is hindering it, perhaps resulting in the purchase of Russian Su-57 aircraft.

-By selling the F-35 to India, the United States should reevaluate its sanctions against China and reduce India’s dependence on Russian technology.

-India is the fastest growing nation in the world system. It is the largest democracy in the world. India has a fertile population, which has contributed to the country’s growth; It is the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of GDP.

India’s Quest for Fifth-Gen Fighters: The F-35 vs. Su-57 Debate

However, India is in a dangerous area.

China is becoming more aggressive in the north. Its northwestern neighbor, Pakistan, is an Islamist-friendly nation with nuclear weapons. Moreover, with India’s expanding economy and growing power, New Delhi is aggressively modernizing its armed forces to respond to military challenges from China and Pakistan.

As a counterweight to China’s rise, India was indeed coming closer to the US and its alliances for some time.

The Forever Changing Face of War

Unfortunately, with the outbreak of the Ukraine war, that too (along with many other beautiful things) has come to an end. As soon as Russian tanks entered Ukraine, the United States and its NATO allies granted everything to the Russian language. As against Berlin and other NATO members, Washington was quick to turn its anger towards India’s rise, as New Delhi was not following the anti-Russian policies of the Biden administration.

As a result, Indo-US relations have clearly cooled. India, being a developing nation in a dangerous sector, has demands that cannot be ignored. One of those demands is consistent access to affordable energy sources. Russia would be more than happy to supply it.

Furthermore, the idea that their actions in Ukraine could alienate New Delhi from Russia was absurd given how deeply integrated the Indian military is with the Russians and has been since the 1940s.

Yes, Russia has a significant reliance on arms and support. But the reason for this is that after the country gained independence from Britain, the Indian leadership never again wanted to depend on any foreign power, least of all the Western powers. After independence, India became embroiled in communism and sought the support of the Soviet Union. In addition to sharing the same ideology, the USSR succeeded in convincing large numbers of people in the Global South that the Soviet Union was actually liberating the ant-colonists.

Future leaders found it challenging to isolate or isolate India from Russia after its deep embedding in the erstwhile Soviet domain. However, the emergence of a hostile China on India’s northern border was enough to sway India to the US.

India had initially started to orient itself towards the United States, albeit slowly. However, the Americans were never happy with how fast India was being converted.

India Wants a New Warplane

Delhi plans to produce fifth generation fighter jets as part of its military modernization programme. The Indian Army is working on developing a fifth generation strategy on its own using domestic resources. But things have moved on slowly and significant gaps have appeared. China now has a sense of urgency as the J-20 is a fifth-generation fighter.

Discussions about buying existing, foreign fifth-generation fighter jets fill a gap in India’s air warfare capabilities. New Delhi wants to buy the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet from the United States. Unfortunately, New Delhi’s acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system means that the Indians will not be able to use this fifth-generation marvel. Thus, what the strange rules banning the export of the US F-35 fighter jet have done could have been an incredible opportunity to slowly move India out of Russia’s camp.

Instead, Indians want to buy Su-57 made in Russia. Washington must immediately remove all objections to India’s alliance with Russia and start supplying them with the equipment and weapons they need to maintain their hegemony in the region. It is outrageous that because of its ties to Russia, such a valuable partner against China – the greatest threat to the United States – would be marginalized and denied access to Western technology. It is a clear sign that young children are running the country when they have a chance to become adults.

India should purchase F-35 as soon as possible to help them better protect their territory and prepare for the impending conflict with China. If India buys the Su-57 from Russia because it is more accessible, the United States most certainly have delivered a serious blow to themselves. The United States government need to do all possible effort to guarantee that India obtains the systems it needs, and that those systems are made in the United States.

Author Experience and Expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Former congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst Brandon J. Weichert,is a national security analyst for the National Interest and a contributor to The Washington Times, Asia Times, and Pipeline. He is the author of three books: The Shadow War: Iran’s Struggle for Hegemony, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower. A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, his forthcoming book, will be available October 22 from Encounter Books.

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