By David Axe
The F-35 represents ‘a new level of coalition interoperability,’ according to the jet’s US program office. More to the point, export of systems such as the F-35 ‘is a reliable national-security/diplomacy tool,’ according to James McAleese, from the Virginia-based defence consultancy McAleese and Associates. By making the F-35 a cornerstone of so many nations’ air forces, the United States cements its diplomatic sway over allies, in the same way that the F-22 has bolstered its deterrence against Pacific rivals.
The projected worldwide F-35 fleet might also make up for the individual jets’ impression of reduced lethality, compared to the F-22, through the impression of sheer numbers. Any way you cut it, for many decades fighters will remain powerful symbols—even more so if Goon and Kopp get their way and the United States develops a new Raptor to balance the T-50.
India Plays Best
One nation stands out as a particularly clever player in the fighter-diplomacy game—India. The South Asian nation, with the world’s fourth-largest economy by some measures, has been able to play all sides. It is mulling the purchase of more than 100 F-35s, though not without reservations. ‘India has been in the past wary of US sanctions, their control on transfer of critical and key technologies,’ says Ashok Singh, an Indian air force wing commander and research fellow at the New Delhi Center for Air Power studies.
For that reason, India is also planning on buying T-50s; ‘lots of them,’ according to analyst John Pike, from the Virginia-based Globalsecurity.org. But quantity’s not the point.
Owning both aircraft would place India at the balancing point between all other military powers in Asia. Owning F-35s plugs India into the US deterrence system, while possessing T-50s makes a powerful statement that India could, and might, buck US leadership, when and where it chooses.
‘India is a might in the making, and this has dawned on the USA,’ Singh says. India will try to acquire high technology, aircraft in particular, ‘until both countries have attained a state of equilibrium.’ That is, equilibrium achieved in part by the grand strategic gestures represented by impressive, but impractical, jet fighters.
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Luke
“The T-50 is an unarmed, incomplete prototype” … so is the F-35.
Nate
Chinese defense policy in the 21st Century is looking much like US defense policy at the end of the Cold War: prod the competition into spending more than they can afford on defense, and win without a fight when their economy collapses as a result. Articles like this play along nicely.
South Indian
India is not a warmongering country. So when Indians buy weapons its intention is not threaten or intimidate any country.
Indians want to buy American planes to absorb some technology. It is buying planes from Russia to assure Russia that India is not going to be one of the allies like Australia or UK. India wants to be called a partner to USA and to Russia. Indians don’t like to be someone’s ally.
India will make sure that it does not give any impression that it’s getting Pro-American or Pro-Russian.
India is telling USA that it needs to transfer technology to have good business with India. If USA does not transfer technology it will be happy to get it from France, Israel and Russia.
USA should make sure that to have some influence on Indian geopolitics should sell India some of its Hi-Tech war machines.At the end of the day India wants to buy what it wants to buy, if USA sells India what India wants , USA can have a say in India’s future geopolitics.