I would like to disagree! If we go in for the F-16, it would be the
Block 70/72, a spanking new 4++ generation fighter. Under the deal, the company will be manufacturing the latest version of the jets that will be produced “exclusively” in India.
This will be the “most advanced” version and will not be built anywhere else in the world. Lockheed Martin also plans to export them from the India plant at a later stage. The F-16 project would be a government-to-government deal that will be conducted through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.
The integration of fifth-generation technology into the fourth-generation platform is pretty much what makes an already-potent fighter an even more potent air-to-air and air-to-ground killer.
The most powerful upgrade comes in the form of the AN/APG-80 AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar system that gives the pilot incredible situational awareness and the ability to target and track in any weather/atmospheric condition with stunning precision.
An infrared search and track (IRST) system, the ability to integrate the Indian Air Force’s Operational Data Link (which allows for interoperability with other Indian fighter/attack/AWACS/support units), an onboard electronic warfare suite from Raytheon, and an upgraded modular mission computer add to the F-16 blk 70/72's sizable resume.
The cockpit is being redeveloped to an extent, with three color high-definition MFDs (multi-function flight displays) feeding the pilot everything he needs to know, as well as the ability to integrate the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS). An updated General Electric F110-132A will function as the sole power-plant, able to output over 32,000 pounds of thrust, and
will have conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) with a built-in fuel probe, designed to mate with the basket/drogue refueling system used by Indian aerial tankers, instead of the boom/receptacle system commonly used by American F-16s.
And most of all it will be extremely cost effective in the long run as India would be the sole base for major overhauls and spares of the over 4,500 F-16s in service worldwide. And needless to say, the latest F-16 blk 70/72 would have dozens of air forces around the world interested in buying them - from India!