faithfulguy
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How did anyone expect the deal to be finalized during this trip?
Here is the timeline for India's Single Engine Fighter for which F-16s and Gripens are competing
1) Strategic Partnership (SP) policy has already been finalized in 2017
2) Vendors to pick their Indian partners by end of 2017 based on SP policy
3) RFP would be issued in 2018 for 200 Jets
4) Proposals would be submitted by the vendors in 2019
5) Limited trials would be completed in 2020
6) Vendor selection would be done in 2021
7) Negotiations would be completed and contract would be signed in 2022
8) First fighter would be inducted in 2024-25
If I'm India, I would get the assurance from Trump himself that India will have a f-16 assembly line. Otherwise, F-16 is not in the running.
But I'm not sure if India is knowledgeable enough to work with US political framework. India believe that US policies should evolve around Indian political whims. India is so prideful that it does not even have a lobby firm in DC.
Media reported the LM - Tata agreement, and fanboys (as usual) saw it as a signed contract,
and aircraft already delivered (almost).
No, Tejas is outdated compared to both F-16IN and Gripen E.
Tejas needs to switch to a new engine and replace most electronics to be a match.
I.E: A complete redesign.
Tejas is obsolete on arrival. Indians here already admit that its value its to train engineers, not to build a plane India will use in a combat.