Again another piece of overt jingoism....an overtly rosey picture about India...reality is quite different.
Pakistani F-16s would NEVER go to India even if you have an assembly line in India....there is considerable avionics and propulsion knowhow in Pakistan and we have and will work with Turkey and even Egypt since they already have the setup in place for major re-work and overhauling (Pakistani MLU work will be done in Turkey).
Complete technology transfer is an oft-touted deal but means very little when India would be getting assembly rights for a 70s design.
I know the Pak F-16's wont come to India, it was just an expression, that all other nations will send their planes here.
And their MRO facility would not be limited to just F-16's. It represents all other things by Lockheed in the Region obviously. It would be Lockheed's base. They wont make an entire MRO facility for Asia for JUST F-16's.
Oh! and btw, you are now calling an F-16 blk
70 a old design???
Dude!!, its an awsome machine! You feel so piped up with your F-16 blk 52!!, blk 70 is a different league altogether, aka F-16NG! The blk 50's are oldies LOL.
In any case, with the MKI work being pushed back to Russia, there are many questions with regards to how such a assembly/support/repair facility would be setup
What do you mean set up? A new factory/assembly line would be setup by Lockheed the way it wants it , the way it has in US or other nations.
Btw, the facility would be maintained by Lockheed and not the HAL, so your statement that there would be problems etc dont even have a base. They will operate out of India like any other company. Cuz McDonalds is working in India, does not mean it is different here. Go anywhere in the world and you will find the same McDonalds/KFC. It will be run by Lockheed.
The MKI's that are being outsourced to Russia is ONLY AND ONLY to accomodate the govt's wishes that the entire batch be delivered earlier than scheduled so that there is no shortage of planes. It is costing the govt extra, but they are still going thru it. There was also a press release stating that more stuff is being brought from Russia just so that work can be completed earlier than scheduled and there are no production issues in the HAL plant. So again, what you are saying has absolutely no base.
....I wager a bet that by the time something like this is setup, many countries like Pakistan would be self sufficient in the upkeep of our F-16s (we already do the engine-overhauls and structural upgrades ourselves). So I would say at least on this count, its wishful thinking.
Now, that you are saying that even if the MRO comes up, by that time, many countries would be self sufficient in keepong their F-16's. Let me tell you, this is not something you learn. There are contracts. Pakistan DOES NOT HAVE TOT with its F-16's. It has to send them somewhere else like Turkey or US or wherever, so that it can be modified and/or upgraded. Its not something you 'learn'. That in time you can do this and that. What you could do 5 years back is the same you will be able to do 5 years from now, unless you purchased the TOT, with which you can do stuff on your own.
In terms of traps, you only had to listen to the hearings on the hill wrt the Indian nuclear deal. Many of the folks on the hill said that India actually has to take sides if it wants this deal....this meant that they already exert influence on your foreign policy....a case in point is the Iranian referral to the UNSC...the GoI sold out like a champ. Secondly, with the major weapons purchases, India will be subject to US restrictions just like all of the other countries (even Israel has been impacted by US pressures).
So the only way to get around this problem is by totally aligning your interests with those of the US...in reality this is not easily doable given the regional compulsions. So slowly there are things that are happening...I see the tools that have been used to pressurize Pakistan being given off to India as well...so while not overtly alarmed at this time, I would not be very comfortable with the situation either.
With regards to you stating that India can go either way, well that is easier said than done one you have invested in something....US weaponry is not cheap, it usually forms the mainstay of many countries using it and India would not be an exception...the US may pressurize India down the road since it will not dump Pakistan for India...it can drive mileage out of both so it would be a foolish thing to take sides with one only...so the US is gaining leverage in India and that cannot be denied. This is the way the puppeteer makes inroads.
As regards to US weaponry, we are developing our own weaponry with Russia and Israel. I dont need to give you examples, you already know them. We also have Israel, Ru, for our main needs. US stuff is only the force multiplier stuff. That too we will co-develoop with Ru, or Israel in the future.
I told you earlier, India is a democracy, parties like the left wont let India be tied to the US. They will raise hell in India. India is not dependent on 1 man like Manmohan that if he feels, India has to do whatever US says. There is a very comprehensive system.
Oh also , your statement that how would we feel if our 200 planes were grounded?
Well, 2 things:
1. There are gonna be most certainly 2 types of plane ordered.
MiG 35 + F/A-18E/F OR Rafale. So only a part of the fleet is american.
2. That is why all the concerned parties are offering us ToT. We dont buy without ToT unless in very exceptional cases. And atleast in teh MRCA deal, there is ToT for all the above mentioned planes including the F-16's. So even if the US sanctions us, it does not matter. There is atleast this much foresight in teh Indian Govt that they are not taking any chances. What happened to the PAF fleet will not happen with the IAF. We will manufacture the plane as well as its compenents ourselves.
Also, just to allay such fears of what happened with Pakistan in the Indian govt, the US, is constantly giving statements that it will be a reilable and stable arms partner for India. Their ambassador giving statements that the US will be a partner in the long run, just to allay these very specific fears. Mind you this is all apart from the ToT dealings.
This is also apart from the offset policy that all the companies involved are only too happy to participate in. This way 30% of whatever we buy comes back in the Indian economy and there is high defence technology in the civilian sector.
Indeed, Boeing has already stated its plans to build an MRO facility in Nagpur for ENTIRE ASIA. All the Boeing planes will come here.
