F-15EX at $80 million a pop, Will Lockheed bring F-35A for the kill in India?
SOURCE: SATYAJEET KUMAR/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG
India’s MMRCA Circus just continues to get new candidates after American Aerospace major Boeing decided to offer it’s F-15EX to India, which makes it third American jet to enter the race after rebadged F-16 aka F-21 and F-18E/F. What prompted Boeing to bring another one of its legacy platforms to India is still a mystery since logically it makes no sense for India to procure another Heavy Category aircraft like F-15EX when we already have difficulty maintaining our Su-30s fleet.
At the time when the cost of 5th Generation fighter jets like F-35A is falling each year, it is interesting to realize that F-15EX cost is same as F-35A now but due to the slow production line and high technology issues still plaguing F-35 program, USAF has decided to go ahead and procure 144 F-15s at it latest avatar to complement its F-35 fleet this is what has been told to their local media but is this the actual reason behind recent orders?
US media reports hints that local politics might have to do something with the recent orders as USAF just announced that nearly 300 F-16 and over 300 F-15 fleets will serve it at least till 2050 and beyond. Both legacy jets which are getting replaced by F-35A and in future with a 6th Generation fighter jet will largely be used to guard airspace at home which is were least of war is expected. These legacy jets will keep flying not due to their modernization and upgradation with the latest technology but due to local politicians who want to keep local jobs intact at their supply ecosystem which are outsourced to various small companies that rely on this fighter jets for their operations.
Coming back to India, These legacy jets have failed in previous technical rounds and no matter what 5th Generation technology American put inside them, this jets are simply way to old and are on the last leg of production even though they will continue to be in operations for next 30+ years, we should not fall for this marketing gimmicks and should be choosey about what we purchase today and how it will remain technologically relevant for next 40-50 years.
If Uncle Sam continues to insists that they should be rewarded with a fighter jet deal for whatever political and strategical reasons and it better be a 5th generation platform then procure legacy jets like F-21, F-18 or F-15EX.
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