India shifts arms strategy: Trump announces F‑35 sale
Donald Trump announced that the United States will significantly increase military equipment sales to India and pave the way for a contract regarding F-35 fighter jets for the country. India is the largest arms importer in the world, which for years has armed itself with Russian weapons and was until recently mentioned among potential buyers of Su-57 fighters.
The announcement was made at the White House, where on Thursday, February 13, the US President met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
– Starting this year, we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We are also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F35, Stealth fighters, – said Donald Trump.
Donald Trump promises F-35 for India?
Interestingly, it was in India, at the Aero India 2025 show, that the first interaction of the F-35 fighter with the Russian Su-57 took place. Moscow has been proposing this machine to many countries for years, including India, which after initial interest, decided to withdraw from acquiring the Su-57. Ultimately, the first foreign user of these fighters will be Algeria, but there was speculation that during Aero India 2025, the Russian delegation would make another offer to India.
Donald Trump stated that he has fantastic relations with Prime Minister Modi and asserted that India was treated poorly by Joe Biden. Although India is the largest buyer of Russian arms and a member of BRICS, the American president is not afraid of strong words. Numerous decisions made by the Indian authorities in recent years may support this, confirming that contacts with the West are increasingly desirable. India is gradually moving away from Russian weapons and focusing on its own industry or contracts with France (Rafale aircraft), Germany (joint construction of submarines), or the United States. From the latter, it would like, among other things, permission to produce Stryker armoured vehicles in India.
Donald Trump fights for a big market
"If the US is willing to offer (as per Trump), one school of thought is that IAF should acquire two squadrons of F-35A," was assessed in a publication on The Eurasian Times portal.
The F-35A is one of three main variants of this American fighter, featuring conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) capabilities. It is a fifth-generation fighter jet, designed using stealth technology (low observability). This is precisely what the Indian armed forces are interested in, and concerns over stealth technology led to rejecting the Russian Su-57, which, contrary to claims, may have difficulties avoiding radar detection.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, over the past two decades, Russia accounted for about 65% of the weapons India purchased for its army, earning approximately 60 billion USD (85 billion CAD) from this. It is estimated that in the coming decade, India could spend as much as 100 billion USD (141) billion CAD on further military equipment orders.
