Article Summary: India’s interest in modern fighter jets has sparked debate over whether the F-35 is a viable option. While technologically advanced, the F-35 faces several challenges for the Indian Air Force (IAF). High costs, poor mission readiness rates, and compatibility issues with India’s existing air-defense systems make integration difficult.
Key Point #1 – Analysts argue that despite its capabilities, the F-35 is not suited for India’s diverse military infrastructure. Instead, India is revisiting older fighter options in its new procurement tender.
Key Point #2 – Given the complexities of interoperability and logistics, the IAF is unlikely to select the F-35, focusing instead on fighters better suited to its needs.
Why the F-35 Isn’t the Right Fighter for India’s Air Force
A long-time colleague in New Delhi was asked a few years ago about the efficacy of the F-35 for the Indian Air Force (IAF). The country had just been through the Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) fighter tender, which had run for seven years without satisfactory conclusion.
The competition was supposed to select a supplier to set up a production line in India to build more than 108 new fighters—plus the engines, radars, and other components—but it ended in a non-decision. The IAF ended up procuring 36 Dassault Rafale aircraft from France and spent $9 billion of the original $10.5 billion budget in the process.
Today, all of the companies that participated in the original M-MRCA tender are back for a second try at the tender, along with other companies.
The usual suspects include the U.S. (F-16/21 and F/A-18E/F), France (Rafale), Eurofighter (Typhoon), Sweden (JAS-39E/F), and Russia (MiG-35 and Su-35). But some analysts have asked why India does not consider the F-35. The other aircraft in this competition are all designs from the 1970s and 1980s.
By the time India comes to a decision, and a production line is established in Bangalore, the calendar might read well past 2030. So, why not go for an aircraft that was actually designed for the 21st century?
F-35: The Cost is Too High
The answer comes from one of India’s most knowledgeable and well-known combat aviation writers, Angad Singh.
Writing several years ago in the Hindustan Times, Singh recalled the history of the past few years. He described how “daydreaming by the air force has made manufacturer Lockheed Martin claim again that the F-35 is available to India, contrary to facts reinforced by official U.S. government denials. This begs three questions: What are the operational impediments of the F-35? What are the associated costs? and what are the political sensitivities?”
Although his article is a few years old, almost all recent commentary on the subject has reached the same conclusion: The F-35 is not the aircraft for India.
Just a few days ago, another Indian defense commentator, Tathagata Bhattacharya, pointed to the annual report by the Pentagon’s Director Operational Test and Evaluation office that was released in early 2024. That report “showed that the 628 F-35s in the USAF inventory had a fleet-wide full mission capable rate of only 30% as of end-2023. The benchmark full-mission availability rate for any credible air force is at least 65%”
“The report also found that F-35s broke down very often,” he continues, “with repair taking an average of 141 days to return an aircraft to duty. Critical failure rate, which grounds aircraft so as to not endanger pilot safety, was more than double of that anticipated.”
Bhattacharya also repeats the comments of Elon Musk, who called the program a “flop”, its contractor Lockheed Martin “idiots”, and added that it’s “the worst military value for money in history”.
Imagine an iPhone
Perhaps a greater concern is the F-35’s compatibility with India’s air-defense networks, other fighter aircraft, and industrial infrastructure.
An analogy is the latest iPhone, wrote Singh. “It’s got great call quality, stunning visuals, excellent camera, but imagine if it couldn’t interface with Gmail, Twitter, Paytm, Uber, or connect to Wi-Fi or 4G. In the F-35’s case not only is it unable to refuel from our current generation of tanker aircraft, it also cannot interface with India’s Integrated Air Command & Control System (IACCS) comprising ground and airborne radars, with customized data- links.”
His argument is long and very detailed, and still entirely valid—perhaps even more so with the lessons learned from the Ukraine war. His overall conclusion is the F-35 is a brilliant plane. However, it is not a platform that fits with India’s defense infrastructure and its diverse weapon systems and sensor networks.
F-35: A Photo Essay
F-35 CF-1 Flt 453 piloted by Lockheed Martin test pilot Mr. Dan Canin flies with external GBU-31 weapons for the first time on an F-35, the test was flown from NAS Patuxent River, MD on 5 Aug 2016
South Korean F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
A U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II flies over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, July 15, 2020. The F-35 Lightning II is an agile, versatile, high-performance, multirole fighter that combines stealth, sensor fusion and unprecedented situational awareness. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Duncan C. Bevan)
For the first time in Eglin’s air space, instructor pilot U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Smith, 33rd operations support squadron commander, navigates an F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter from the 58th Fighter Squadron, 33rd Fighter Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla. toward an Air Force Reserve KC-135R Stratotanker from the 336th Air Refueling Squadron, March ARB, Calif., May 13, 2013. Smith, an Air Force F-35 instructor pilots at the 33rd Fighter Wing trained with others to qualify in aerial refueling for the joint strike fighter. His success will add another capability for student pilot training to the F-35 Integrated Training Center here. The 33rd FW is responsible for F-35 A/B/C Lightning II pilot and maintainer training for the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force and, in the future, at least eight coalition partners. Initially, 59 aircraft and three flying squadrons, one for each service/aircraft variant, will be established at Eglin. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. John R. Nimmo, Sr./Released)
For the first time in Eglin’s air space, U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II pilots navigate their aircraft toward an Air Force Reserve KC-135R Stratotanker from the 336th Air Refueling Squadron, March ARB, Calif., May 13, 2013. The initial cadre of Air Force F-35 instructor pilots at the 33rd Fighter Wing trained with others to qualify in aerial refueling for the joint strike fighter. Their success will add another capability for student pilot training to the F-35 Integrated Training Center here. The 33rd FW is responsible for F-35 A/B/C Lightning II pilot and maintainer training for the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force and, in the future, at least eight coalition partners. Initially, 59 aircraft and three flying squadrons, one for each service/aircraft variant, will be established at Eglin. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. John R. Nimmo, Sr./Released)
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Zackery Hendrix, 33rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, directs a pilot to the runway at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, July 30, 2020. Crew chiefs ensure the aircraft is ready to fly at a moment’s notice so pilots can safely and effectively complete their mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Heather Leveille)
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is now an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
