The companies intend to move their production facilities to India. Lockheed may relocate its entire F-16 assembly line, moving manufacturing from Texas to India.While the F-16 has been produced in other countries through joint ventures before, this could be the first time that the entire assembly line has been moved abroad.The F-16 will be produced “exclusively” in India.Furthermore, in addition to to manufacturing and exporting U.S. fighter aircraft, India will also be involved in supporting thousands of F-16s operating worldwide.Having strengthened cooperation with the Indian military in recent years, these deals have the full support of the Obama administration.“Between discussion in working groups and the growing presence of US defense industry in India, we are optimistic about the future of co-developing and co-producing defense systems,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said during her visit to New Delhi in August.
Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter will head to India this week, where procurement will likely be discussed further.The deals are expected to boost the “Made in India” initiative at a time when President-elect Donald Trump is fighting to “make America great again” and keep jobs in the U.S.The deal with Lockheed could create 1,000 new jobs for India.“The U.S. is going to substantially reduce taxes and regulations on businesses, but any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S. without retribution or consequence, is WRONG!” Trump tweeted Sunday.“Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake! THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS,” he concluded.On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly criticized foreign countries for stealing U.S. jobs.Lockheed asserts that the deal with India will not cost U.S. jobs.“It doesn’t take jobs away from the U.S., it extends existing jobs, and not just for Fort Worth but for many other companies around the U.S. that build parts for the F-16,” Randy Howard, the director of business development for Lockheed’s integrated fighter group, told the Washington Post.The U.S. is phasing out the F-16 for the F-35. Around 300 mechanics at Fort Worth will be transferred to F-35 assembly line, and other Lockheed employees will be given the opportunity to apply for new jobs affiliated with the company’s newer programs.While it is considered outdated in the U.S., the F-16 is still one of the most widely used aircraft in the world today.
TRUMP TRANSITION
Make India great again? Fighter jet giants look to move production to India
Cody Derespina
By Cody Derespina Published December 08, 2016 FoxNews.com
An F-16 sits on the runway at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson in 2015. (AP)
Donald Trump may meet his match when he goes toe-to-toe with another world leader who’s showing prowess at strong-arming American companies into helping make his country great again.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing are the two major companies involved in discussions to build fighter aircraft production plants in India as part of that country’s “Make in India” initiative, which is essentially a mirror-image of President-elect Trump’s aggressive desire to keep manufacturing jobs within the United States. Trump has made retaining blue-collar jobs a post-election priority, and he’s already had a high-profile success in preventing the loss of several hundred jobs at Indiana’s Carrier plant.
“The U.S. is going to substantially reduce taxes and regulations on businesses, but any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S. without retribution or consequences, is WRONG!” Trump said in a series of Sunday tweets.
BUDGET CUTS LEAVE MARINE CORPS AIRCRAFT GROUNDED
Trump earlier this week also showed a willingness to go after jet maker Boeing, in particular, when he publicly sparred with the company over the cost of a new Air Force One fleet.
The “Make in India” program, which is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to eventually increase the country’s manufacturing base to a quarter of the gross domestic product. So when the Indian government required new jets to replace its aging fleet, any corporation that wanted to be involved knew the planes – an F-16 by Lockheed or F/A-18 by Boeing – would have to be built in India.
“But this is not oursourcing socks here, this is outsourcing military fighter jets,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice.
Sekulow’s group has already started a “Petition to Stop Giving Control of our Fighter Jets to Foreign Nations,” and he plans to deliver the demand to Congress later this week.Sekulow told FoxNews.com his office has already received calls from Lockheed workers in Fort Worth who’ve said they’re being given notice, offered severance packages or told they can apply to work on the F-35 program – though, with no guarantee of being accepted.
A Lockheed spokesperson, however, told FoxNews.com the Fort Worth plant was ramping down production anyway as the U.S. Air Force moved on from the antiquated F-16 and switched to the newer F-35 jet.
“So if you look at the big picture here, thousands of jobs have already gone away as we close out the building of F-16s. That’s a given at this point; there’s nothing we can do to change this,” said Randy Howard, the director of business development for Lockheed’s integrated fighter group. “So what our offer does is seek to mediate that. To remedy that. To bring back those jobs as much as possible. It adds jobs in India, but it also brings back jobs in Fort Worth and across the U.S.”
Howard said opening up a plant in India would actually reinstate about 500 Lockheed staff positions that support F-16 production, “predominantly” in the United States. He also guaranteed “all F-16 workers will have a job available to them on the F-35 production line.”
Boeing, too, told FoxNews.com that it’s F/A-18 production line in St. Louis “continues to have a solid future.”
“Our proposal to meet the needs of the Indian Air Force’s fighter requirements entails creating a separate new Super Hornet production facility in India where Boeing has had a presence for more than seven decades,” Boeing said in a statement. “We’re optimistic about the opportunity to continue our work in St. Louis and add a new production line in India which would also create more opportunities for our entire Super Hornet supply chain.”
The “Make in India” program is supported by President Obama’s outgoing administration, which is looking to strengthen ties with India. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on Thursday visited India and an official statement said the two countries’ continued cooperation “will strengthen India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.” A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment more specifically on the program.
Sekulow, who said he was first alerted to the India news by former military officers who are a part of his group’s national security team, said he was all for increasing trade and relations with India, but that military manufacturing was a step too far.
“President [Obama] is not very good with lines in the sand,” Sekulow said. “But here’s one he should draw.”
The forum really needs a banging-head emoticon.
India is aiming big, with US trying to reduce its presence, the time has come for India to take some responsibility.Viv S wrote:So..
1. the IAF is looking for a single engined Western fighter, while
2. the Navy wants another three squadrons of ski-jump launched fighters for the INS Vikrant, and
3. the Navy also needs a catapult launched type that will be in production in the 2030-35 time-frame for the INS Vishal.
The forum really needs a banging-head emoticon.
ragupta wrote: India is aiming big, with US trying to reduce its presence, the time has come for India to take some responsibility.
In next 5 years.
1. F-16
2. F-35
3. F-18
1 & 3 India production, later 2. work sharing 30-50% . "That the way aa ha aa ha, I like it aa ha aa ha..."
Just like christian / maoist terrorism supporter evangelists have retaliated by sabotaging ATMsATMs run into legal hurdle
— By FPJ Bureau | Nov 12, 2016 07:45 am
New Delhi : Banks may not be able to restart their automated teller machines (ATMs) any time soon because of a legal hurdle created by an American company withdrawing its software licence to a private Indian company servicing over 40,000 ATMs for more than 30 leading public and private banks across India and warning banks not to use its software.
A realisation dawned on the Finance Ministry only on Friday when the ATMs did not start functioning as announced by Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday and the banks expressed its helplessness without recalibration of the machines and the software changes to allow dispensation of the new Rs 2,000 notes.
The Chennai-based Financial Software and Systems Private Limited (FSS) that was managing these ATMs through its own network of highly professional partners and vendors did not respond to the banks’ calls for recalibrating them in view of losing the licence it had from ACI Worldwide Inc. since 2001.
The 1975-incorporated ACI Worldwide, a payment systems company headquartered in Naples, Florida, providing electronic payment softwares, on Friday issued a public notice in newspapers through its Mumbai-based general manager for Middle East, Africa and South Asia, that it has terminated agreement with FSS with effect from November 1, 2016 and as such the banks cannot operate the FSSNet platform using its software products.
Warning that the banks and institutions taking the services from FSS to migrate from FSSNet platform, the notice says they will be infringing intellectual property rights and proprietary rights if the ACI’s soft products are used and ACI reserves its right to initiate appropriate legal action against such infringement.
The notice says the ACI issued a notice to FSS on August 02, 2016 to cure all breaches of its obligations under the agreement by September 01, 2016, failing which the agreement was to be terminated from November 1, 2016. Instead, FSS communicated on September 01, 2016 that it is not in breach of the agreement. “Since the breaches of the agreement were not cured by FSS, the agreement has been terminated with effect from September 01, 2016,” the notice added.
This explains failure of the RBI’s announcement Tuesday night that recalibration of the ATMs may take a while and that “once the ATMs are functional, you can withdraw from ATMs up to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per card per day up to 18 November, 2016 and the limit will be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from 19 November 2016 onwards.”
LOGISTICS: Both bankers and ATM service providers cite two major issues of logistic and quantum of money. They say the Rs 100 notes are in short supply and hence ATMs dispensing them are bound to run out of cash. The bankers are quite frank that it will take a couple of weeks for the dust to settle before cash withdrawals from ATMs become smooth as the ATMs are bound to run out of cash due to high demand and short supply of the notes.
Each ATM machine has only 3-4 cassettes that can hold cash in it to dispense. Each cassette has to be configured to dispense a particular value. So far, all ATMs were configured for Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes. Official of a company (not FSS) that also manages the ATMs said: “Every ATM has ‘cassettes’ which can hold a particular denomination. To be able to provide Rs 2,000 denomination notes, the cassettes have to be configured, which will take time.” His company is trying to configure one cassette for Rs 50 notes, the software for which is available with it unlike the Rs 2,000 cassettes to be designed and then configures.
There are already existing threads on the forum where you can continue to expound/pontificate/fulminate on the issue to your heart's content while still remaining on topic. As for the rest i.e the (phantom) strategic implication of the news article, basic reading comprehensionManish_Sharma wrote:Yes you would like such news being suppressed, the west their media,presstitutes & evangelists have been against DeMo move and they are now using this company to sabotage it.
Trump says F-35 program cost ‘out of control’, wants to save ‘billions of dollars’
Published time: 12 Dec, 2016 13:33
The latest target of President-elect Donald Trump’s criticism is the Joint Strike Fighter program. He tweeted that, under his administration, the US military will end the overspending and save billions of dollars.
"The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th," he wrote.
The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th.
6:56 PM - 12 Dec 2016
14,335 14,335 Retweets 50,141 50,141 likes
Trump’s tweet followed similar criticism he voiced in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
"It's out of control. And the people that are making these deals for the government, they should never be allowed to go to work for these companies. You know, they make a deal like that and two or three years later, you see them working for these companies that made the deal," the president-elect said.
After the Monday tweet, shares of Lockheed Martin Corp. dropped 2.7% in premarket trade.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II was chosen as a unified aircraft platform for the US Army, Navy, and Air Force under the Joint Strike Fighter program, but the vision for a multipurpose jet is still under development.
The program is notorious for delays and running far over its initial cost estimate. Moreover, engineers have yet to deal with software glitches and compatibility issues, while the actual performance of the pricey plane is subject to debate.
READ MORE: Pentagon prepares ‘misleading’ response to Senate’s F-35 concerns
Responding to the criticism, Lockheed Martin said it had invested heavily into pushing down the price of F-35s.
"Since the beginning, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce the price of the airplane by about 70 percent since its original costing, and we project it to be about $85 million in the 2019 or 2020 time frame," said Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin's F-35 program leader.
Babione was speaking in Israel, which has received the first batch of F-35s ordered by the country’s air force.
READ MORE: Trump tweet sends Boeing stock into tailspin
Trump already sent the stock price of one aviation giant into a tailspin by tweeting out criticism of Boeing for running over cost in developing the new Air Force One, which will be the plane of future presidents.
PS:If Pakistan can produce 16 fighters /yr raising it to 24,why can't HAL,far older than the Paki entity do likewise?http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/confirme ... hter-jets/.
Confirmed: Pakistan Air Force now Operates 70 JF-17 Fighter Jets
The new number was released by Pakistan’s National Assembly in early December.
By Franz-Stefan Gady
December 13, 2016
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) operates a total of 70 Pakistan Aeronautical Complex/Chengdu Aerospace Corporation (PAC/CAC) JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defense Production revealed in Islamabad on December 7, according to local media reports.
The PAF now fields about an equal number of JF-17 and U.S.-made F-16 multirole fighter aircraft of all variants. (After U.S. lawmakers stalled financing for an additional eight F-16C/D Block-52 fighter aircraft, Pakistan is now mulling the purchase of eight used F-16s from the Royal Jordanian Air Force.)
The JF-17, first inducted into the PAF in 2011, is a lightweight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft, powered by a Russian-designed-but-Chinese-built Klimov RD-93 (a RD-33 derivative) turbofan, capable of reaching a top speed of Mach 1.6. The aircraft allegedly has an operational range of around 1,200 kilometers (745 miles).
In total, the PAF plans to acquire 150 JF-17s over the next years divided into three production blocks: Block-I, Block II, and Block-III. So far, the PAF has only received Block-I and Block-II variants of the aircraft. 50 out of the 70 JF-17 in service are of the Block-I variant. The PAF last inducted 16 Block-II JF-17s in April.
As I noted elsewhere, according to the chief of air staff, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, Pakistan achieved its goal of producing 16 JF-17 Thunder aircraft in 2015 and wants to produce a total number of 24 Block-II JF-17 aircraft by the end of 2016. Next to carrying a heavier weapons payload, Block-II variants feature a new air-to-air refueling probe, an enhanced oxygen system, and an improved electronic countermeasures system, among other things.
Pakistan produces 58 percent of the airframe and China 42 percent respectively. Islamabad has the capacity to assemble up to 25 JF-17s per year without Beijing’s technical assistance. However, as I noted in April 2015, according to Chinese and Pakistani media reports, China agreed to deliver 110 JF-17s to Pakistan in fly-away condition due to Pakistan’s still limited aircraft manufacturing capacity.
The JF-17 was originally developed to to replace the PAF’s aging fleet of Dassault Mirage III/5 fighter jets by 2o20. “Pakistan is looking to replace 190 aircraft—primarily Chengdu F-7 and Dassault Mirage III/5 fighter jets—by 2020 presumably with a mixture of F-16 and JF-17 aircraft. Pakistan, however, is also allegedly in talks with Russia over the purchase of Su-35 multi-role fighters,” I reported in April (See: “China and Pakistan Air Forces Launch Joint Training Exercise”).
China and Pakistan are also developing a combat-capable two-seat trainer variant of the JF-17, which likely will make its maiden flight in the coming weeks.
The PAF inducting a 47 year old hag.. is a disaster for India. How does that work?Philip wrote:Pak may get from Russia cutting edge SU-35s.What a disaster that would be for India.
How about pushing the Su-35 and MiG-35 as being more or equally as advanced than the F-22 because clearly the F-22 came out earlier and was based on a prototype that had its design freeze in the late 1980s much like your "original Su-35".. .Its first SU-35S flight was on Feb 19th 2008.The original SU-35 frist flew in 1988,that is 28 yrs ago.
The Su-35 is an evolved Su-27. Just FYI.Philip wrote:The SU-35 a 47 yr old hag? Its first SU-35S flight was on Feb 19th 2008.
The 'original' Su-35 was originally designated as the Su-27M.The original SU-35 frist flew in 1988,that is 28 yrs ago.
1. The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex where the JF-17 is assembled is owned 100% by the Pakistan Air Force i.e. an inhouse production and maintenance complex owned and controlled by the Pakistan Air Force. In contrast HAL is a fiefdom in itself, the MOD is a separate entity, ADA is something else. And none of these organizations work together. So the IAF has given up and wants imported fighters and frankly I do not blame them. All the IAF bashing seen here would be justified if they also owned HAL 100% and still wanted imported fighters.Philip wrote:PS:If Pakistan can produce 16 fighters /yr raising it to 24,why can't HAL,far older than the Paki entity do likewise?
Why should there be a dogma as to whether an Air Force owns or does not own it's own production and design. I think we in India have been held hostage for far too long about copying structures, governance, etc. of other countries. For the PAF, the ownership structure works in that it has allowed them to essentially licence manufacture the JF-17 to produce a cheap workhorse. India should likewise develop it's own structures which are suitable for India.Indranil wrote:Apart from the PAF, can you name another sizeable airforce which owns the production and design agencies?
Can't disagree that that's how IAF and DRDO/HAL think in terms of black and white territorial boundaries. But that's wrong.Indranil wrote:It is not about following dogmas. It is about whose business is what. IAF's business is to defend the nation, not run a business of manufacturing aircraft. Similar to how it should not be in the business of developing radars, missiles, trucks, guns, uniforms, rations and other thing that they use. It is the nation's job to provide them so.
If we buy a squadron or two of each (F-16, F-18, Eurofighter, Paper-NG) that would make everyone happy no?Authoritative French sources told this writer recently in Paris that Dassault, with French Government support, was going to send a proposal to India for Rafale’s production under Make in India. No details were given but a source said “we are aware” of both the IAF and Navy requirements, pointing out that Rafale was designed from the beginning as a naval fighter and accordingly should be acceptable to both the forces. It may be noted that it is difficult to transition from an air force version to a heavier, and strengthened, naval version for a fighter, but easier in technology in the reverse.
The IAF has always operated a variety of combat aircraft. Adding more to the mix, should not make it any more difficult.It takes decades for the DFM to be in sync with the mfg capabilitiesRishi Verma wrote:
DR&DO as the name suggests are happily persuing R&D without a thought given to design-for-manufacture which I know first hand. Given this, HAL can't do much and have no motivation to do much as far as annual rate of production.
Three entities are vectoring in their own directions instead of synergising in one forward direction.
Saab has pledged to support the development in India of a "future-ready aerospace ecosystem" if its Gripen E multirole combat aircraft is selected to meet an Indian Air Force (IAF) requirement for single-engine fighters.
In comments to IHS Jane's on 13 December, Jan Widerström, Saab India Technologies' chairman and managing director, confirmed that Saab recently responded to the Indian government's request for information to support the procurement programme.
Saab is understood to be challenging for the contract against Lockheed Martin, which is offering the latest version of its F-16 Fighting Falcon. The deal is framed around a requirement for localised production and could be worth about USD12 billion as the IAF looks to procure up to 150 aircraft to replace its ageing Russian MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighter aircraft.
Widerström said, "We formally responded to the Indian government in October, expressing our willingness to manufacture Gripen E in India, in line with the 'Make in India' vision. Our aim is to work closely with Indian industry to develop the world's most advanced fighter aircraft, and a complete future-ready aerospace ecosystem in India in the coming years."
Widerström explained that Saab's proposal includes the establishment in India of a modern facility that is fully capable of developing and producing advanced fighter aircraft.
"We have a blueprint for a comprehensive 'Make in India' programme for the Gripen E, which includes the setting up of a full manufacturing facility, at par with our Gripen E facility in Sweden," he said. "[It also includes] transfers of technology, the setting up of an aerospace ecosystem, the development of a local supplier base, and employment of a well-trained workforce."
Widerström added, "We're not looking at this as component production or the transfer of an old assembly line. We will build a full spectrum of capabilities in India.
rkhanna wrote:"Make in India is good but it is good if it paves the way for creating a complete local (including IP) and competing product"
Reverse engineering is not a function of ability but a function of Testicular Fortitude of showing the middle finger to international convention.
En-mass poaching of the engineering teams will get you all the drawings you need. You need to think & act like a businessman and not be answerable to a hundred and one committees, RTI, trade unions and rajbhasha officer.Aditya_V wrote:Quite Frankly I have my doubts about this reverse Engineering thingie. For eg. Russia retires some SU-33 and immediately within a few weeks J-15 shows up. I don't think in high end engineering you get exact copies of the original. Its probably a lot of imports with local screwdrivergiri/ license manufacture which is getting passed of as Reverse Engineering for H&D purposes.
