The FGFA deal is facing flak in the media ,etc. becos of the Rafale lobby,French DM due to visit shortly.Timing of these reports not coincidental! The French are desperate (and their desi partners) as the SE deal is ahead in the order of Biz.The French ,US,Russians and Swedes are in a WWW style "king of the ring" slugfest.The FGFA deal is linked with so many other critical deals with RU,frigates (slow blg time in our yards,latest P-28 4 years late for example) urgently reqd.,S-400s to deal with Sino-Pak BMos,LUHs also reqd. sev.yrs ago-and the KA-226 won a fair fight against the Fennec please note; plus Akula subs,N-sub tech for our SSBNs,BMos etc.,etc.,that cancelling it would endanger the entire defence relationship with Russia.Therefore unlikely that the JV will be cancelled,modified perhaps.
Has any IAF team been given an F-35 demo or shown its RCS data? Has the same been shown for the SU-57 when the deal has yet to be sealed? The last official report was that all tech parameters had been agreed upon.2 conflicting reports (media) are supposedly with the GOI.
If we could compromise with the Rafale deal at such exorbitant costs where there were no other critical deals in the offing with France,dumping the FGFA deal-a critical req for the IAF post 2020+ endangering the aforementioned menu items already ordered would be catastrophic.
The JSF has never been offered and in any case first priorities are to US allies and partners who've invested in the bird.It is also v.v.expensive and would beggar the IN.What's the point of EMALS if you have the F-35B? The US is clearly pushing the IN for an EMALS CV with F-18s for interoperability in its grand scheme of things,making the IN its willing member of the anti-China posse.US carrier aircraft could then seamlessly operate from our CV's deck in any crisis.F-16s for the IAF and F-18s for the IN.Grand "back to the future" strategy what?!
There is precious little moolah in the kitty for all the goodies that the IAF want.Prioritising its needs budget wise is what is reqd.Some IAF sr. brass have said so in various reports.My gut feeling is that the FGFA and Rafales decisions will be pushed back until the SE deal is sealed.A smaller bill for the GOI, big boast of indigenous manufacture and collaboration on LCA dev.,AMCA tech transfer/assistance (v.possible bonus for the winner) assured,and a good electoral point to make compared with the UPA paralytic DM,PM,et al. The Rafale team want some toes in the door before the SE deal is sealed.
Just for the record,ck the WSJ for a fine report on the USN trying without much success
to hunt the Ru Krasnodar in the Meditt v.recently.The sub,a new RU Kilo-2 fired its Kalibir missiles against ISIS evading USN detection.A good piece on how RU subs are v.difficult to find.