India Needs F-35 Now to Counter China's J-20 Threat Until AMCA is Ready, Urges Former Air Marshal

Former Indian Air Force (IAF) officer Air Marshal Anil Chopra has made a strong case for India to acquire the F-35 stealth fighter jet as a crucial interim solution to counter China's growing air power, particularly the rapid deployment of its J-20 fighters.

In a recent interview, Chopra emphasized the urgency of the situation, pointing to China's plans to have 1,000 J-20s operational by 2035. While he acknowledged the significance of India's indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program, he stressed the need for a stopgap measure until the AMCA becomes a reality. Chopra even advocated for direct Prime Minister's Office oversight of the AMCA program to ensure its timely development.

According to Chopra, the F-35 is the most viable option for India to bridge this capability gap. The positive feedback from IAF pilots who examined the aircraft at Aero India 2023 and a seemingly more receptive stance from the Pentagon suggest that the US may be open to selling the F-35 to India.

Chopra urged India to consider pursuing this option as soon as possible, even though no formal request has been made. He highlighted the F-35's advanced capabilities, including stealth technology and long-range strike capabilities, which would give India a significant advantage over its adversaries.

Beyond bolstering India's air power, acquiring the F-35 would strengthen its strategic partnership with the United States and serve as a deterrent to potential adversaries in the region.

However, Chopra acknowledged the challenges associated with buying American fighter jets, including logistical complexities due to India's existing reliance on Russian jets and potential US reluctance to share cutting-edge technology.

Chopra also highlighted concerns about India's outdated fighter jet squadrons and the urgency to address the gap in air defence capabilities. He acknowledged that acquiring American fighter jets is a temporary solution, and India must prioritize long-term investments in research and development to achieve self-reliance in critical defense technologies.

 

[Mandar Sawant]

They have much more urgent and huge requirements of armata tanks for the war and still havent sorted that out yet! I feel if we have to gamble on russians sorting out the supply chain issues in 6 years and produce su57s in large numbers. I would rather bet on south korea getting their near stealth aircraft out.

If thats true then i fear we have no other option left china has us by the balls they might have succesful infiltrated hal and drdo and purposefully delaying amca and tejas mk2 only option left is buy rafale

 

[Akshat]

That was Taiwan this is India, and please don't tell me that the French can deliver make in India Rafales before 2035...Whatever we end up with is not coming before 2032-2025, unless someone can give us fly by jets...

Those jets were made in US. And they won’t be coming till 2027. India will be even lower on priority list as US has a written law that states that US should provide them with weapons to defend against China. If they can’t get it then we can’t either.

Moreover, do remember that nothing called F21 is flying today. So when we do sign the order, we will be asked to pay up, then a prototype will be manufactured and tested, then they will create a facility to make it and then deliver it. So no planes can come at least for 8-10 years. Not even in fly away conditions.
As for Rafale, we can get ready to fly planes in 3 years flat. That will anyways be what we will get for the first 15%. Then the remaining will start after 5 years from contract signing. Made in India. So assuming we sign the deal today, no F21 till at least 2031. Rafale though will come in 2027, with made in India Rafale by 2029.

 

[ConcernedCitizen]

If thats true then i fear we have no other option left china has us by the balls they might have succesful infiltrated hal and drdo and purposefully delaying amca and tejas mk2 only option left is buy rafale

Not necessarily! I think there are always more solutions than problems. Maybe make a tejas mk1b which has everything same as tejas mk1a except for stealth airframe. Sort of like f117 night hawk (i believe skunk works make it in a year by pretty much just modifying the airframe of a f16). Or we can use hlft42 airframe with al31 engines(independent supply chain from ge 404 or 414s) and enough frontal stealth that they can get close enough to chinese defense headqurters or supply nodes to launch hypersonic missiles from. Or use the burgeoning private space industry to produce monstrous amounts of rockets. Ultimately we need enough hard power to deter a war! Perhaps this crunch is a good thing which forces all the stakeholders to get their heads out of the clouds and think of practical solutions that we can sustainable produce and field. Of course there is always outright purchase or f35s ( i think when push comes to shove even US wouldnt want us to caputulate to the chinese and make political concessions)

 

[Blr-tstr]

Folks here are talking about the need to get 5th generation because pakistan might acquire it. Then what about the threat posed by China which already possess it ? Every one forgets it conveniently. If we can fight off china threat using Rafael then we can fight off their export variant using the same.

AMCA is the priority and only thing the import army is going to get. Arms lobby can forget about it.

 

[desigandu]

Those jets were made in US. And they won’t be coming till 2027. India will be even lower on priority list as US has a written law that states that US should provide them with weapons to defend against China. If they can’t get it then we can’t either.

Moreover, do remember that nothing called F21 is flying today. So when we do sign the order, we will be asked to pay up, then a prototype will be manufactured and tested, then they will create a facility to make it and then deliver it. So no planes can come at least for 8-10 years. Not even in fly away conditions.
As for Rafale, we can get ready to fly planes in 3 years flat. That will anyways be what we will get for the first 15%. Then the remaining will start after 5 years from contract signing. Made in India. So assuming we sign the deal today, no F21 till at least 2031. Rafale though will come in 2027, with made in India Rafale by 2029.

there is some logic to what you say, but given Dassault backlogs there is no way it can deliver Rafales to India by 2027 (fly away) and 2029 (made in India) - impossible...

Hope I am wrong but unlikely...Also the big question is Rafales total cost, local ecosystem, TOT etc - very complicated...

Let us wait and see what happens...

 

[Bharat007]

I think Bharat should formally behind closed doors engage with the US to get at least 50 F-35s, in fly a way condition before 2030 and work with them in conditions needed for the same. We can isolate these planes from S-400s and also keep them in place to counter China primarily, while accelerating AMCA which is unlikely to come in before 2035, and Tejas Mk-2, which is also likely only by 2030 - leaving large gaps for IAF.

If we either cancel MRFA and repurpose that for F-35s in a G2G, or do both Rafales (only if the french make it in India with substantial TOT and local supplier ecosystem at a reasonable cost) as planned but also F-35s, which may get expensive with a spend of say $50B over 10 years, doable but expensive. Leasing say 25 F-35 jets for 10 years before AMCA arrives could also be an option. Buying F-35s with spares, training, weapons, maintenance could be $250-300m per jet comparable to the Rafales, but of course more expensive to maintain and operate due to their advanced nature.

F-35s are the best stealth jets in the world (barring F-22, which are unavailable for exports) and already produced over 1000…Bharat is not Turkey and i think it is just a matter of time before we acquire the F-35s, as we don’t have my viable alternatives in the short term…

If so, then India will be compelled to sacrifice some policies in return.

* S400 will be gone
* India, either have to choose F16 @ F21 or F16.
* Might even ask India to shift away from NAM.
* Might even ask India to move away from Russia on some key issues.

 

[desigandu]

If so, then India will be compelled to sacrifice some policies in return.

* S400 will be gone
* India, either have to choose F16 @ F21 or F16.
* Might even ask India to shift away from NAM.
* Might even ask India to move away from Russia on some key issues.

Yes, those are the risks...So what do you suggest Bharat does??? Viable options only please...

 

[Bharat007]

Yes, those are the risks...So what do you suggest Bharat does??? Viable options only please...

I rest the case on GoI. We are caught between the devil and deep sea. Myself can do nothing except for giving opinions.

 

[sunilanalysis]

American harassment via freedom of expression would be equally worse as china and pak.

 

[NSR]

Get real and put your feet on ground.

USA will not sell its F35 until Russian S-400s are gone for good.
America is afraid of losing its secrets through S-400 radar scan data which would jeopardize their entire Airforce posture.
That is one of the reasons why USA kicked out Turkey from F35 program.

Buying Russian S57 will incur sanctions through the USA CAATSA legislation.

So India is between a rock and hard place.
India must develop its own 5th generation fighter at WARP speed.

 

[Sunny]

Su57 is not able to counter anything. IAF rejected it, remember? So did China. And even Russia cancelled most of the orders. Not worth the money.

Like I said last time, SU-57 is not the best option but the only possible option. And china is not the epitome of stealth, they only purchase if thet a chance to make illegal copies.

Can you give me an 5th gen option we can purchase immediately besides SU-57 and AMCA which will not be available for an decade.

 

[Sunny]

If we can get xrsam development completed, we can cancel the remaing 3 s400s on order and sell the 2 we have to belarus or some other 3rd country second hand. Maybe. I'm not sure of the nitty gritties

Yes something similar can be done.

 

[Bhupesh Desai]

Even the russians have only prouced 15 su57s so far. They seem to have some critical supply chain issues which i dont think tgey would solve any time soon. Particularly with the war going on!

Agreed but between India and Russia I think gap will be removed and it is still a good option.

 

[Sudha]

Yes, those are the risks...So what do you suggest Bharat does??? Viable options only please...

What you have suggested isn't a viable option. Didnt you learn any lessons from halting of F404 engine supply? One doesn't even what sacrifice Bharat had to do for the engines to be supplied. You are suggesting an option which will enable further blackmail from US.

 

[ConcernedCitizen]

Get real and put your feet on ground.

USA will not sell its F35 until Russian S-400s are gone for good.
America is afraid of losing its secrets through S-400 radar scan data which would jeopardize their entire Airforce posture.
That is one of the reasons why USA kicked out Turkey from F35 program.

Buying Russian S57 will incur sanctions through the USA CAATSA legislation.

So India is between a rock and hard place.
India must develop its own 5th generation fighter at WARP speed.

Maybe the IAF can start by defining what would the minimum value product for AMCA and then work out the other features in future tranches. Like RAM which can tolerate high temperatures for extended duration as expected in a plane with supercruise are harder to develop than ones that doesnt have to face it. So maybe tranche one need not have supercruise. Like this they can come up with a mvp for amca and work with industry to develop additional features in tranches, deadlines for this milestones and process through which these changes would then be incorporated into older models. Maybe there is a middle path if they put their minds together.

 

[Surendra Barsode]

India should NOT buy F 35 as they will come with many unfavorable conditions and they do not gel in IAFs overall structure. We should go slow but surely, on our own. We can deter China and Pakistan with what we have. There are ways to take care of so called 5th Gen fighters from China.

 

[Neel Martin]

This AM could be beneficiary of Sorros routed pecuniary , the sudden loud mouth even when USA dint even offer to India

 

[Tailless Baboon]

I feel the US will give us F35 only if we buy F15EX.
Also,won't transfer tech or source codes. Make it mandatory to not use them against Pakistan or Bangla Desh.

 

[bonito]

If so, then India will be compelled to sacrifice some policies in return.

* S400 will be gone
* India, either have to choose F16 @ F21 or F16.
* Might even ask India to shift away from NAM.
* Might even ask India to move away from Russia on some key issues.

By 2028 - 2029 we are anyways moving away from NAM. It is better we don't deliberate it and convey in clear terms now itself. The Axis and allies are already formulated. WW is inevitable by the end of this decade. NAM wouldn't work as the current world power doesn't want another polar to be born in earth.

 

[linus52]

I think Bharat should formally behind closed doors engage with the US to get at least 50 F-35s, in fly a way condition before 2030 and work with them in conditions needed for the same. We can isolate these planes from S-400s and also keep them in place to counter China primarily, while accelerating AMCA which is unlikely to come in before 2035, and Tejas Mk-2, which is also likely only by 2030 - leaving large gaps for IAF.

If we either cancel MRFA and repurpose that for F-35s in a G2G, or do both Rafales (only if the french make it in India with substantial TOT and local supplier ecosystem at a reasonable cost) as planned but also F-35s, which may get expensive with a spend of say $50B over 10 years, doable but expensive. Leasing say 25 F-35 jets for 10 years before AMCA arrives could also be an option. Buying F-35s with spares, training, weapons, maintenance could be $250-300m per jet comparable to the Rafales, but of course more expensive to maintain and operate due to their advanced nature.

F-35s are the best stealth jets in the world (barring F-22, which are unavailable for exports) and already produced over 1000…Bharat is not Turkey and i think it is just a matter of time before we acquire the F-35s, as we don’t have my viable alternatives in the short term…

Why Americans who have not supported us in past,? R U paid trumpeter of America? GE is screwing us on 414 jet engines, Helicopters are not delivered and do on

 

[linus52]

With infra for Rafale already built up and money spent at the two basis , 7 more squns of the aircraft need to be inducted for standardization and reducing the no of type aircraft .As an emergency purchase 4-6 Squns of F-35 A need to be acquired till AMCA is inducted post 2035.To keep the Russians happy the Mig -29 squns be replaced with 5 squns SU-57 M .The navy,s MIG -29 M be Transferred to the airforce and replaced with 45 f-35B.

Do not purchase anything American they back stab us at their choosing. Wake up make everything in India like China is doing

 

[ASHOK CARROL]

Sir, with all due respect, what we need is a more homogenous air force. This potpourri of aircraft types we have historically maintained has proven to be an exceptional headache, and is not something we can continue.

Coming to the geopolitical aspect, do you really think the Americans will sell us F-35s if we also go and buy Su-57s? Heck, would the Russians sell Su-57s if they see India buying F-35s as well?

You want both Russian and US aircraft? Fine. The best you can do in that is the F-16V and the Super Su-30MKI or something similar.

The Americans will sell though no technology transfer will be there . Indian aero space companies can however dovetail into the supply chains and spares , opening up of a MRO center for repairs and stocking of spares . The Russian militarily industrial complex aerospace will collapse unless India supports and buys the SU-57 M and SU-75 .

 

[Akshat]

Like I said last time, SU-57 is not the best option but the only possible option. And china is not the epitome of stealth, they only purchase if thet a chance to make illegal copies.

Can you give me an 5th gen option we can purchase immediately besides SU-57 and AMCA which will not be available for an decade.

My issue with your question is that Su57 itself is not a fifth gen option.

 

[Akshat]

there is some logic to what you say, but given Dassault backlogs there is no way it can deliver Rafales to India by 2027 (fly away) and 2029 (made in India) - impossible...

Hope I am wrong but unlikely...Also the big question is Rafales total cost, local ecosystem, TOT etc - very complicated...

Let us wait and see what happens...

It’s not only possible but highly probable. Calculate their production capacity and backlog. They will have spare production. Plus now even UAE has put their orders on hold due to arrest of Telegram CEO (who is a dual Dubai-French citizen). So they will have over 100 excess Rafales.

As for cost, whatever the cost is, it has proven twice that it is the cheapest plane that can meet our requirements.

 

[abhinav srivastava]

MRFA could be the fastest with domestic assembly if we decide on F-16V.

In 1990s, when we bought su30s. They were not cutting edge. Lots of modifications were done based on on IAFs inputs. SU30 thereafter became a cutting edge platform. Similarly Su57, is anyways technologically ahead than all jets offered in mrfa. Give inputs to Russia, ask them to improvise it. This year its production rate will be 16 per annum. It can increase further based on order numbers. It may not be as good as F35 but will be better than the Chineese ones.

 

[NSR]

We can isolate these planes from S-400s and also keep them in place to counter China primarily

S-400 and F35 will both face LAC and LoC to thwart the enemies.
Each S-400 scans 400kms radius half circles.
So 5 units together tracks most of the LAC and LoC.

Harebrained idea to say the least.

 

[Ranjeet Singh]

We must acquire F-35s and book orders for NGAD fighters !

 

[Anant]

The Americans will sell though no technology transfer will be there . Indian aero space companies can however dovetail into the supply chains and spares , opening up of a MRO center for repairs and stocking of spares . The Russian militarily industrial complex aerospace will collapse unless India supports and buys the SU-57 M and SU-75 .

And why on Earth should we care about the Russian MIC's aerospace part? If they aren't competitive, they should close down or scale down. Running an entire enterprise solely on the help from foreign entities is a very bad idea, not to mention it makes things more complicated and more expensive for us.

Secondly, the US isn't just going to randomly offer to sell F-35s to us. Geopolitics is a major player here, and if we do, by some miracle, manage to get F-35s, believe you me the Americans will extract their several pounds of flesh for us.

Let me pose a few scenarios. Suppose the US offers to sell F-35s at the cost of India condemning Russia for their (illegal) invasion of Ukraine, or asks India to break off / scale down ties with Russia. Would that be a good deal? Alternatively, let's say the US asks us to approve of some compromise on Kashmir and /or improve relations with Bhikaristan. Would that work? Alternatively, let's assume they ask for something that violates our sovereignty (such as access to documents on terrorists such as Pannun or Nijjar). Would that work?

Should we compromise our own sovereignty to get F-35s. And please remember that it could be more than one of those things that we may have to offer.

 

[ANUP]

First buy junk f21 jets around 20 billion dollars deal then forever get stuck on Americans jets parts and if u didn't listen Americans orders then get ready to delay parts of jets and also it can get anytime crashed and we don't know why and how , their is always a kill button in source code ,from wherever jets are flying it have connectivity with satellite data and it must receive kill button command and suddenly engine will stop working and jet got crashed and we saw the latest incident of apache helicopter and after tht we have to follow whatever Americans will say to support Ukraine and condemning russia and also reduce arms Import from russia and also follow whatever Americans will say to us to fight against china while he will watch whole game from 10,000km away and let us to have war and destroy our economy so tht nobody will challenge him in future,and also to impose us to withdraw on brics dollar option , and he will keep continuing giving imf loans of billion of dollars to pakistan and also create political influence and promote seperatism in India through khalistani ,so if India wants to buy such aircraft on behalf of these option then go ahead and buy it and compromise it's national security in the hand of Americans

 

[Sunny]

My issue with your question is that Su57 itself is not a fifth gen option.

So what is the alternative?
Also provide me the technical details v/s 4th gen fighters why SU-57 is not 5th gen.