Lockheed Martin Bets on F-21 for India's $20 Billion MMRCA Deal, As F-35A Incompatibile to Indian Current Systems

Lockheed Martin has confirmed that it is prioritizing the F-21 fighter jet, a customized variant of the F-16, for India's Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition, a deal estimated to be worth $18-20 billion.

This clarification comes amidst ongoing speculation about the potential sale of the F-35A Lightning II to India, especially after its prominent display at Aero India 2023.

Despite the F-35A's appearance at the air show, both Lockheed Martin and Indian Air Force officials have stated that there is no current plan to acquire the fifth-generation stealth fighter. A Lockheed Martin representative confirmed that no formal offer for the F-35A has been made to New Delhi.

This stance aligns with previous statements from Indian Air Force Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa in 2018, who categorically denied any interest in the F-35 at that time.

While the F-35A's presence at Aero India fueled rumors of a potential sale, it is now being viewed by experts as a demonstration of the strengthening U.S.-India defence relationship rather than a concrete offer.

Some analysts, like retired Air Marshal Manmohan Bahadur, believe that the F-35A's complex systems and potential integration challenges with India's existing infrastructure make it an unlikely choice for the near future.

Instead, Lockheed Martin is heavily promoting the F-21, which boasts significant enhancements tailored specifically for the Indian Air Force. These include an advanced glass cockpit, upgraded avionics, and the unique Triple Pylon Rail system, enabling the aircraft to carry multiple AIM-120 air-to-air missiles – a capability not typically found in similar fighter jets.

The F-21 is being offered as a "Make in India" solution, with Lockheed Martin emphasizing technology transfer and local production in partnership with Indian companies like Tata Advanced Systems. This approach aligns with India's push for domestic manufacturing and could potentially create thousands of jobs within the country.

However, the F-21 faces stiff competition from other global contenders vying for the MMRCA contract. These include:

• Russia's MiG-35 and Su-35: Although Russia has been a traditional defense supplier for India, the country's recent focus on diversifying its sources may impact their chances.
• Boeing's F-15EX: Boeing has received approval to formally offer its advanced F-15EX fighter jet to India.
• France's Dassault Rafale: Already in service with the Indian Air Force, the Rafale is a strong contender, with France eager to secure further orders.
• European Eurofighter Typhoon: Known for its agility and versatility, the Typhoon is backed by a consortium of European nations.
• Sweden's Saab Gripen E: Saab is offering the Gripen E, highlighting its cost-effectiveness and advanced technology, along with significant technology transfer proposals.

The final decision on the MMRCA contract is expected to have a significant impact on the future of India's air power and its strategic defense partnerships.

Furthermore, the development of India's own fifth-generation fighter, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), adds another layer of complexity to the decision-making process. The success of the AMCA program could potentially influence India's long-term reliance on foreign fighter jets like the F-35A.

 

[Anant]

which are other 5 nations ...................??? & from whom u want 5.5 Gen Certificate ..................???? second does F-21 Exist ..............??? Not Even prototype of F-21 have been Built by LM For Evaluation in MRFA

The five other nations are the USA, Russia, China (arguable, but still), South Korea, and Turkey. If those, the latter two only have prototypes so far, and the KF-21 as of today is more of a "5-"th generation aircraft. However, once they have the next block of the KF-21 flying later this decade, they'll join that club. Turkey is in a similar position. As for China, their aircraft may not be as stealthy as the others, but it still does meet practically all criteria for a fifth generation aircraft.

Now, as for that 5.5th generation thing. That will become a reality when we actually have 6th generation aircraft flying or atleast firmly conceptualised, since you can only then have a bridge like the 5.5th generation. Do remember that this 4.5th generation term did not come up until after the first fifth generation aircraft flew.

Finally, I'll believe AMCA is a 5.5th generation fighter when someone actually credible to make that statement does, and has some objective proof to go along. Otherwise, anyone can call it anything.

Finally, I am not trying to be a F-21 / F-16V salesman. You are correct in that the F-21 doesn't technically exist, but to give credit where it is due, the US is far closer to having a hypothetical F-21 flying than we have AMCA.

 

[Anant]

Ha Ha Ha oh Then why Contender of MRFA like Euro-Fighter ,Su-35 are Bidding ,again after going production Line idle for Su-30 too Bharat is ordering additional Su-30 MKI Nice Logic from U

You do realise that both the Eurofighter Typhoon and Su-35 are still in production, right? Both those types also have orders that will keep the lines going for a fair while still.

Coming to the Su-30MKI, we never had a true production line for the type. What we had was more of an assembly and partial production line, which is generally far cheaper to start back up.

Finally, the reason I specifically mentioned the F-18 is because the production line has already been winding down for a few years now, and some of the former F-18 lines are now manufacturing F-15EXs. Unless MRFA gets finalised in the next few months, and unless the F-18 wins that by some miracle (not that it should, there are better alternatives), the production line will not be able to be revived without significant investments. Since MRFA isn't getting finalised in that time period, for all intents and purposes, the F-18 is out.

 

[sanket]

The five other nations are the USA, Russia, China (arguable, but still), South Korea, and Turkey. If those, the latter two only have prototypes so far, and the KF-21 as of today is more of a "5-"th generation aircraft. However, once they have the next block of the KF-21 flying later this decade, they'll join that club. Turkey is in a similar position. As for China, their aircraft may not be as stealthy as the others, but it still does meet practically all criteria for a fifth generation aircraft.

KF-21 is not 5th Gen , KAAN not meet yet 5th Gen criteria when Inducted with all 5th features will b called it IAF havent yet denied calling AMCA has a 5.5th Jet second one who are developing they know better what to call AMCA thats why they say it 5.5 Gen

 

[sanket]

You do realise that both the Eurofighter Typhoon and Su-35 are still in production, right? Both those types also have orders that will keep the lines going for a fair while still.

Coming to the Su-30MKI, we never had a true production line for the type. What we had was more of an assembly and partial production line, which is generally far cheaper to start back up.

Finally, the reason I specifically mentioned the F-18 is because the production line has already been winding down for a few years now, and some of the former F-18 lines are now manufacturing F-15EXs. Unless MRFA gets finalised in the next few months, and unless the F-18 wins that by some miracle (not that it should, there are better alternatives), the production line will not be able to be revived without significant investments. Since MRFA isn't getting finalised in that time period, for all intents and purposes, the F-18 is out.

what are u reply read carefully i said Eurofighter & Su-=35 prodution line are idle they dont have any orders even Su-30 production in Russia is not happening thats what i am saying even then are ready to deliver all lies from u all your commments are childish, Thats difference Eurofighter , Su-35 & Su-30 are ready todeliver as an when needed there are short coming in F-18 thats why it must have been withdrawn from MRFA or even it is pitched surely it will bite the Dust anyway .

 

[kurtwallis wallis]

Yes.... Buy cheapest western SEF jet F16 Blk72 now and get F35A's after 10 years deal!! ONLY 2 options left for IAF in MRFA tender i.e., Rafale F4.2 TEF and lowest costs SEF F16 jets now...

 

[Deepak Hegde]

Just confirms that they want to dump obsolete technology on India which does not meet current Indian needs, just to get residual vale money from F-16's and that too with many end user restrictions. Ask them to take a talk !!

 

[Konodioda]

What rubbish! India is currently developing its own 5th generation jet by itself. It has now moved to the manufacturing stage of the prototypes so the technology and capabilities are there. Also you love the Chinese but don’t realise that their jets aren’t proper stealth jets at all. India could clearly see them by using their 20yr old infrared on the Sukhoi jets. Also their technology isn’t as good as they say and can’t do everything that they do say. Their litany of failures and problems range from the junk fighter, naval ships and submarine with massive engine failures etc.

According to the development speed of AMCA, when AMCA first entered service, PLAAF's sixth generation aircraft had already been in service.
Moreover, PLAN's submarines will not sink themselves, their ships will not capsize in the shipping operations, and there are not as many fires and explosions

 

[Konodioda]

Bhai such great points throughout the comment, but then you lit it all on fire with that last word. Russia simply doesn’t have the tech and don’t want to share it either. We have already seen it all.

At present, only the United States, Russia and China, South Korea and Türkiye can develop the fifth generation aircraft. The fifth generation aircraft in Europe has just started, and the fifth generation aircraft in Europe, South Korea and Türkiye also rely heavily on the United States in technology. It is simply impossible for India to independently develop AMCA. India must rely on foreign technology and not attempt to justify this reality. And the possible technological channel for India cannot be China, right?
How many technology can Americans transfer to India? Originally, Indian gov hoped to transfer all the technical materials of F414 engine by virtue of its good relationship with the United States, but only 80% of them were transferred, United States reserved a lot of core technologies for India. Although the Russian cheated the Indian, at least he was willing to share some information with India.
No matter how analyzed, Russia is the most likely country to transfer fifth generation aircraft technology. If even Russia does not transfer fifth generation aircraft technology to India, India cannot produce fifth generation aircraft. This is reality.

 

[Anant]

what are u reply read carefully i said Eurofighter & Su-=35 prodution line are idle they dont have any orders even Su-30 production in Russia is not happening thats what i am saying even then are ready to deliver all lies from u all your commments are childish, Thats difference Eurofighter , Su-35 & Su-30 are ready todeliver as an when needed there are short coming in F-18 thats why it must have been withdrawn from MRFA or even it is pitched surely it will bite the Dust anyway .

Wrong again. Su-35s are being built in large numbers for Russia.

There are Typhoons under order from Germany, Kuwait, Qatar, and Spain. There is another large order from Italy announced but not signed yet.

Russia is still building small numbers of Su-30SMs to augment the Su-35, though new orders aren't being placed for those.

Finally, the F-18 production line is coming to an end because there are no more orders. If a nation decides to order them today, they will receive those without any issue. Of course no one will keep a production line going without orders, but that is something you have repeatedly overlooked or refused to accept as common sense.

Take your conspiracy theories elsewhere.

 

[Konodioda]

The five other nations are the USA, Russia, China (arguable, but still), South Korea, and Turkey. If those, the latter two only have prototypes so far, and the KF-21 as of today is more of a "5-"th generation aircraft. However, once they have the next block of the KF-21 flying later this decade, they'll join that club. Turkey is in a similar position. As for China, their aircraft may not be as stealthy as the others, but it still does meet practically all criteria for a fifth generation aircraft.

Now, as for that 5.5th generation thing. That will become a reality when we actually have 6th generation aircraft flying or atleast firmly conceptualised, since you can only then have a bridge like the 5.5th generation. Do remember that this 4.5th generation term did not come up until after the first fifth generation aircraft flew.

Finally, I'll believe AMCA is a 5.5th generation fighter when someone actually credible to make that statement does, and has some objective proof to go along. Otherwise, anyone can call it anything.

Finally, I am not trying to be a F-21 / F-16V salesman. You are correct in that the F-21 doesn't technically exist, but to give credit where it is due, the US is far closer to having a hypothetical F-21 flying than we have AMCA.

The aircraft of South Korea and Türkiye are not the fifth generation aircraft at all, and even their own research and development personnel do not admit it.

However, it is possible for these two countries to rely on some foreign technologies to develop 4.5 generation machines. This is because South Korea has undertaken many high-tech manufacturing industries in the United States. They can manufacture advanced cars, ships, semiconductors, etc., and Türkiye has undertaken many industries in Europe. Both countries have accumulated a lot of technology and talent in the past few decades. When their government wants to develop a new generation of fighter jets, they can use these technologies and talents in research and development.

And India's DRDO is facing too much talent loss. They can only earn a salary of 70000 rupees in Mumbai, but they have to face a house worth 100 million rupees, while their classmates can find jobs with a monthly salary of 7000 rupees in multinational companies or the United States. Those who stay in DRDO are either powerless or foolish.

 

[sanket]

Wrong again. Su-35s are being built in large numbers for Russia.

There are Typhoons under order from Germany, Kuwait, Qatar, and Spain. There is another large order from Italy announced but not signed yet.

Russia is still building small numbers of Su-30SMs to augment the Su-35, though new orders aren't being placed for those.

Finally, the F-18 production line is coming to an end because there are no more orders. If a nation decides to order them today, they will receive those without any issue. Of course no one will keep a production line going without orders, but that is something you have repeatedly overlooked or refused to accept as common sense.

Take your conspiracy theories elsewhere.

Orders not offered on whether production Line is idle or full , A Fighter jet which meets the parameters will win , Last Time in MMRCA F-18 not even meet paratmeters set By IAF Only Rafale & Eurofighter meet & Rafale was L1 bidder Boeing may b convinced F-18 fall short what Parameters are Thats why they are pitching F-15 Ex Rather than F-18 MMRCA was started way back 2007 From that period F-18,F-16 Eurofighter Rafale MIG-35 Gripen have been contested Even till yoday how many MIG-35 have been produced by your childish theory MIG-35 should not part of MRFA

 

[Sandeep]

India isn’t going to buy any foreign jets under the MRFA as it’s just too expensive, we won’t receive any critical ToT or manufacture enough indigenously with Indian content.

India needs to focus on manufacturing the Tejas MK1A and quickly start manufacturing the prototypes for the Tejas MK2 and AMCA. We need to focus more on developing our indigenous technology and products which can be done at a much cheaper rate.

 

[Akshat]

At present, only the United States, Russia and China, South Korea and Türkiye can develop the fifth generation aircraft. The fifth generation aircraft in Europe has just started, and the fifth generation aircraft in Europe, South Korea and Türkiye also rely heavily on the United States in technology. It is simply impossible for India to independently develop AMCA. India must rely on foreign technology and not attempt to justify this reality. And the possible technological channel for India cannot be China, right?
How many technology can Americans transfer to India? Originally, Indian gov hoped to transfer all the technical materials of F414 engine by virtue of its good relationship with the United States, but only 80% of them were transferred, United States reserved a lot of core technologies for India. Although the Russian cheated the Indian, at least he was willing to share some information with India.
No matter how analyzed, Russia is the most likely country to transfer fifth generation aircraft technology. If even Russia does not transfer fifth generation aircraft technology to India, India cannot produce fifth generation aircraft. This is reality.

My 2 problems with this chain of thought.

1. Russia doesn’t want to transfer us any fifth gen tech. They don’t want to transfer us any major tech at all, in fact. Remember FGFA? Mid way after investing 100s of millions, Russia increased the price, decreased their own orders and investments, and reduced HAL’s work share. So they are not at all ready to give us anything. Even for something like KA226, they have refused to transfer us even 35% of the tech. So forget fifth gen tech.

2. Assuming Russia does wanna transfer such tech, they should have it in the first place. IAF ditched the program after investing 100s of millions. Russian airforce itself cut down 70% of its own orders and went with more Su35 indeed. China was offered Su57 but they refused it, unofficially saying that their own planes are far ahead. No one so far has shown any interest in Su75 either. So it’s clear that anyone who has seen Russian fifth gen tech finds it inferior to even western fourth gen tech.

 

[PKPRS]

I mean the Rafale first flew in 1986, the Su-30 in 1989, the F16 may have been from the previous decade but the platform age is similar for all of them and kind of irrelevant in the face of what the modern upgrades are. If you want to make other criticisms of the F16, have at it, but fourth gen jets are still extremely numerous and will be in service for decades to come and this is among the most modernized upgraded ones in the F21 variant, akin to the Rafale F4 on upgrades, and then it's a matter of considering cost vs capabilities etc.

So Rafale is also vintage, pretty much every fighter jet in the competition is vintage except Gripen-E and after that SU-35.

 

[PKPRS]

Technology is different F-21 have reach the upgrade Limit, while Rafale can b upgraded further for Next 40 to 50 years , Drone complement Rafale may b offered second weapon package too will b offered upgraded Like MICA-NG , Meteor-NG& scalp-NG May b some features may b borrowed from F5 version Lastly Design is Latest wile F-21 has old Design Combat Radius & payload is another Factor & Most important thing is will LM shift the production Line if it win MRFA Accidently ...............??? On third party weapn Rafale can b Integrated with Brahmos-NG in Future Will US allow Indo-Russian weapon on its Fighter Jet ...............??? To handle Rafale will need 2 to 3 F-16

But F21 will cost atleast 1/3rd the price of Rafale F4.2 with near payload capability and almost same total thrust of twin engine Rafale.

 

[Anant]

Orders not offered on whether production Line is idle or full , A Fighter jet which meets the parameters will win , Last Time in MMRCA F-18 not even meet paratmeters set By IAF Only Rafale & Eurofighter meet & Rafale was L1 bidder Boeing may b convinced F-18 fall short what Parameters are Thats why they are pitching F-15 Ex Rather than F-18 MMRCA was started way back 2007 From that period F-18,F-16 Eurofighter Rafale MIG-35 Gripen have been contested Even till yoday how many MIG-35 have been produced by your childish theory MIG-35 should not part of MRFA

Right, I am going to say this once more. I am not acting like a F-18 salesman. Back in MMRCA, the F-15 was not offered as it was not green-lit for sale to India. The F-18 was eliminated in the first round, but was offered again under MRFA, which shows that its elimination did not affect anything. The F-15EX was also offered as the same was green-lit. No aircraft manufacturer can offer anything for export unless it is green-lit by the government.

Now, to the second point: I am always dead-set against the MiG-35, as it is merely a rebranded MiG-29K. Heck, the F-21 atleast is supposed to have some upgrades over the F-16V, which is more than what can be said for the MiG-35. Even in case of the Su-35, I have maintained that if that aircraft were to win, it would simply be easier to build more Super Su-30MKIs with new engines.

Finally, when did I say anything about the MiG-35? My point is simple: A production line will go on for as long as there are orders, and companies will not like to keep idle production lines without orders. When it comes to the MiG-35, the Russians simply decided not to go for such an obsolescent aircraft, which is also why it has seen precisely zero export sales and a production run in the single digits. The line for that aircraft has been kept going because Mikoyan really doesn't have any other products. They can either keep that line open without production (essentially throwing money down the drain) in the hopes of sales, or they can simply shut it down and wrap up the company along with it.

The fact that you are continuing to misinterpret comments to this extent suggests that it is, in fact, you, who is being childish.

 

[sumeet biswas]

We should scrap MRFA program and focus on tejas mk2 even if gets delayed.
25 billion dollars is a huge amount in this amount we can buy at least 300 tejas mk2 which will be far better than this old outdated f-16. Tejas will be able to take 8 BVR missiles, radar is more powerful with GaN based TR modules.
If we are so eager to spend money and give it to foreign nation then we should spend it on our engine program with a foreign partner

 

[PKPRS]

Right, I am going to say this once more. I am not acting like a F-18 salesman. Back in MMRCA, the F-15 was not offered as it was not green-lit for sale to India. The F-18 was eliminated in the first round, but was offered again under MRFA, which shows that its elimination did not affect anything. The F-15EX was also offered as the same was green-lit. No aircraft manufacturer can offer anything for export unless it is green-lit by the government.

Every fighter jet other than Gripen-E are upgrades of previous Contestants, F15 and SU-35 didn’t contest last time in MRCA, so among the three that never contested Gripen-E is the brand new platform, there are more chances for Gripen-E because of the engine commonality factor.

 

[Anant]

We should scrap MRFA program and focus on tejas mk2 even if gets delayed.
25 billion dollars is a huge amount in this amount we can buy at least 300 tejas mk2 which will be far better than this old outdated f-16. Tejas will be able to take 8 BVR missiles, radar is more powerful with GaN based TR modules.
If we are so eager to spend money and give it to foreign nation then we should spend it on our engine program with a foreign partner

You do realise that fighters don't just pop out of thin air, right? To increase production rates, you need hundreds of suppliers to scale up. That is not something that can be done quickly or on the cheap.

Sure, you can get 200+ Tejas Mk 2s (approximately) for the price of MRFA as a whole, but the problem will be building those. At the present time, our indigenous suppliers cannot scale up fast enough, which means that you'll simply introduce a lot of supply bottlenecks by going down this route.

 

[Anant]

Every fighter jet other than Gripen-E are upgrades of previous Contestants, F15 and SU-35 didn’t contest last time in MRCA, so among the three that never contested Gripen-E is the brand new platform, there are more chances for Gripen-E because of the engine commonality factor.

Perhaps. I will maintain my old stance, however. MRFA is a quantitative necessity, and the aircraft most suited for the IAF should win. Oh, and toss out the geriatric MiG-35.

 

[PKPRS]

F16 Blk72 is 10 times more potent and still deadlier than Tejas MK1A jets....

F21 is nothing but F16 Block 72 with a powerful computer and a powerful F110-GE-132 engine that produce adry thrust of 84.5 KN and 144.6 KN with After Burner, it also share few conponents from F35.

 

[kurtwallis wallis]

Every fighter jet other than Gripen-E are upgrades of previous Contestants, F15 and SU-35 didn’t contest last time in MRCA, so among the three that never contested Gripen-E is the brand new platform, there are more chances for Gripen-E because of the engine commonality factor.

Brazil is unhappy with GripenE's and gone for Rafales now...

 

[kurtwallis wallis]

Orders not offered on whether production Line is idle or full , A Fighter jet which meets the parameters will win , Last Time in MMRCA F-18 not even meet paratmeters set By IAF Only Rafale & Eurofighter meet & Rafale was L1 bidder Boeing may b convinced F-18 fall short what Parameters are Thats why they are pitching F-15 Ex Rather than F-18 MMRCA was started way back 2007 From that period F-18,F-16 Eurofighter Rafale MIG-35 Gripen have been contested Even till yoday how many MIG-35 have been produced by your childish theory MIG-35 should not part of MRFA

F18 having maximum G loading of +7.5 G only! F16 is upto +9.5 G's and Tejas is +8 G's now...

 

[amerjit johal]

USAF have a massive promotion / show off budget.
F35 has been shown off at air shows in many countries.
Doesn't mean that country is going to buy or America is offering to sell to that country.

 

[PKPRS]

Perhaps. I will maintain my old stance, however. MRFA is a quantitative necessity, and the aircraft most suited for the IAF should win. Oh, and toss out the geriatric MiG-35.

We never know, IAF likes MIG-29, they might experiment something like SU-30MKI that has components from Russia, French and Israel, to add to that now we have a list of locally made Indian components as well, so they might buy bare bones MIG-35 add components from all over the world, it’s lot of hassle, but we never know.