F-16 som du aldri har sett den før - Markedsføres mot India - AW&ST

Lockheed Martin Proposes Improved F-16 For India, Calls It The F-21 Asia-Pacific StaffChasing an Indian order for 110 fighters, Lockheed Martin has raised its offer, proposing a further upgrade of the F-16—and calling it the F-21. The company’s Russian rival, however, is stressing the advantage that India would gain by buying fighters related to some it already is using. And all of the companies offering a total of seven competing types are playing up their local industrial connections, which were the subject of talks at the Aero India exhibition, held here Feb. 20-24. For Lockheed, the F-16 would be built in partnership with Tata Advanced Systems at a new facility in India. The so-called F-21, which was unveiled at the show, supersedes the previous offer of the F-16IN Block 70. “The F-21 is different inside and out,” says Vivek Lall, vice president of strategy and business development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.  ·         Triple AIM-120 launchers, retractable refueling probe added ·         Lockheed Martin fighter also gains dorsal equipment fairing Differences from the F-16IN Block 70 include the addition of a dorsal equipment fairing, retractable inflight refueling probe housed in the starboard conformal fuel tank, large-format touchscreen cockpit display and triple launchers for Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (Amraam) on the middle pylons under each side of the wing. The total air-to-air missile load would be 10: eight AIM-120 Amraams and two AIM-9 Sidewinders, also from Raytheon. A Lockheed video shows a concept of an F-21 deploying a towed decoy in combat and a braking parachute on landing. The fighter is equipped with an active, electronically scanned array radar and helmet-mounted cueing system, as was the Block 70 offering. Lockheeed says the India-specific F-21 incorporates technologies derived from its F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning fighters. “F-21” is a trademark, not an official U.S. designation; it stands for “Fighter for the 21st century,” Lall says. Boeing promoted its rival offering during the show as “combat-proven, future-ready, and still called the F/A-18 Super Hornet.” Lockheed has said an F-16 contract with the Indian Air Force (IAF) would make the country a key hub for the fighter’s production and export. There was no confirmation on whether the new variant has been configured in response to consultations with the IAF. Lall points out that selection of the F-16 would promote cooperation between the U.S. and India on advanced technologies.

The F-21 version of the F-16 has an air-to-air missile load of 10. Credit: Lockheed Martin

The F-16 is competing for the order with the F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab JAS 39E/F Gripen, and the United Aircraft Corp. MiG-35 and Su-35. The defense ministry issued a request for information last year; bidders had to accept it by July. The ministry has given no indication of when it will issue a request for proposals and therefore when the chosen type would enter service. But first delivery will be expected to follow 36 months after the contract signing, and 15% of the order quantity—16 or 17 aircraft, apparently, and fully imported—should have been handed over within 60 months. The other 85% must be made in India. Three-quarters of the aircraft will be single-seat and the rest two-seat types. They will replace obsolete fighters of such models as the MiG-21 and MiG-27, but the planned order quantity also is intended to increase the number of fighter squadrons. Anatoly Punchuk, deputy director of the Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, says the choice of the MiG-35, “a state-of-the-art fighter jet,” would “help India to economize on infrastructure, which is very important.” The type is derived from the MiG-29, which is in IAF and Indian Navy service. The other Russian candidate, the Su-35, has a similar advantage, since it is derived from the Su-27 series, which includes the Su-30, a version in large-scale service with the IAF. Dassault is similarly advantaged because India ordered 36 Rafales under another program; the order was signed in September 2016. The F-16, Super Hornet, Typhoon or Gripen would be entirely new to the IAF, which already has no fewer than eight fighter and attack types in service, including the MiG-21 and MiG-27. Saab says it will consider India as a global manufacturing base for the Gripen if is chosen. Boeing Vice President Thomas Breckenridge, meanwhile, says that in its latest version—the Block III—the Super Hornet is the stealthiest fighter on offer for the Indian requirement. The company held discussions with partners Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and Mahindra Defense Systems at Aero India. India’s first Rafale, from the 2016 order, should be delivered in September, says Dassault. The company also will begin deliveries of 36 Rafales to Qatar this year. As of January, Egypt had received most of its 24 Rafales. —With Bradley Perrett in Beijing and Graham Warwick in Washington