U.S. aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin unveiled an F-21 fighter, an upgraded variant of the F-16 fighter jet, at Aero India on Wednesday, pitching it for the Air Force tender for 114 jets.
“The F-21 is different, inside and out,” said Dr. Vivek Lall, Vice President-Strategy & Business Development, Lockheed Martin, announcing the new variant at Aero India.
“The new [F-21] designation highlights our commitment to delivering an advanced, scalable fighter aircraft to the IAF that also provides unrivalled industrial opportunities and accelerates closer India-U.S. cooperation on advanced technologies,” he stated.
The IAF has issued a Request For Information (RFI) to procure 114 fighter jets to which even global aircraft manufacturers have responded. The proposals are being evaluated after which a Request For Proposal (RFP) would be issued. The deal is being processed under the Strategic Partnership (SP) model, and most of them will be built in India by an Indian private partner under technology transfer.
However, the F-21 is currently a concept and not operational. In contrast, procurement rules state that a platform has to be operationally proven as per specifications stated in the RFP. Declining to state specific capability enhancements of the aircraft due to sensitivity, Dr. Lall added, “We will demonstrate the capability as required by the IAF during evaluations.”
Another Lockheed official, Randy Howard, Integrated Fighter Group Director of Business Development, said that this variant is on offer only for India with avionics and other systems unique to India.
“We are leveraging systems, structures across multiple heritage aircraft. What F-21 represents is a unique product for India,” he stated.
All six contenders of the earlier Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contest have responded to the RFI. In addition to Lockheed, these include Boeing F-18, Dassault Aviation Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russian Mig-35 and SAAB Gripen. Russian Su-35, an upgraded variant of the Su-30MKI operated by the IAF, has joined the fray this time.
