Jodhpur: The US is doing all it can to sell F-35 stealth fighter jets to India but won’t allow Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel to get close to the aircraft that participated in Exercise Tarang Shakti – 2026 that concluded in Jodhpur on Saturday.
This was brought up by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh during a press conference on the sidelines of the concluding ceremony. General Kevin Schneider, commander of US Pacific Air Forces, was at his side when he said this.
“Your people don’t even let us go near the aircraft, and you are talking about selling it to us,” ACM Singh said when asked by reporters if the US had made any official offer to sell F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets to India.
Six US F-35 Lightning II fighter jets participated in the exercise. This was the first time that these aircraft operated in India.
“The US did not show us the cockpit, but allowed us to fly in close formation,” the Indian Air chief said when asked about how much access India had been given.
This was how countries protect sensitive military technologies, he said.
In his defence, General Schneider said decisions on sharing F-35 information were not his to make.
“There are programme-level security classification guides that determine what we are able to share, when we share it, as well as how we protect it,” he said.
ACM Singh also confirmed that Russia has offered its Su-57 fifth-generation fighter to India.
“Yes, the Russians have offered. But there has been no decision yet,” he told reporters.
India is looking at an interim fifth-generation option while its indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) remains years away from induction.
Reports suggest that Russia has also agreed to a transfer of technology clause for joint manufacture of the Su-57s in India.
The IAF is short of fighter aircraft to handle threats from Pakistan and China. The search for a fifth generation aircraft has intensified as China expands its stealth fleet, including the J-20 and J-35. Beijing is also expected to supply 40 J-35s to Pakistan, though deliveries haven’t begun.
J-35s in Pakistani hands would not be good news for India as fifth-generation fighter jets are hard to spot and are smart enough to see everything around them.
Their shape, special coatings and weapons tucked inside the body make it very hard for enemy radar to pick up. These aircraft also have radar, electronic warfare systems and heat-seeking sensors fed into one live picture of the battlespace. Instead of juggling multiple screens and making sense of scattered signals, the pilot gets a clear view of who’s out there, and can focus on the mission.