LMT, Tata to build F-16 wings in India
'Not contingent' on IAF order, says Lockheed Martin

F-16 Block 70 | Photo: Steve Otte/Lockheed Martin

U.S. defence aviation company Lockheed Martin today announced plans to transfer the production of the wings of their iconic F-16 fighter to India.

The company’s Vice President of Startegy and Business Development, Vivek Lall, told media in New Delhi, “Building F-16 wings in India is a natural step that builds on our successful partnerships with Tata on the C-130J and S-92.” Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) already collaborate on the C-130J tactical transport aircraft and the Indian company is also the sole global manufacturer of the cabins of the S-92 helicopter.

This production transfer proposal will not likely attract opposition from the U.S. government, despite President Donald Trump’s penchant for criticism of any industrial plan that could lead to the loss of U.S. jobs, since Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) are currently responsible for the manufacture of the wings of the F-16. TASL will become the sole producer with this proposed transfer.

Work on this proposal is already underway. “We’ve already begun work on the transfer of the tooling and production elements,” said Lall.

Interestingly, this is the third time TASL has forged a partnership making it the sole manufacturer of components for defence and aviation. The company builds the cabins for the Sikorsky S-92 cabins. Sikorsky was acquired by Lockheed Martin in November 2015 from United Technologies Corporation. Recently, TASL began production of the fuselage of the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter in partnership with Boeing at its Hyderabad facility, becoming the sole manufacturer, after production was transferred from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).

Lockheed Martin is one of six manufacturers competing for a new Indian Air Force (IAF) order for 110 fighters. A seventh company, Russia’s Sukhoi was recently reported to be considering an offer of the Sukhoi-35 fighter. Lockheed Martin has offered the F-16 Block 70 fighter for the tender, for which responses to the IAF’s Request For Information (RFI) were submitted in early July. The company said in a statement that they have ‘submitted a comprehensive, fully compliant 600-plus page Request For Information (RFI) response to the Indian Air Force’.

However, the company says the planned production of the wings of the aircraft is not subject to an IAF order. “The planned F-16 wing production move to India is not contingent on the Government of India selecting the F-16 for the Indian Air Force,” the company said in their statement.

While Lall did not lay out a timeline for start of production in India, StratPost understands that TASL could not conceivably begin manufacturing the wings of the fighter before a period of two years from now. Discussions are still underway on whether the manufacture of the wings will require a new facility or whether they can be built in an existing facility.

Although, the current order backlog for the aircraft is not clear, Bahrain announced an order for 16 F-16 fighters in January this year. It is uncertain whether the wings of any portion of the aircraft order will be built in Israel or India.

Also uncertain is what this would mean for sustainment of Pakistan Air Force F-16 aircraft. This would also likely preclude any possibility of the Pakistan Air Force acquiring any new F-16 aircraft in future.