Indian Market Less accessible to Israel’s Defens Industries

Indian Market Less accessible to Israel’s Defens Industries

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By Arie Egozi

The Indian market has become less accessible to the Israeli defense industries. The Indian demand to transfer manufacturing to Indian companies causes a situation in which states like the US are gaining control over complete defense technology sectors, in certain fields.

The Indian market with its huge potential has become more and more complicated for the Israeli defense industries, whose ability to transfer technologies has been very limited.

A Defense Ministry source said yesterday that Israel must examine its policy considering defense technology export to countries such as India, otherwise the “situation might only get worse”, he said.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin has been in discussion with the US government and the government of India in regard to the shifting of the F-16 fighter aircraft assembly line to India. Will the company transfer four crucial technologies which have been denied to South Korea, a close US ally, for the KF-X program?

In exchange for a large order of F-16 fighter aircraft from the Indian Air Force (IAF), Lockheed Martin is offering to close its only assembly line in Fort Worth, USA and relocate it to India.

According to Defense World, the question is will the Pentagon allow the of transfer of the following technologies to India:

  • integrated systems for active electronically scanned array radar
  • electro-optical targeting pod
  • infrared search and track
  • radio frequency jammer

These technologies form an important component of the F-16V fighter jet, the latest evolution of the world’s most successful war plane that has been offered to New Delhi.

US had denied parting with the four technologies citing national technology protection policy. Lockheed Martin spokesperson was quoted as saying by Wfaa8 that the company was “offering India the exclusive opportunity to produce, operate and export F-16 Block 70 aircraft. He added that “the production of the F-16 will continue in Fort Worth with current contract work through late 2017,” forecasting that as Fort Worth F-16 production deliveries are completed, F-16 mechanics will transition to the F-35 production line.