Like it or not, the F-35 will sell plenty in and around Asia/Middle East so if we buy it, with the local assembly line we get to be part of the global supply china bringing tons of work for our local players. No we won't get TOT, but with a big enough buy, we can have local assembly with plenty of non critical parts being made in India. Stealth isn't supposed to make it invulnerable, its meant to make you harder to find. MKI will provide top cover while the F-35 sneaks around using holes and gaps in the enemy's air picture.įunny they say stealth is over-rated but every air craft in development today has focus on minimizing rcs. You see in the Indian context it would be silly to the send the F-35 for air superiority missions, while we have MKI. A couple of F-35s can effectively cover entire sections of Pak with such coverage. These in terms of India will be the biggest threat during a war and having it in the air would allow us to spot such targets from far away and quickly neutralize them with a host of other options. It can spot multiple missile launches from hundreds of miles away including cruise missiles, rocket artillery, etc. It provides flexibility and can be deployed from various spots. Its current prices are lower than the Rafale and the Rafale isn't stealthy. It will be a good jack of all trades without being an expert at anything. DAS/AESA/EOTS combined they provide converges for over 1200km away from ground, air and sea based threats. It still remains the most sensor packed fighter out there. Funny thing is the F-35 has turned a lot of internet forumers into over night aviation experts.