US changes stance with F-35 sale plan, more P8Is arriving

New Delhi: India and the US are set to move to a higher level of defence cooperation with the Trump administration reversing a long-standing block on the sale of fifth generation fighters and the two sides agreeing on a landmark initiative to jointly produce autonomous weapon systems to boost Indo-Pacific security.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump announced a new initiative - US-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) under which a results driven agenda for cooperation will be pursued, with initial outcomes planned for this year itself.

This includes an initiative to jointly produce autonomous weapon systems for the Indo-Pacific, a new defence partnership agreement and a review of US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) rules that come in the way of sharing technology.


The biggest, immediate impact of the new direction of defence cooperation is the US agreeing to pursue the sale of advanced fifth generation F-35 fighter jets to India. President Trump announced that starting this year, the US will increase military sales to India and will pave the way to ultimately provide it with the advanced stealth fighters.

While the process of acquisition will take time, given bureaucracy on both sides, the announcement is a gamechanger as special exceptions are being made for India to acquire the fighter jet that even NATO partners have not been given.

In fact, Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 program in 2019 after it acquired the S 400 air defence systems from Russia. For years, the US had denied the F-35 jets to India on similar grounds - that Russian origin air defence systems like the S 400 are in operation with the air force and can compromise stealth features of the jet by profiling its radar signature.