If India's Air Force agrees to buy 100 F-16 Block 70 combat fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, then the company will transfer production out of Fort Worth, Texas and hand the contract over to its Indian partner, Tata Advanced Systems. Tata already builds wing assembles of the C-130 Hercules, a contract that was taken out of Ohio years ago. Exclusive deals of the contract were first broken late Monday by The Economic Times of India, the country's largest business daily.
Lockheed confirmed the agreement but did not say that it was tied to the Air Force decision. The deal has been a long time in the making and should not surprise Texas employees of Lockheed Martin.
The company is interested in the estimated $15 billion export potential the contract brings down the road. But in order to cinch the deal, the company has to agree to build the aircraft in India under current government policy.
For now, the Indian Air Force is deciding whether it will be an American fighter or Sweden's Gripen, made by Saab.
The exclusive arrangement was reportedly sealed at the Paris Air Show, but no timeline on an Indian Air Force decision has been announced yet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with Donald Trump on June 26 here in the U.S.
Lockheed did not say how many jobs were on the line if production of a signature American fighter plane was shipped to India. But it did announce in March that it was hiring at least 2,000 people in Forth Worth to make way for its expanded F-35 program. This gives Trump a chance to say the deal is a wash for Fort Worth employees of Lockheed Martin. The President ran a campaign on protecting American manufacturing labor from corporations moving production abroad.
South Carolina's Lockheed facility was supposed to take over F-16 production. That looks to be in serious jeopardy.
The combat fighter made headlines during the evening commute on Monday, but the India defense deal is not exactly a shocker. The exclusive multi-billion dollar deal was set up during last year's India trip by Lockheed Martin’s CEO Marillyn Hewson. The deal was reportedly almost sealed last June when Modi met with Barack Obama.
Under the agreement, Tata will manufacture the latest version of the F-16 Block 70/72 for the Indian Air Force in a fleet update program. The F-16 project is a government-to-government deal that must be approved by the U.S. Department of Defense. Washington has for years been keen on developing closer defense relations with India, a country that has a strong defense relationship with Russia. Most of India's fighter planes are Sukhoi SU-30s. The Indian military has a 230 Sukhoi multi-role fighter jets in its arsenal. Russian fighters are not up for grabs in this Air Force contract.
