India’s opposition parties have criticized the offer of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to sell F-35 combatants to the country, citing its high costs, even when Russia has discussed the production of its most advanced planes locally with the Objectives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The offer of the US defense partner. As in India, Russia, it comes at a time when India Air Force squads have fallen to 31 from an approved force of 42 and is looking to acquire more planes for counteract China, which is being built quickly. His army.
After meeting with Modi in Washington last week, Trump said that the United States will increase military sales to India from 2025 and will eventually provide F-35 fifth generation f-35 fighters made by Lockheed Martin.
The main party of the Opposition Congress of India has used the past criticism of Trump Ally and the billionaire Elon Musk to the fighter to point to the Modi government.
“The F-35, which Elon Musk has described as ‘garbage’, why does Narendra Modi be committed to buying it?” He asked a publication in the official account of the X of the Congress this weekend, saying that the plane was expensive and had high operating costs.
The United States government estimates that an F-35 costs around $ 80 million. The Indian government has not said that it intends to buy the plane and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of India told reporters last week that the United States offer was in a “proposal stage”, adding that the Acquisition process had not begun.
The Ministry of Defense of India did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The Congress cited a November 2024 publication in X in which he shared a video of a swarm of drones and subtitled it: “Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned combat planes such as F-35”.
Musk later said in another publication X: “Anyway,” manned combat planes are obsolete in the era of drones. “
Last week, Russia offered to produce its fighter Su-57 fifth generation in India with components of local origin, saying that production could begin as soon as this year if India agreed.
“Russia has never avoided technology transfer,” said Amyit Cowshish, former financial advisor for acquisitions in the Ministry of Defense of India.
“The problem is not with Russia that offers technology transfer … we will continue dealing with Russia and buying oil and perhaps buying a couple of other things, but a great great. [defence] The agreement is likely to create its own difficulties against [the] Us, ”Cowshish said.
