The Hindu Business Line : US arms sale

This is reference to the article "Pragmatic about US defence technology" (The Hindu Business Line, May 10). It brought into focus the fact that "the US has laws under which it punishes US companies if found guilty of using graft to push their wares, even in foreign countries". India's defence contractors from other countries do not operate under such constraints.

The sale of two dozen F-16 jets by the Lockheed Martin Corporation to Pakistan may be symbolic but it does not make much business sense in comparison to the proposed sale of 126 of them to India.

It is not commonly known that Indian companies are already supplying certain types of software to Lockheed (and to Boeing). Gaining access to American military technology and participating in co-production agreements with American defence companies, as the article points out, will be of great advantage to India.

As for Lockheed, it is already discussing sale of its P-3 Orion anti-submarine patrol planes and the giant C-130J Hercules cargo planes, in addition to the F-16 fighter jets, to India.

Another interesting fact emerges. The F-16 is a powerful workhorse and has been one of the most successful jets ever made. More than 4,200 of them are in use in 25 countries. If an Indian company such as Hindustan Aeronautics were to start production of this jet in collaboration, it could eventually become a supplier of spare parts — a lucrative business — to all these countries, including Pakistan!

Kangayam R. Rangaswamy

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