No F-35 jets from US for India?
India is declining the purchase of F35 fighters after the US applied a tariff to the country this week. This is really good news. Why?
India has Russian anti-aircraft missile systems like the S400. These systems require radar data in order to target aircraft and naturally the newest fighters don't have much data for them. This gives these aircraft an edge in warfare since the anti-air systems can't lock-on unless it recognizes the radar return as an enemy plane.
One of the big fears I've heard about the sale to India was that they'd use their Russia anti-air systems in conjunction with the F35 to generate radar return data they could then sell to our enemies.
(Does anyone have any concerns about how trustworthy India is?) I don't doubt for a second that India would sell such information to an enemy for the right price. They undermine our sanctions against Russia unapologetically and Modi has sent spies into Western nations to advance his goals. Fuck India.
So in reality this is a win for us because we really don't want our most advance aircraft in the hands of an untrustworthy "ally."