The United States has made yet another verbal offer for the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II stealth aircraft to India.
This announcement comes just two months after President Donald Trump first offered the aircraft to India during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This time, however, the offer is more subtle, as it comes from Vice President JD Vance in a speech made during his ongoing visit to India.
The American Vice President landed in India on April 21 for a four-day visit, as the two countries seek to finalize a trade deal before the end of the 90-day pause on the 27% tariffs earlier ordered by Donald Trump.
Speaking in the Indian city of Jaipur on April 22, Vance said that the relationship between the two countries will shape the next century, adding that India must buy more energy and defense equipment from the United States.
In that same speech, the Vice President also renewed the previous pitch for the F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighters to India.
“We want your nation to buy more of our military equipment, which, of course, we believe is the best in class. American fifth-generation F-35, for example, will enable the Indian Air Force to defend your airspace and protect your people,” he said in his speech in Jaipur.
Thus, making a more subtle pitch than the one made by the US President Donald Trump in February 2025, in which he told reporters: “Starting this year, we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We are also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters.”
The F-35 is a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather, stealth multi-role combat aircraft best-suited for first-strike missions.
Last month, the Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, told reporters that India is not considering the F-35 option, and no offer has been made by the US so far.
The IAF boss, an ardent proponent of bolstering India’s air power, stressed that buying a fighter jet was not akin to “buying a washing machine or refrigerator,” suggesting that there is a due process that needs to be followed. “We have not looked at it [F-35].”
F-35: Will India Bite The Bullet?
In 2018, the then-head of Pacific Command, Admiral Philip S. Davidson, said that the F-35 could be offered to India. It was an informal proposal, much like the one made by Donald Trump and his Vice President.
The offer was unexpectedly made again in February 2025 by Donald Trump during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US.
Incidentally, it coincided with the F-35’s participation in Aero India alongside its Russian rival, the Su-57, and came days after Russia offered India the opportunity for joint production of its Su-57.
Trump pointed to billions of dollars in defense deals with India this year as a potential lead-up to offering the stealth fighter.
The announcement took many by surprise, particularly since the US under Trump had been extremely wary about the F-35 being operated by a country that employs the Russian S-400 air defense system, such as Turkey, which was expelled from the F-35 consortium.
Responding to Donald Trump’s offer, the manufacturer of the aircraft, Lockheed Martin, said: “We are encouraged by the recent announcement by President Trump to provide the F-35 to India. Lockheed Martin stands ready to support these government-to-government decisions.”
India, on its part, needs a fifth-generation aircraft as it stares at an ever-increasing capability gap with its key adversaries, China and Pakistan.
China has already produced and deployed approximately 200 J-20 Mighty Dragons across all five theatre commands and unveiled a new stealth aircraft, the J-35. Meanwhile, Pakistan could acquire about 40 J-35A fifth-generation stealth fighters from its ally China.
In contrast, India’s 5th-generation program is delayed, and the plan to acquire 114 4.5-generation fighters under the MCRA is not heading anywhere.
F-35 For India
The acquisition of F-35 may not be easy. Firstly, an official proposal should be submitted as soon as possible, given the lengthy procurement periods in the South Asian country.
As previously argued by veteran journalist and expert Prakash Nanda, “When a proposal is formally made, India has a cumbersome, slow, and complicated weapons acquisition process. It is so time-consuming that it could irritate a president like Donald Trump.” The expert endorsed a government-to-government deal between the two countries based on the purchase of Rafale from France.
However, Indian experts have not been particularly keen on the F-35, which is considered one of the world’s most expensive platforms today, due to its high procurement and maintenance costs. The F-35A variant has a flyaway cost of about US$82.5 million per unit.
Moreover, export prices typically include additional costs, pushing the effective unit cost to around US$100-110 million, sans the weapon package. Additionally, operating costs, subsequent upgrades, and spares will further increase the life-cycle costs of the F-35s.
Another significant obstacle that Indian experts, such as Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retired), have highlighted is the US’s possible reluctance to transfer technology. India has been making concerted efforts to expand its defense industrial base and bolster indigenous manufacturing, which may not happen in this case.
If a decision is made in favour of acquiring a limited number of F-35s, it will have to be purchased off the shelf, which means no transfer of technology.
Air Chief Marshal AP Singh has repeatedly emphasized the importance of India manufacturing its own aircraft, as this enables the country to integrate weapons and add upgrades as needed. Thus, allowing some degree of autonomy, as in the case of the Jaguar fighters. The US could reserve the right to restrict both the upgrade and the operation of the aircraft at its discretion.
Additionally, a small number of F-35 fighter jets would not drastically close the chasm that exists between India and its adversaries, especially China.
Several experts have instead implored the Indian government to expedite the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) project, to add more 4.5th-generation fighters to its inventory, boost domestic manufacturing, and focus on numbers.
A detailed article published by the EurAsian Times also explained the issue of incompatibility of the F-35 with the IAF. For one, the IAF has never flown an American fighter jet.
“Firstly, the fighter jet will be unable to use air-to-air refueling because of a different configuration in its design. Presently, the Russian Il-78 has been configured for air-to-air refueling in the IAF. F-35 will not be able to interface with India’s Integrated Air Command & Control System (IACCS), which consists of a wide range of radar types, with customized data links restricting the F-35’s capability in a combat environment. F-35 is equipped with state-of-the-art radio communications equipment that will be incompatible with India’s Russian-origin communication suites,” the previously explained in a EurAsian Times report.
Against that background, it is safe to say that a possible acquisition of the American stealth fighter is likely to be fraught with obstacles.
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