US offers F-18 fighter to India for naval requirement

In an aim to strengthen ties with India, the United States of America (USA) has offered its F-18 naval fighter jets for Indian Navy’s requirements of combat jets for its aircraft carriers. The decision was made during the meeting between defence delegations of both countries during 2+2 meetings.

The Indian Navy had a few years ago expressed interest in the acquisition of 57 naval fighter aircraft for operations from its aircraft carriers including the present INS Vikramaditya and the under-construction Indigenous Aircraft Carrier.

The US government has offered to sell their F-18 fighters along with the unmanned aircraft Sea Guardian to the Indian Navy along with a number of other systems to the Indian armed forces in recent times.

At the moment, the Indian Navy has been assessing the F-18 and the Rafale naval fighters for its present and futuristic requirements as its present fighter is likely to be phased out by the end of this decade or the beginning of next.

The aircraft offered by the American government is said to be the advanced version of the plane which was on offer to the Indian Air Force for its requirement of 126 Multirole Medium Combat Aircraft in which only Rafale and European Eurofighter had been able to meet the qualitative requirements and finally the French plane had been selected.