The announcement also comes just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington.
Global aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin on Monday signed an agreement with India-based Tata Advanced Systems to produce F-16 fighter planes; a shot in the arm for the Make in India campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The company is planning to shift its Fort Worth, Texas, plant to win the billions of dollars’ worth contract for the Indian military, Reuters reported.
The agreement is part of Indian Air Force’s mission to replace its Soviet-era fleet and Narendra Modi government’s Make in India policy that clearly states that a foreign supplier has to make planes in India with a local partner.
According to the report, the agreement was announced at the Paris Airshow and Lockheed and Tata said moving the production base to India would still retain jobs in the United States.
“F-16 production in India supports thousand of Lockheed Martin and F-16 supplier jobs in the US, creates new manufacturing jobs in India, and positions Indian industry at the center of the most extensive fighter aircraft supply ecosystem in the world,” Reuters quoted a joint statement by the firms.
The agreement will also give India a chance to export F-16 as the same model, Block 70, planes are being flown by 26 countries, the joint statement said; adding, that this unprecedented F-16 partnership would enable India to operate the newest and advanced version of F-16s.
The announcement also comes just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington for the first meeting with President Donald Trump, scheduled for June 26.