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Telugu_times Legend Username: Telugu_times Post Number: 55540 Registered: 02-2008 Posted From: 99.0.30.9 Rating: N/A |
TeluguHero brother, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZmRRQ1B3c8 idhi nammay janam ni, Govt panulani namminchadam kastam ignore cheyyadam better CCDB - Caste Chemchas Discussion Baavi | ||
Teluguhero Side Hero Username: Teluguhero Post Number: 3386 Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 73.104.252.173 Rating: |
https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/how-pakistans-downed- f-16-may-impact-us-india-defence-trade/ How Pakistanâs downed F-16 may impact US-India defence trade Recent tensions between India and Pakistan, have bought the USâ arms export policies into question. In a dogfight over the Indo-Pak Line of Control (LoC), Pakistan shot down an Indian MiG-21 Bison and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Whereas, India shot down a Pakistani F-16 which crashed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan not only denied Indiaâs claim but also denied having deployed the US-made F-16 fighter jets against India. Thereafter, in a news conference by senior Indian Air Force officers, evidence was presented in the form of mangled remains of an Advance Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile recovered in Indian territory. In underscoring the use of F-16s, Air Vice-Marshal R G K Kapoor said the missile was "appropriate for carrying only on the Pakistan F-16". This reportedly prompted the US Embassy in Islamabad to announce that it was "looking into reports that Pakistan used F-16 jets to shoot down the Indian pilot, a potential violation of Washington's military sale agreements that limit how Pakistan can use the planes." Pakistani breach Sale of F-16 upgrades for Pakistan was considered in 2008, amidst much controversy. The Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs even held a hearing titled âDEFEATING ALâQAEDAâS AIR FORCE: PAKISTANâS Fâ16 PROGRAM IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISMâ. Subcommittee Chairman Gary L Ackerman had raised concerns over âhow can we be assured that the Fâ16s will be used as a counterterrorism tool rather than just the way to boost Pakistanâs conventional warfare capabilities vis-Ã-vis India?â Eventually, the sale went through to âincrease the capability of the Pakistan Air Force to conduct close air support and night precision attack missionsâ towards achieving âshared goals in countering militants along its western borderâ. On ascertaining if Pakistanâs recent use of the F-16 constitutes a violation of that rationale for sale, the specifics of the US-Pakistan âend-user agreementâ are not public as per USâ government-to-government Foreign Military Sales guidelines. Moreover, the US embassy in Pakistan also announced that the US Government âdoes not comment on or confirm pending investigations of this nature.â However, if the end-user agreement does indeed bar actions beyond counterterrorism mandates, Pakistanâs deployment of the F-16 against India maybe an attempt to push the envelope on deployment restrictions devised during the heydays of the War on Terror. This Pakistani effort to seek steady erosion of those limitations via setting a precedent, may also complicate Americaâs plan to capture Indiaâs $15 billion-market for fighter jets. Indian potentialities Since 2008, Indo-US defence trade has increased from under $1 billion to now over $18 billion âwith US arms exports to India increasing by over 550 percent during 2013-17. On fighter jets specifically, India â the worldâs largest arms importer, is expected to be a burgeoning market for the United States â the worldâs largest arms producer and exporter. For instance, the US defence firm Lockheed Martin is competing chiefly with Boeingâs F/A-18, Saabâs Gripen, Dassault Aviationâs Rafale, and the Eurofighter Typhoon âto supply the Indian Air Force (IAF) with 114 combat planes in a deal estimated to be worth more than $15 billion." Furthermore, the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) has moved India and the US away from a traditional âbuyer-sellerâ dynamic to one of co-production and co-development. This collaborative approach under DTTI is central to addressing concerns over Modi's 'Make in India' and Trump's 'America First' outlook being incompatible. In this vein, Lockheed Martin has offered to shift its F-16 production line â in partnership with Tata Advanced Systems, to India. Overtime, India would become the sole global production centre for the F-16 in order to also cater to overseas markets. Last year, Lockheed even announced that its joint venture will produce wings for the aircraft in India, âregardless of whether it wins the Indian military orderâ. One may argue the announcement was a result of the US firm finally accepting âwhat many have warned it for years: That the IAF would never buy a fighter whose very name is associated across India with the Pakistan air force which has operated the F-16 since the 1980s.â F-21 - New jet in an old airframe? In tackling the stigma with the F-16, Lockheed Martin recently introduced the F-21 at Aero India in Bengaluru. Though deemed to be specially configured for the IAF, experts have noted âlittle to differentiate the F-21 from the F-16 Block 70.â Described by Vivek Lall (Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics) as being âdifferent, inside and outâ, the F-21 is essentially a recast of the F-16 with its airframe and engine remaining âlargely the sameâ. A significant India-specific addition, however, is the F-21âs dorsal fairing â âa rib along the fighter's spine in which additional equipment can be carried in the future, in order to improve the fighter's avionic capability.â The F-16 had been rejected in IAFâs past Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft contest as the air frame was not considered capable of âintegrating future capability expansions.â Aiming for Indiaâs 114 plane requirement, the F-21 is being touted as âFor India, From Indiaâ. However, this exclusivity raises the stakes â and possibly even the price-point with the economics of scale by catering to overseas markets not figuring in the case, as co-production with Tata Advanced Systems may not take off unless the bid is won. Furthermore, Pakistanâs discussed effort to push the envelope on deployment restrictions would complicate the F-21âs bid to capture Indiaâs fighter jet market. Due to past corruption scandals over arms acquisitions and the recent political rancour over the Rafale deal, arms acquisitions in India now play out in the hyper-polarised public domain. Given the F-21âs broad similarities to the F-16, perceptional parity with Pakistan may continue to factor in â if not exacerbate unpopularity given the case that India shot down a Pakistani F-16 with a relatively less-advanced MiG-21 Bison. Most importantly, recently Pakistanâs ambassador to the US was asked about the misuse of the F-16. In response, he decried any violation by stating, "I think the question is whether Pakistan is preventedâ of such an action by the end-user agreement. The envoyâs statement raises questions if Pakistanâs agreement has wiggle-room to justify its use of F-16s. For instance, in some cases of the United Statesâ end-user agreements with Israel, deployment of US arms are permitted on the vaguely-termed grounds of âlegitimate self-defense.â For a long time, the United Statesâ relations with Pakistan served as an impediment to the development of Indo-US ties. Off late, US actions like its support for grey-listing Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force have gone a long way in tackling that hurdle. Progress on this front may stand jeopardised if the US gives Pakistan a pass on its effort to erode deployment restrictions. Therefore, US response on Pakistanâs possible deployment of the F-16 will bear heavily on its effort to tout the F-21 as an all-exclusive platform for India â despite India-specific value additions like the dorsal fairing and its boost to âMake in Indiaâ. In the meantime, $15 billion hang in the balance. | ||
Teluguhero Side Hero Username: Teluguhero Post Number: 3385 Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 73.104.252.173 Rating: |
LOL unnamed defense officials but not an official statement from US govt. | ||
Teluguhero Side Hero Username: Teluguhero Post Number: 3384 Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 73.104.252.173 Rating: |
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pak-f-16-was-shot-down-says- air-force-refutes-us-journal-report-2018648 Have Proof Pakistani F-16 Shot Down, Says Air Force; Refutes US Journal Report The report comes days before voting starts for the April-May national election. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top BJP leaders have been accused by the opposition of using the Balakot air strike, which was in response to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, in their campaign speeches. NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force today said it had proof that a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet was shot down in the February dogfight, as American news publication Foreign Policy contradicted India quoting unnamed US defence officials. "Two senior US defense officials with direct knowledge of the situation told Foreign Policy that U.S. personnel recently counted Islamabad's F-16s and found none missing," the publication says in a report published on Thursday. In a statement, the Air Force said: "The Indian Forces have confirmed sighting ejections at two different places on that day. The two sightings were at places separated by at least 8-10 km. One was an IAF MiG 21 Bison and other a PAF aircraft. Electronic signatures gathered by us indicate that the PAF aircraft was a F-16." The government had said that in an aerial duel on February 27 - a day after India sent fighter jets to Pakistan's Balakot to strike a terror training camp - Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman had engaged with one of the Pakistani fighter jets that tried to target Indian military facilities and shot it down before he was hit and forced to eject. Abhinandan Varthaman landed across the Line of Control and was in Pakistani custody for three days before he was returned to India amid attempts to de-escalate the crisis between the two sides. The Air Force said radio intercepts proved that two pilots had ejected, not just one. Journalists were shown the radar tracks of the air battle that took place across the LoC near Jhangar, which lies between Rajouri and Nowshera. The radar tracks recorded by airborne warning and control aircraft show the presence of an F-16 aircraft in the vicinity of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's MiG-21 Bison. In the very next frame of the AWACS picture, eight seconds later, the symbol for the PAF F-16 aircraft is missing indicating what IAF sources say is a shootdown of the jet. IAF controllers monitoring the air battle on the AWACS aircraft were also monitoring the radio communication between pilots in the Pakistan F-16 formation. They say communication from one F-16 aircraft abruptly ended which they believe is further confirmation that one Pakistan Air Force jet did not return. However, journalists were not showcased a recording of the audio communication that was taking place on security grounds. According to the Foreign Policy magazine, Pakistan invited the United States to physically count its F-16 planes after the incident as part of an end-user agreement signed when the foreign military sale was finalized. Have Proof Pakistani F-16 Shot Down, Says Air Force; Refutes US Journal Report हिà¤à¤¦à¥ मà¥à¤ पढ़à¥à¤ The report comes days before voting starts for the April-May national election. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top BJP leaders have been accused by the opposition of using the Balakot air strike, which was in response to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, in their campaign speeches. All India | Reported by Vishnu Som | Updated: April 05, 2019 20:07 IST by TaboolaSponsored LinksSponsored 9 Reasons This Electric Toothbrush is Worth All The Hype (quip) 5 Stocks that Could Set You Up for Life (The Motley Fool) SHARE COMMENTS According to Foreign Policy magazine, Pak invited US to physically count its F-16 planes. NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force today said it had proof that a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet was shot down in the February dogfight, as American news publication Foreign Policy contradicted India quoting unnamed US defence officials. "Two senior US defense officials with direct knowledge of the situation told Foreign Policy that U.S. personnel recently counted Islamabad's F-16s and found none missing," the publication says in a report published on Thursday. In a statement, the Air Force said: "The Indian Forces have confirmed sighting ejections at two different places on that day. The two sightings were at places separated by at least 8-10 km. One was an IAF MiG 21 Bison and other a PAF aircraft. Electronic signatures gathered by us indicate that the PAF aircraft was a F-16." The government had said that in an aerial duel on February 27 - a day after India sent fighter jets to Pakistan's Balakot to strike a terror training camp - Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman had engaged with one of the Pakistani fighter jets that tried to target Indian military facilities and shot it down before he was hit and forced to eject. Abhinandan Varthaman landed across the Line of Control and was in Pakistani custody for three days before he was returned to India amid attempts to de-escalate the crisis between the two sides. The Air Force said radio intercepts proved that two pilots had ejected, not just one. Journalists were shown the radar tracks of the air battle that took place across the LoC near Jhangar, which lies between Rajouri and Nowshera. The radar tracks recorded by airborne warning and control aircraft show the presence of an F-16 aircraft in the vicinity of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's MiG-21 Bison. In the very next frame of the AWACS picture, eight seconds later, the symbol for the PAF F-16 aircraft is missing indicating what IAF sources say is a shootdown of the jet. IAF controllers monitoring the air battle on the AWACS aircraft were also monitoring the radio communication between pilots in the Pakistan F-16 formation. They say communication from one F-16 aircraft abruptly ended which they believe is further confirmation that one Pakistan Air Force jet did not return. However, journalists were not showcased a recording of the audio communication that was taking place on security grounds. According to the Foreign Policy magazine, Pakistan invited the United States to physically count its F-16 planes after the incident as part of an end-user agreement signed when the foreign military sale was finalized. "A US count of Pakistan's F-16 fleet has found that all the jets are present and accounted for, a direct contradiction to India's claim that it shot down one of the fighter jets during a February clash," Lara Seligman of the magazine reported. The count has been completed, and "all aircraft were present and accounted for", an unnamed official is quoted as saying. "It is possible that in the heat of combat, Varthaman, flying a vintage MiG-21 Bison, got a lock on the Pakistani F-16, fired, and genuinely believed he scored a hit. But the count, conducted by U.S. authorities on the ground in Pakistan, sheds doubt on New Delhi's version of events, suggesting that Indian authorities may have misled the international community about what happened that day," says Foreign Policy. The report comes days before voting starts for the April-May national election. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top BJP leaders have been accused by the opposition of using the Balakot air strike, which was in response to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, in their campaign speeches. In an interview to India Today, the Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had said: ''We are definitely saying that an F-16 was knocked out by us and initially, the Pakistan Prime Minister claimed that two pilots were with them. One of the pilots was ours and returned as per the norms. Who is the other pilot?'' |
