F-16 to get its wings from Telangana

Washington/Hyderabad: The wings of Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter jets will be produced in India, the American security and aerospace giant announced on Tuesday, in a major boost to the 'Make in India' initiative. 

Maryland-based Lockheed Martin has entered into an agreement with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) for the production of the wings. Lockheed officials insisted that the planned F-16 wing production to India is not contingent on India selecting the F-16 for the Indian Air Force. The production of the wings of F-16s is expected to begin within three months at the manufacturing facility of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) at Adibatla on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

“The wings will be manufactured in Hyderabad. The production will begin in three months,” Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries and IT, Telangana, told The Hans India. He further said that Richard Edwards, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin International, met Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday and briefed him about the development. 

Lockheed has offered to move its entire F-16 manufacturing base to India. India is yet to make a decision on it. Producing F-16 wings in India will strengthen Lockheed Martin's strategic partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Limited and support the 'Make in India' initiative of the government, officials of the company said.

"Building F-16 wings in India is a natural next step that builds on our successful partnerships with Tata on the C-130J [Super Hercules airlifter] and S-92 [helicopter]," said Vivek Lall, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

"This is a strategic business decision that reflects the value of our partnerships with India and the confidence we have in Tata to perform advanced defence manufacturing work and deliver world-class products," Lall said. Lockheed Martin's broader proposed F-16 partnership with India — to produce F-16s exclusively in India for its Air Force and export customers — stands firm, the company said. 

Lockheed recently submitted a comprehensive, fully compliant 600-plus page Request for Information (RFI) response to the Indian Air Force. 

Last year, Lockheed Martin and TASL announced their intent to join hands to produce the F-16 Block 70 in India if the aircraft is selected by the Indian Air Force. The F-16 Block 70 features advanced avionics, a proven Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, a modernised cockpit, advanced weapons, conformal fuel tanks, an automatic ground collision avoidance system, an advanced engine and an industry-leading extended structural service life of 12,000 hours. 

To date, 4,604 F-16s have been procured by 28 customers around the world. Approximately 3,000 operational F-16s are flying today with 25 leading air forces, including the US Air Force.