Amid 2+2 dialogue, US offers F-18 fighter jets for Indian Navy's aircraft carriers

In a bid to further cement its ties with India, the United States of America has offered its F-18 naval fighter jets for Indian Navy aircraft carriers. This development comes after the 2+2 ministerial-level talks that took place on Tuesday. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper held the talks with their Indian counterparts. 

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US offers F-18 naval fighter jets to India

The Indian Navy too had expressed its interest to procure 57 combat jets that would be operated from its aircraft carriers, INS Vikramaditya and the indigenious aircraft carrier which is under construction. 

"The American government has offered to provide their naval fighter aircraft F-18 for the Indian Navy under a government proposal at the meeting between the defence delegations of both countries during the 2+2 meetings," a government source stated. 

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In addition, apart from the F-18 fighter jets, the US has also offered its unmanned aircraft Sea Guardian for the Indian Navy along with other defence assets. The Indian Navy has also been assessing the F-18 and Rafale's naval variants as its current fighter jets are likely to be replaced by the end of this decade or beginning of the next. The process is a part of Indian Navy's measure to boost its present and futuristic requirements for its carrier-based operations. 

The F-18 was also offered to Indian Air Force for its requirement of 126 multirole medium combat aircraft. The other two options were the Eurofighter and the Rafale. The F-18 fighter can be operated from the Indian Aircraft carriers. Moreover both the Rafale and F-18 have showcased simulated capability of their fighter aircrafts to take-off and land from the INS Vikramaditya. 

In the recent defence developments, India Navy has shifted more towards American-built assets. The long-range survelliance aircraft consists a fleet of 12 P-8I aircrafts. Six more of these are scheduled to arrive in the future. In addition, the Sea King multirole helicopters will also be replaced by 24 MH-60 Romeos under a government-to-government deal. 

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India-US 2+2 Dialogue

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday held talks with their counterparts EAM S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Both sides signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA). BECA will allow India to access precision data, topographical images, maps, nautical and aeronautical data and other classified satellite data on a real-time basis from US military satellites which will aid in providing better accuracy of stand-off weapons like cruise, ballistic missiles and drones.

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(With ANI Inputs)