Prof. Prodyut Das 2

  The Lockheed Martin F 35:   An Indian Appraisal                    Prof. Prodyut Das Iss 2   0212/2024 Some time back I was approached by a Twitter-er who suggested I do an appraisal on the LM F 35. I have improved on the suggestion and decided to comply to the request in two parts. The first and present part is what I think about the programme which achieved much more than is generally credited and the F 35 really is, to repeat Alexander Yakovlev sixty years ago (after he had examined the wreckages of the ex-Vietnam Phantoms!),“Without a doubt t echnically (nota bene!)   the Phantom II is a triumph for the US Aerospace Industry”. This in no ways means I support acquisition of the F 35 by India. Neither do I think the F 35 is a very suitable warplane for us. The F 35 is the usual case of US case of overkill done largely because technically the US can do these things and thanks to NATO, its marketing arm, sell...