Lockheed Martin awaits decision.
The US government may take a “fresh look†at defense firm Lockheed Martin’s plan to setup F-16 plant in India, Reuters reported.
The company had announced its plans to switch F-16 productions to India and use its Texas plant to produce the fifth generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; apparently, after Pentagon decided not to order F-16 anymore and instead transition to F-35.
“We’ve briefed the administration on the current proposal, which was supported by the Obama administration as part of a broader cooperative dialogue with the government of India,†Lockheed’s spokesperson told Reuters.
“We understand that the Trump administration will want to take a fresh look at some of these programs, and we stand prepared to support that effort to ensure that any deal importance properly aligned with US policy priorities,†the spokesperson added.
The company has been talking to President Trump’s transition and governance teams as well as the US Congress for several months on its plans, the spokesman added.
Trump had pushed companies to produce more in the United States and he also criticized the companies that have moved manufacturing overseas and then sells their products back in the US.
However, Lockheed don’t have any plans to sell back “Made in India’ F-16 to the United States, Reuters reported. The company also assures that about 800 workers in the United States making the non-Lockheed parts for the F-16 would keep their jobs if construction shifts to India.
The shifting would create 200 engineering jobs in the United States to help support the production line in India, the company told Reuters.
The news agency also quoted a person close to Lockheed who said that the company officials did not know what the Trump administration planned to do about the proposal to shift F-16 production to India.
“They’re following it closely and talking with the White House. But if they don’t move production to India, there’s no way they’ll get the India contract,†Reuters reported.
As India is expected to spend $250 billion on defense modernization over the next ten years, a veto on making the F-16 in India would hit Lockheed and other companies such as Boeing, Northrop and Raytheon, which are all expecting military contracts from India.