Trump's F-35 sale proposal slammed as expensive by India's opposition party

Opposition parties in India have criticized US President Donald Trump's offer to sell F-35 fighter jets to the country, citing high costs, Reuters reported on February 17.

The criticism comes as Russia has discussed manufacturing its most advanced jet in India, a goal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The offer from the US and Russia comes at a time when the Indian Air Force's squadron strength has been reduced to 31 from 42.

After meeting with Mr. Modi last week, Mr. Trump said the United States would increase military deals with India from this year and would gradually provide Lockheed Martin's fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet.

The Indian National Congress has cited billionaire Elon Musk's previous criticism of the fighter jet to target Prime Minister Modi's government .

"The F-35 that Elon Musk described as junk, why is Narendra Modi insisting on buying it?", according to a post on the official X account of the Congress party, also saying that the aircraft is expensive and has high operating costs.

The US government estimates an F-35 costs about $80 million.

The Indian government has not said whether it intends to buy the aircraft. India's foreign minister told reporters last week that the US offer was at the "proposal stage," adding that the procurement process had not yet begun.

The Indian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Russia offered to manufacture its fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet in India using Indian components, saying production could begin as early as this year if India agrees.

“Russia has never been shy about transferring technology,” said Amit Cowshish, a former financial adviser on procurement at India’s Ministry of Defense.

"The issue is not that Russia is offering technology transfer, we will continue to do business with Russia like buying oil and maybe buying a few other things, but such a big (defense) deal would probably create its own difficulties for the United States," Mr. Cowshish said.