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India may be tempted to accept America’s F-35 offer, particularly in light of its renewed quest for fifth-generation fighters post Operation Sindoor. However, this is not the ideal choice for the country, given the host of challenges associated with the aircraft’s potential acquisition.
Image Source: Getty
The idea for the sale of the F-35 to India was floated by United States (US) President Donald Trump during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in February 2025, with a formal sales offer likely on the way. India’s recent skirmish with Pakistan vis-à-vis Operation Sindoor has exemplified the importance of possessing advanced fighter aircraft like the Rafale for the Indian Air Force (IAF), making continued aircraft advancement indispensable in any future conflict scenario. This is particularly significant in light of China’s supply of advanced aircraft such as the J-10 and, more recently, the J-35 fifth-generation fighter, to Pakistan. India must ascertain the future of the IAF’s arsenal and whether the F-35 is the best choice. To decide the optimal course of action, a careful examination of the history and technical specifications of the F-35 is warranted.
The F-35 Lightning II was developed under the US Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme, initiated in the 1990s. The DOD selected Lockheed Martin’s aircraft design in October 2001, and the JSF programme consequently entered the system development and demonstration phase. The F-35, alongside the F-22 Raptor, is considered the first fifth-generation strike-fighter aircraft with advanced stealth features such as stealth coatings, an internal weapons bay, and supercruise ability (flying at supersonic speeds without an afterburner). It is powered by the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine, which can deliver over 40,000 pounds of thrust and possesses stealth technologies beyond those of fourth-generation engines. The F-35 can fly at speeds up to Mach 1.6 and has a combat radius of 450 to 600 nautical miles. It comes in three variants—F-35 A, F-35 B, and F-35 C—all of which share the same engine and stealth characteristics, with the main differences being the manner of take-off and landing, fuel capacity and carrier suitability.
Figure 1: F-35 Variants
Source: Congressional Research Service
| F-35 A | F-35 B | F-35 C |
| Designed for the US Air Force (USAF) with Conventional Take-off and Landing (CTOL) capabilities. It is also a dual-capable aircraft (DCA), meaning it can deliver conventional as well as nuclear weapons. | Developed primarily for the US Marine Corps (USMC) and the US Navy, possesses Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) capabilities. | Aircraft carrier variant |
The F-35 is the DOD’s most ambitious and costly procurement effort to date, with an estimated total cost of over US$485 billion for the development and production of 2,470 aircraft and engines, though it is estimated that the total development cost of the programme exceeds US$2 trillion. Along with the F-22, the F-35 forms the cornerstone of the US’ fighter fleet as both aircraft together constitute a “high-low mix,” a combination of air superiority fighters (F-22) and more modest DCAs (F-35). Furthermore, the DOD plans to continue procuring F-35s through the mid-2040s.
The F-35 has encountered several hurdles in its development and modernisation stages, resulting in repeated cost overruns. In December 2018, it entered the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation phase with 873 unresolved deficiencies, 13 of which were classified as Category 1 “must fix” items that affect safety and/or combat capability. Although the DOD approved the aircraft for full-rate production in March 2024, the F-35 programme still faces a number of lingering issues.
Block 4 and TR-3
One of the primary issues facing the F-35 programme has been the “Block 4” modernisation plan approved in March 2017, which includes hardware updates such as an advanced sensor suite and improved electronic warfare systems. This plan also includes the Technical Refresh 3 (TR-3) software update subprogramme, comprising over 50 software upgrades, meant, in part, to provide the processing power to enable Block 4 capabilities. The Block 4 upgrades have seen multiple delays and budget overruns on at least three separate occasions, with the programme budget going up from an initial US$10.6 billion in 2018 to US$16.5 billion by 2023. The Joint Program Office (JPO), which manages the JSF programme, has stated that many Block 4 capabilities will not be available till the 2030s. Likewise, TR-3 has also been delayed, prompting the USAF to stop accepting the delivery of the F-35 A aircraft altogether in July 2023. Subsequently, in July 2024, the USAF resumed accepting the delivery of the F-35s with a limited version of TR-3. It initially withheld the payment of US$5 million per aircraft until the upgrade was completed; the amount was subsequently brought down to US$1.2 million per aircraft.
The F-35 utilises a data-tracking system called the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) for enhancing maintenance. However, due to its ageing software architecture, the system is reportedly not very efficient, often requiring manual inputs, while also being vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Engine Upgrade
The Block 4 and TR-3 upgrades require power and cooling upgrades for the F135 engine. Though both General Electric and Pratt & Whitney received US$1 billion contracts to develop advanced engines for the F-35 under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program in 2016, both the resulting XA100 and XA101 engines were rejected, most likely due to bloated integration costs. The DOD has instead opted for an Engine Core Upgrade programme for the existing F135 engine, expected to be completed only by 2032.
Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS)
The F-35 utilises a data-tracking system called the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) for enhancing maintenance. However, due to its ageing software architecture, the system is reportedly not very efficient, often requiring manual inputs, and is also vulnerable to cyberattacks. In 2020, the DOD proposed the transition to a cloud-based system called the Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN), which would also be compatible with the TR-3 upgrade. The ALIS-to-ODIN transition programme is currently underway.
The above issues have been a hindrance to the F-35 achieving its performance goals, leading to a decline in availability, reliability, and maintainability. For instance, in 2023, the mission-capable rate for the USAF’s F-35 A fleet was 51.9 percent, far below the minimum target of 80 percent. Moreover, there has been some recent speculation that the F-35 is not even combat-capable at the moment. Additionally, the F-35 has also been involved in multiple accidents since 2020—some minor, but others involving significant damage. Though accidents are a part of any aircraft’s development cycle, these incidents highlight some of the systemic issues plaguing the F-35 programme.
While Lockheed Martin has blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for supply chain disruptions—which it claims are behind several of these issues—the defence giant was not able to meet its delivery targets even by 2023. It is also telling that the company is no longer involved in the US’ Next Generation Air Dominance programme for developing sixth-generation fighters, with the DOD instead opting for Boeing’s F-47 aircraft. Consequently, countries such as Switzerland are considering opting out of procuring the F-35, owing, at least in part, to technical concerns.
Since the inception of the JSF programme, over 1,100 F-35s have been exported to a total of 19 US-allied nations. Though the delivery timelines have historically been adhered to, there have been increasing delays in recent years. For instance, the scheduled delivery of six F-35 B aircraft to Japan in 2024 was pushed back due to Block 4 upgrade delays. Belgium witnessed a similar delay in the delivery of F-35 As earlier in 2025, which impeded its own ability to transfer the 30 F-16s it had promised to Ukraine.
Besides the high unit and maintenance costs, the F-35 is built for NATO interoperability, thereby making it particularly cumbersome for India to operate and maintain the aircraft.
Soaring costs have been another concern for countries importing the F-35, with nations such as Japan and, more recently, Canada, facing a host of issues on account of cost overruns. The US has also been notoriously sensitive when it comes to technology transfer, thanks to regulations such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which have led to friction even with close allies like the UK and South Korea.
The US is considering formally offering the F-35A to India via a Foreign Military Sales agreement. This is not the best choice for the Indian Air Force’s fleet. Despite being among the most advanced fifth-generation aircraft in the world, the F-35 faces a host of technical and logistical challenges, as mentioned above. Further, there are other contextual obstacles involved in India’s procurement of the aircraft. Besides the high unit and maintenance costs, the F-35 was built for NATO interoperability, thereby making it particularly cumbersome for India to operate and maintain. Moreover, the aircraft’s complete reliance on the US for both software (ALIS and subsequently, ODIN) and hardware (weapons systems) maintenance and upgrades could potentially subject all IAF operations to American scrutiny and oversight. Furthermore, the F-35’s software is classified, with the US DOD itself facing litigation over intellectual property rights issues with Lockheed Martin.
In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, India must ascertain the future of its air fleet. While pursuing the recently greenlit indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) would be the ideal choice, India’s history with developing indigenous fighters has been far from stellar: the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft took over 30 years to fructify, following multiple delays and cost overruns. If the AMCA programme faces similar delays, India will essentially be forced to continue its reliance on foreign alternatives such as the Russian Sukhoi Su-57 or the American F-35. Given Pakistan’s recent push to acquire fifth-generation fighters from China and the imminent threat of such air power advantage in a future conflict scenario, India may be cornered into foregoing the benefits of a native fifth-generation fighter in favour of foreign alternatives, even if the delivery timelines can be met. Though both alternatives are accompanied by their own challenges and trade-offs, in light of the above issues, the F-35 certainly does not seem like a suitable choice for India.
Prateek Tripathi is a Junior Fellow with the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation.
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Prateek Tripathi is a Junior Fellow at the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology. His work focuses on emerging technologies and deep tech including quantum technology ...
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