President Biden has reacted with mounting anger at Israel's determination to eliminate Hamas even if this results in a rupture of the US-Israel special relationship. This has led to calls by numerous Democratic legislators and others within the Biden Administration to either restrict or condition US military aid to Israel. This, in turn, has awakened Israelis to the need to significantly increase our indigenous military production capability. To this end, there are an assortment of weapons that can be fairly easily manufactured in Israel. These include battle rifles, aircraft bombs, artillery shells and tank rounds. However, most people seem to believe that we are simply not in any position to build a stealth fighter comparable to the F-35 Adir. But this belief is wrong. We can, in fact, do this if we enter into a collaborative project with India to produce such a plane.
Just recently, the Indian government approved the manufacture of their Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft or AMCA. This twin engine jet is intended to be India's fifth generation stealth fighter. The Indian Air Force eventually intends to equip the plane with an engine capable of supersonic cruise capability and thrust vector control in cooperation with a foreign partner. We could be this partner.
Clearly, we have much to offer the Indians in terms of a co-production deal. This might also include one of the best phased array radars in the industry, passive infra red threat detectors and even a laser defense system that's currently under development. Such a deal might also include joint development of a new Phoenix type beyond visual range air-to-air missile and even an unmanned "loyal wingman" type aircraft, which is seen as a multi role aerial force multiplier.
Granted, we can't currently provide the Indians with the super cruise engine they want to install on the AMCA. But there's no reason our two countries can't develop one together. This might seem a bit much to accomplish, yet the payoff from such an effort would free not only India and Israel from dependence upon unreliable foreign suppliers but, also, many other countries that want to be sure to have a dependable supply of spare parts in future wars.
In conclusion, assuming the Indians would agree to such a co-production offer with us, both countries would gain an immense degree of operational freedom. We would also create a tremendous competitive alliance that would appeal to other countries that wanted to defend their ability to act unilaterally, if necessary, in defense of their own national security interests. So, instead of worrying about our perceived inability to produce a state-of-the-art stealth fighter, we should create such a possibility in collaboration with the Indians. Both countries would have everything to gain from such an arrangement, and absolutely nothing to lose- except our mutual vulnerability to foreign military embargoes
