US JOBS RETAINED
Lockheed in pact with Tata to build F-16s in India
Modi’s Make-in-India drive compels foreign suppliers to make aircraft in India with a local partner to help build a domestic industrial base
Paris — Lockheed Martin signed an agreement with India’s Tata Advanced Systems on Monday to produce F-16 fighter aircraft in India, pressing ahead with a plan to shift its Fort Worth, Texas, plant to win billions of dollars in orders from the Indian military. India’s air force needs hundreds of aircraft to replace its Soviet-era fleet, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has said foreign suppliers would have to make the aircraft in India with a local partner to help build a domestic industrial base and cut outright imports. Modi’s Make-in-India drive runs the risk of conflicting with US President Donald Trump’s America First campaign under which he has been pressing for companies to invest in the US and create jobs instead of setting up factories abroad. In announcing their agreement at the Paris Air Show, Lockheed and Tata said moving the production base to India would still retain jobs in the US. "F-16 production in India supports thousands of Lockheed Martin and F-16 su...
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