This will be give impetus to the US-based company to move their manufacturing unit in Fort Worth, Texas in a bid to win orders worth billions of dollars from the Indian Air Force.
According to defence experts, the Indian Air Force needs around 200 medium weight category aircraft and now does not operate F-16s.
"F-16 production in India supports thousands of Lockheed Martin and F-16 supplier jobs in the U.S., creates new manufacturing jobs in India, and positions the Indian industry at the centre of the most extensive fighter aircraft supply ecosystem in the world", the companies said in a joint statement.
Both parties signed the pact at Paris Air Show to produce F-16 Block 70 fighter jets in India as part of the Make in India initiative.
"We've briefed the administration on the current proposal, which was supported by the [Barack] Obama administration as part of a broader cooperative dialogue with the government of India", a company spokesperson had told Reuters.
India, the world's top defence importer, is conducting a US$100-billion upgrade of its Soviet-era military hardware, facing border disputes with its northern and western neighbours, China and Pakistan.
India is in dire need of new planes as its 900 fighters, mostly Russian-built aircraft are nearing the end of their lives, and need to be replaced.
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Modi wants the world to produce in India while Trump wants companies to invest in India to create jobs there.
A Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet lands during a flight display at the International Paris Air Show in Le Bourget outside Paris on June 19, 2017.
"Lockheed Martin is honoured to partner with Indian defence and aerospace leader Tata Advanced Systems Limited on the F-16 programme", said Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
The Lockheed Martin-TASL F-16 partnering agreement builds on TASL's proven performance manufacturing airframe components for the C-130J airlifter and the S-92 helicopter. Some 3,200 of these planes are being flown by 26 countries and the model that is being offered to India will be Block 70, the most modern of all the F-16s.
The F-35 has received a great deal of criticism by those who say it's too expensive, including President Donald Trump and other officials from the US who criticized the most expensive program at the Pentagon for its many cost overruns and delays.
About Tata Advanced Systems Limited Tata Advanced Systems Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, focused on providing integrated solutions for Aerospace, Defence and Homeland Security.
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