Rumor mill has it US will offer Kitty Hawk to India bundled with Super Hornets...
I think I'm gonna puke. The 'HAWK is my ship.Rumor mill has it US will offer Kitty Hawk to India ...
FREAKIN' AWESOME! If true!I think I'm gonna puke. The 'HAWK is my ship.
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FREAKIN' AWESOME! If true!
India has continually been getting the shaft from Russias progress on the Vikramaditya/Gorshkov... firings, corruption, delays... Up until this, they had no real alternative, can you imagine how pissed Putin would be if this went through, after all the effort to puff up their defense exports...
Better end? What like being turned into an artificial reef?
Until they -- the Indians -- decide it's in THEIR best interest to once again, "cozy up" with the Russians or someone else. Or go it alone, if they think they have the power to do so.They're interested in kissy-face now w/the US because of the Pak bomb and they can milk more out of the US than the Rooskies at present as a result. They're probably not big fans of Al-Queda, either. They used to be concerned w/ the ChiComs on the northern borders ... and Kashmir ... and Sikh separatists in Punjab .... and, and ... the list goes on......Had you made your statement 15 years ago, I'd agree w/ you. I think selling them the Kitty Hawk, will pull them farther away from Russia's sphere of influence.
Given the likelihood of having strong, mutually-supportive relations long-term w/ either the Russians, Chinese or Indians, I'd say the Indians are by far the most conceivable & likely. It is a 60-yr democratic nation that cozied up w/ the Russians because of their history as a British colony & for their own Cold War reasons. Remember also that India fought a brief, but intense war w/ China during the late 60's. That has changed dramatically since the early 90's & IMHO we should do all we can to continue improving our relations there.
The Indians aren't interested in being our clients. They are very pragmatic and do things that are in their self interest. If we now give them the ability to "power project" or "sea control" in the IO by virtue of a vehicle like the 'Hawk and AirWing or something similar -- i.e., a big, capable deck -- we could be setting ourselves up for problems in the future.