Washington mulls F-16 aircraft production boost for Ukraine

Lockheed Martin has announced intention to transfer F-16 line to India, if the company were declared winner of IAF tender

After controversially deciding to send main battle tanks to Ukraine to boost its embattled military, the US is considering ramping up production of F-16 fighters to send to Ukraine, says a report in the Financial Times (FT).

A news report in FT on Thursday quotes Frank St John, the chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin, which builds the F-16, as saying that there was “a lot of conversation about third party transfers of F-16s”, which implies that countries would re-export American aircraft that they have to boost Ukraine’s ability to defend its airspace against Russian fighters.

St John stated that Lockheed Martin