U.S. Army Chaplain Col. (ret.) J. Wesley Smith, a senior military analyst at the American Center for Law and Justice, wrote Thursday in response to President Barack Obama’s decision to allow American military aircraft to be manufactured in India.
Military contractors Lockheed-Martin and Boeing have been in talks with the Indian government to build the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft, respectively, overseas. Both companies would build new production facilities in India, and Lockheed-Martin has stated it plans to move its entire F-16 production line overseas.
Smith wrote:
At issue in this proposal is not only the production of the aircraft in India, the loss of jobs in the United States and the idea of the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marines flying aircraft built in a foreign country—but also the transfer of highly classified technology and license agreements to a foreign nation. Both aircraft have been continually upgraded over the years since their introduction into the U.S. military arsenal. For example, parts of the avionics, targeting systems and defensive countermeasures are classified. While the F-16 was created with a consortium of four NATO countries, when individual planes are sold to certain countries, they do not always get the latest technology and advancements that an American pilot might have access to when flying the plane. All of this is subject to change once India controls production of the aircraft. Many of the details of both aircraft are deemed highly classified.
We must not give India the right to make and sell our fighter jets. We must protect our own workers and our national security.
We are preparing critical legal letters to fight this proposal and to aggressively demand that this proposed deal be canceled. We are requesting that Congress use every measure at their disposal to block and de-fund this dangerous move. We urge President Obama and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to reject this proposal. We are also urgently requesting that the Department of State and the Department of Commerce, which would also have to sign off on this proposal, absolutely deny approval to this potential threat to our nation’s security.
Click here to read the entire article at ACLJ.org. The article includes an online petition urging the Obama Administration to reverse the decision. {eoa}
