The story so far: The two foremost Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) of Russia and the U.S., the SU-57 and F-35, got a lot of attention at Aero India, which was held from February 10-14 in Bengaluru, with the former undoubtedly being the showstopper with its manoeuvres. Just as that wound up, U.S. President Donald Trump, addressing a press meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the U.S. is also paving the way to “ultimately” provide India with F-35 stealth fighters. What’s the F-35? The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a single seat, single-engine strike fighter jet with three variants, F-35A, which has a conventional take-off and landing for the Air Force, F-35B short take-off/vertical landing for the Marine Corps and an F-35C aircraft carrier variant for the Navy and the Marine Corps. In addition to the U.S., the programme has seven international partners, and 10 foreign military sales customers, and the jets are expected to be in service well into the 2080s. As of January 30, 2025, 1,110 F-35s were delivered, according to the …