'You don’t even let us go near the aircraft': As IAF trains with F-35s, US guards secrets

The US Air Force has been protective of the F-35 at the second edition of Exercise Tarang Shakti. This was the first time that the advanced fifth-generation fighter has flown in India airspace in an operational manner. The F-35 has made appearances at the Aero India, a biennial aerospace and defence exhibition held at Yelahanka in Bengaluru. Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, while seated next to General Kevin Schneider, Commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, during a press conference in Jodhpur stated “Your people don’t even let us go near the aircraft, and you talk about selling it to us.” The IAF Chief also said, in response to another question that “The US did not show us the cockpit, but allowed us to fly in close formation.”General Schneider did clarify that the decision was not his to make.