The Bush backers might want to hold off on the victory celebrations though… News this week out of India is that the Indian military has concluded an agreement with their counter-parts in Russia to jointly design a fifth-generation jet fighter. Fifth-gen aircraft are the most modern, most advanced jets in the sky, and are the planes that will form the core of any modern nation’s air force for decades to come (currently the only fifth-gen fighter in service anywhere in the world is the US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor). The agreement with Russia is to jointly build their new fifth-gen aircraft that will enter service in both countries simultaneously, not for India to receive a lower-tech export model of a Russian plane (which has been the way advanced technology has been shared in the past). The Russian-Indian consortium hopes to fly a test aircraft by the end of the year.
It is the latest in a series of military agreements between Russia and India, which include the sale of other fourth-generation aircraft, a Soviet-era aircraft carrier (currently being refurbished in Russia) and possibly the lease of a new Russian nuclear attack submarine. They’re all ties that poke holes in the idea that George W. has pulled India out of the Russian orbit and into ours – its probably a lot more accurate to say that India will act in India’s best self-interests, working with Russia on a host of issues and the US with others when they see an advantage for India in doing so.
Meanwhile, this morning in a survey of US presidential historians sponsored by C-SPAN, George W. came in at 36 overall and 41st when you focus just on International Relations (William Henry Harrison finished last in case you’re wondering).
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