[mytailorisrich]

Why does the Japanese Air Force is pretty much 100% US aircrafts (with some local ones) while the Indian Air Force is, AFAIK, 0% US aircrafts.

Those things are not governed by the "free market".

"Desirable aircraft" is a subjective term. They bought it so it was 'desirable' by the metrics and considerations at play which go way beyond tech specs and cost.

[blagie]

I will ignore the potentially false statements and restrictions on arm sales, and answer the high-level question:

Force design is a question of what the force will be used for. A military for a counterinsurgency in Iraq, will look very different from one for a peer-level conflict between superpowers. A military designed for force projection will look very different than one used for domestic defence. Etc.

There is a fairly standard way of doing the analysis for what makes sense for a given country's specific defence needs and wants:

* Most of India's defence needs center around Pakistan, as well as skirmishes of various sorts. I can think of few things an F35 can do which India needs done which can't be accomplished by a much cheaper plane.

* Japan's primary goal issue is China's growing military base. I can think of few uses Japan would have for a much cheaper plane.

India's answer to all-out war with China are nukes. Aside from that, it has no chance for military parity in the next half-century or so.

[ethanbond]

According to Wikipedia there are at least 7 types of American aircraft in the Indian Air Force and at least one British aircraft in the Japanese fleet, so I’m not sure what answer you’re angling for with “why does…?”

Agreed, all products, especially industrial and military products, are purchased based on their complete offering. The US is able to make very strong complete offers for a variety of reasons (e.g. the supply chain for replacement parts). I don’t think it’s fair to ascribe this to “flexing geopolitical muscle,” which IMO reads like “the US is strong-arming its customers into inferior products.”

[mytailorisrich]

Again, please do not misrepresent others' comments and try not to nitpick. I tried to engage but you do not reply on the substance or in a substantial way.

[ethanbond]

I quite literally do not know how to interpret your point about Japan and India because your claims are literally not true.

Even if Japan were 100% US aircraft it wouldn’t obviously be indicative of your broader point given Japan’s unique post-war restrictions on its military (enforced by the US).