Article Posted on : - Jul 25, 2012

F-22 Raptor at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. Photo: USAF.

WASHINGTON (PTI): The Pentagon has said that it is not aware of any potential sale of F-22 fighter jets to India.

"I'm not aware of a potential F-22 sale to India," the Pentagon Press Secretary, George Little, told reporters at a news conference.

"I'll let you know if I hear differently," Little said when asked about the possibility of sale of F-22 to India.

F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation super maneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology.

It was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but has additional capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles.

Despite that countries like Japan and Australia have shown interest in it, the export of F-22 is barred by American federal law.

Current customers for US fighters are either acquiring earlier designs such as the F-15, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, or are waiting to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter), which contains technology from the F-22 but is designed to be cheaper, more flexible, and available for export.