NEW DELHI: India plans to buy six Hercules trans****t planes from Lockheed
Martin for nearly $1 billion, marking the country's biggest ever military
aircraft deal with the United States, officials said on Monday.
"The government has signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the US
government for the procurement of six C-130J-30 (Hercules) trans****t
aircraft for the Indian air force," Defence Minister A K Antony said in a
statement.
The estimated value of the aircraft along with ground-sup****t equipment
and
spares was around 962 million dollars, Antony said.
"Delivery of these aircraft is likely to be completed by December 2011,"
Antony added.
More than 2,300 C-130s have been sold to 67 countries since 1954. The
Indian
deal involves an upgraded version of the Hercules, which began production
in
1997, the company said.
The US-based Lockheed is also in the race for a $12 billion contract to
sell
126 fighter jets to the Indian air force.
The Hercules contract is the largest ever awarded to a US company by
India,
New Delhi officials said.
The contract includes lifetime maintenance sup****t guarantees for the
four-engined turboprop aircraft, which will be used as the main tactical
plane for special operations.
Lockheed Martin has offered to configure the 30-metre-long (99-foot)
planes
according to India's needs and equip them with missile and radar warning
systems, military officials said.
The technology-starved Indian air force operates Soviet-era 10- and
40-tonne
capacity trans****t aircraft and officials said the Hercules, which can
haul
20 tonnes, would be able to "fill the gap."
The Hercules, which can be used on humanitarian missions, is part of a
2004
multi-billion-dollar Indian programme to create world-standard special
forces units.
The announcement came two months after India handed a 1.5-billion euro
(2.2
billion dollar) deal to France's Dassault to upgrade 51 Mirage-2000
fighter
jets, which the Indian air force bought in 1985.
Ties with India's main arms supplier Russia, which accounts for 70 per
cent
of the country's military inventory, now face rough weather over delays in
deliveries and pricing.
India, the largest buyer of armaments among emerging nations, plans to
spend
$ 30 billion until 2012 to modernise its 1.23-million-strong military, the
world's fourth largest.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Airlines__Aviation/India_signs_962_million_aircraft_deal_with_US_firm/articleshow/2875103.cms
|
