India at ‘advanced stage’ of navy spy planes deal

[Neo]

India at ‘advanced stage’ of navy spy planes deal​

* Expects to take delivery of eight planes by mid-2015
* PM launches naval summit to forge ties with nations with stakes in Indian Ocean maritime lanes​

NEW DELHI: The Indian navy’s plans to buy eight long-range maritime reconnaissance planes from Boeing or EADS for two billion dollars are at an “advanced stage,” a report said Thursday.

“The Indian navy plans to replace eight old (Soviet-era) TU-142 planes with an equal number of state-of-art aircraft,” Indian navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta told the latest edition of military news magazine Force. “The case has been progressed strictly in accordance with the current defence procurement policy and presently it is at an advanced stage,” he told the magazine. “The intention is to have the first aircraft delivered in mid-2012 and all the eight aircraft by mid-2015.”

Indian defence ministry officials separately told AFP on Thursday that Boeing’s P-8i “outperformed” its closest rival - A-319 patrol aircraft from the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, or EADS. Highly placed government sources said clearance to buy planes from Boeing was likely “during or around” an official trip to India by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates later this month. If the contract is awarded to Boeing, the deal would be India’s biggest military aircraft deal with the US in five decades.

Naval summit: India on Thursday launched its first naval summit aimed at forging ties with nations that have a stake in the busy maritime lanes of the Indian Ocean. Twenty-six representatives of navies from countries including Australia, Egypt, France and Sri Lanka are attending the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), seen by experts as an effort by New Delhi to assert its strategic presence.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, launching the two-day event, said regional cooperation would help navies combat piracy and terrorism. “Recent years have seen a rise in crimes such as terrorism, smuggling, including of narcotics, arms and weapons, and piracy and robbery,” Singh said. “The perpetrators of these crimes are well-organised and well-funded transnational crime syndicates who take full advantage of the vastness of the oceans. The need for cooperation among the navies of the region in preventing such crimes is therefore of paramount interest,” he said.

“India remains committed to an Indian Ocean that is stable and peaceful,” the prime minister said, calling for “the freedom of the seas for all nations... to deepen trade and economic links.”

Last September, India however invited Australia, Japan, Singapore and the US for the largest peacetime joint naval exercises off the Andaman islands - raising eyebrows in Pakistan and China. The IONS will also focus on the war in Sri Lanka, notably the Tamil Tigers’ continued weapons smuggling, diplomats said. “This critical military crisis highlights the need for synergy among navies to keep the Indian Ocean free of pirates and gun-runners,” a New Delhi-based diplomat said.

Uday Bhaskar, a former Indian naval commander, said the summit was a clear “attempt by India to enhance the credibility of its navy as a maritime power.” The summit will wind up on Friday with a closed-door conclave of the naval chiefs in the Indian seaside resort of Goa. afp

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[su-47]

i hope we get P-8I. its going to replace the US P-3 orion, and will be the mainstay of US Maritime reconnaisance and ASW. thats proof enough that it is a state-of-the-art weapon system.