India Considers Buying More Boeing Apaches

[SpArK]

India Considers Buying More Boeing Apaches​

Jul. 24, 2013

NEW DELHI — Boeing could snare yet another big order from India as the Indian Army has asked the Defence Ministry to acquire an unspecified number of AH-64D Apache attack helicopters, according to an MoD source.

Last year, the Indian Air Force purchased 22 Apaches for US $1.3 billion. Beyond the Indian Army request, a third order of helicopters could be in the offing for India’s planned Mountain Corps.

Boeing executives in New Delhi were unavailable for comment.

US companies have already won contracts worth more than $8 billion over the past four years, and most of the weapons and equipment supplied to India have come through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route. India has bought 10 Boeing C-17 aircraft, 12 Boeing P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft and six Lockheed Martin C-130J transport planes.

The Indian Army wants its Apaches to be exclusive to the service and not associated with the Air Force’s 22 helicopters.

The MoD source added that, instead of inviting fresh bids, the MoD is considering a repeat order, which he said could be finalized by the end of the year. The size of the order is not known.



Meanwhile, an Indian Army official said the newly sanctioned Mountain Corps of roughly 30,000 troops, which could be deployed along the China border, would also be equipped with yet another purchase of attack helicopters.

The Cabinet Committee on Security, the highest decision-making body on weapon purchases and security, approved the additional troops this month.

The attack helicopters for the Mountain Corps would be in addition to the order being considered by the MoD for the Army. The Indian Army, however, must still decide when and how to procure the additional unspecified numbers of attack helicopters for the Mountain Corps, which is expected to be in operation in about 10 years, the Indian Army official said.

India has, meanwhile, developed an indigenous light combat helicopter. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will build 60 Rudra helicopters for the Army and Air Force.

The Rudra is powered by a new Shakti engine, jointly developed by Hindustan Aeronautics and French engine manufacturer Turbomeca. The new engine will allow the Rudra to fly above 20,000 feet.


Source: India Considers Buying More Boeing Apaches | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[veekysingh]

self delete

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

unspecified number?

 

[Killswitch]

The army will need at least 30 of these to form the tip of the spear for the mountain strike corps air elements.

Allot of activity and deals being made since the PLA incursion earlier this year.

Thanks for waking up south block PLA!

 

[SQ8]

Im surprised that it took that long. Considering that hypothetically.. there are some 8000 tanks that they have to face..along with countless bunkers and IFVs; that the order was just for 22.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Im surprised that it took that long. Considering that hypothetically.. there are some 8000 tanks that they have to face..along with countless bunkers and IFVs; that the order was just for 22.

@Oscar; do you mean the NE front? That is hardly Tank and IFV country. 8o or 8000, does that matter?

 

[SQ8]

@Oscar; do you mean the NE front? That is hardly Tank and IFV country. 8o or 8000, does that matter?

I am talking about the combined tank forces that could possibly be faced. Not that I really wanted to focus on tanks.. but rather that 22 seemed hardly more than a token number.

 

[Mike_Brando]

Im surprised that it took that long. Considering that hypothetically.. there are some 8000 tanks that they have to face..along with countless bunkers and IFVs; that the order was just for 22.

sir,i have asked the same question to a friend of mine who is an officer in the Army and he said that the Army would require around 50-60 Apaches along with the 114 LCH which they have already ordered to properly equip all the 14(13+!) corps.plus they will probably acquire more than 100 Rudra armed helicopters in the near future.
p.s. i don't have any link to support my claim,just wrote what i heard from my friend!

 

[Echo_419]

I personally think that we should not buy any American weapons
Only European,Brazillian & Russian

You never know when sanctions might hit you

 

[SQ8]

sir,i have asked the same question to a friend of mine who is an officer in the Army and he said that the Army would require around 50-60 Apaches along with the 114 LCH which they have already ordered to properly equip all the 14(13+!) corps.plus they will probably acquire more than 100 Rudra armed helicopters in the near future.
p.s. i don't have any link to support my claim,just wrote what i heard from my friend!

That still makes sense, specifically when you have multiple Corps to support..

 

[Capt.Popeye]

I am talking about the combined tank forces that could possibly be faced. Not that I really wanted to focus on tanks.. but rather that 22 seemed hardly more than a token number.

That 'token' figure is not surprising. That is how the MoD bureaucracy works in India. They are happiest buying things in batches. Helps them to juggle budget figures from fiscal to fiscal. Apart from that; there was the "turf issues" between the IAF and IA that was looming over ownership and operation of helicopters. That was unresolved at the time that the proposal was first mooted. So this piecemeal kind of working gave some 'breathing time'. But that issue has not fully gone away yet.
This has some relationship to the early days of the Kargil Ops and what transpired then.

 

[Contrarian]

Im surprised that it took that long. Considering that hypothetically.. there are some 8000 tanks that they have to face..along with countless bunkers and IFVs; that the order was just for 22.

The plan is to have each Corps equipped with its
1 sqdrn of Heavy Attack Chopper
multiple sqdrns of LCH(Light Combat Helicoptor)
Multiple sqdrns of WSI Dhruv (Armed Dhruv/ALH)

For the Heavy attack chopper, they have chosen Apache, it will be ordered sequentially. MoD never gives a bulk order, there is always a token order followed by almost double that number.

The above force acquisition is for the plains strike corps(Pakistan oriented), for the MSC the force composition will be very different - they want a very very high number of choppers (all categories) to make the MSC very mobile in the mountains..it is supposed to have organic lift, organic arty.

 

[SQ8]

That 'token' figure is not surprising. That is how the MoD bureaucracy works in India. They are happiest buying things in batches. Helps them to juggle budget figures from fiscal to fiscal. Apart from that; there was the "turf issues" between the IAF and IA that was looming over ownership and operation of helicopters. That was unresolved at the time that the proposal was first mooted. So this piecemeal kind of working gave some 'breathing time'. But that issue has not fully gone away yet.
This has some relationship to the early days of the Kargil Ops and what transpired then.

I still find the policy of the IA operating battlefield attack helicopters(or rather the whole Army support fleet).. Daft. Its like forcing participation into a sphere of the battlefield where there is not need for them to be there.

 

[Mike_Brando]

That still makes sense, specifically when you have multiple Corps to support..

sir the I.A. is just waiting for the induction of the indigenous attack helicopter LCH.once it gets inducted the I.A. will probably end up ordering more than 200 of them in the future.but Apache is in a class of its own,most probably they'll be used extensively in the Sino-Indian border and probably in tandem with LCH on the Indo-Pak border.
I.A. has an ambitious plan to operate the largest attack helo fleet in the Asia in the near future and hence its extensively reorganising its A.A.C. with all the state of the art equipment.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

I still find the policy of the IA operating battlefield attack helicopters(or rather the whole Army support fleet).. Daft. Its like forcing participation into a sphere of the battlefield where there is not need for them to be there.

There has been a great deal of movement (to and fro) on finally delegating 'spheres of influence' so to speak. One thing that IA has pushed for and won acceptance of the idea of an Organic Rotorcraft Air Attack Fleet. But the contours have not been fixed yet. There is also a line of thought that is pushing for setting up an Air Assault Force like the Americans. But there is still no clarity whether it will be Army centric or Joint Command.