Unravelling the AW-101 debacle

[Abingdonboy]

This, at best sums up the approach taken by those ‘desi’ journalists who, until recently, had vociferously alleged that the deal to acquire 12 AW-101 VVIP transportation helicopters from UK-based AgustaWestland was a tainted one. And the reason these ‘desi’ nitwits went totally off course was that instead of concluding that 2 + 2 = 4, they ASSUMED—based only on circumstantial evidence—that 2 + 2 = 22. No wonder they are all now in collective shock after an Italian court decided that all charges of international corruption would be dropped against Finmeccanica (the Italy-based holding company of AgustaWestland), and Finmeccanica would only pay a “negligible fine” for falsifying invoices, but this was “not in any way an admission of any wrongdoing or liability” by Finmeccanica. What this means I will explain later, but let us now examine how the ‘desi’ journalists missed the woods for the trees by, first, misinterpreting facts, and second, by jumping to untenable conclusions.


The investigation into charges of international corruption involving Finmeccanica commenced in 2011 after an open succession war between Francesco Guarguanglini, who was then heading Finmeccanica, and his successor, Giuseppe Orsi, who in 2011 was Finmeccanica’s Chairman and CEO. In late 2012, when Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition government, which had as coalition partners parties such as the far-right Lega Nord (which was alleged to have received financial kickbacks), was replaced by one led by technocrat Mario Monti, this reportedly prompted Lorenzo Borgogni, a former top employee of Finmeccanica and an Orsi-baiter, to blow the whistle on the Rs 3,546 crore (Euro 556 million, or US$757million) AW-101 contract, which had been inked on February 8, 2010. Borgogni told prosecutors in a detailed statement that kickbacks were allegedly paid by AgustaWestland for securing the AW-101 contract through the use of middlemen and that the total amount of financial kickbacks came up to Euro 51 million (Rs.362 crore). Borgogni detailed how the money was paid through a network of middlemen and consultants like Guido Ralph Haschke, Carlo Gerosa and Christian Michel, with the main allegation being that at least Euro 10 million was funnelled back to Italy and paid to the Lega Nord political party in return for its support to Orsi’s bid to become Chairman and CEO of Finmeccanica. In his statement, Borgogni said that Finmeccanica had decided to divert Euro 21 million for commissions meant for Europe-based consultants, knowing how risky it was to hire Indian citizens as agents for securing Indian military procurement contracts.

Borgogni had alleged that the Euro 21 million was generated through inflated bills and bogus engineering contracts, with regular monthly tranches of payments being made between 2007 and 2011. These payments averaged to a Euro 55,0000 per month towards the end. Guido Haschke, on the other hand, had claimed in his confession that he received a kickback of Euro 20 million of which Euro 400,000 was paid off to the brothers Juli ‘Jolly’ Tyagi, Docsa Tyagi and Sandeep (Julie) Tyagi, who in turn allegedly transferred a certain amount of money, not yet quantified, to ACM S P Tyagi, CAS of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from 2004 to 2007. In addition, another Euro 11.6 million came through inflated bills and invoices that were in the guise of engineering contracts placed with IDS Infotech, a Tunisia based engineering consultancy. While Guido Ralph Haschke is the CEO and partner of GADIT SA of Lugano and Tunis-based GORDIAN SERVICES SARL, Carlo Gerosa is Haschke's partner in the above companies (as well as in Chandigarh-based Aeromatrix, an engineering and IT outsourcing company), and British citizen Christian Michel is the owner of London-based Global Service Trade Commerce, and of Dubai-based Global Service FZE. Allegedly, Finmeccanica first paid the sum of Euro 400,000 to Haschke and Gerosa, through a consultancy contract between AgustaWestland and Gordian Services SARL. Later, these two signed engineering contracts with companies IDS Infotech India and IDS Infotech Tunisia, allegedly to cover up the payments of money to pay unidentified Govt of India officials. Christian Michel allegedly received Euro 30 million for supporting the corruptive activities meant to bag the AW-101 order. The first kickbacks, however, were allegedly made as early as on December 6, 2005, with Haschke receiving Euro 100,000 through an India Services Agreement vide letter AG/ME/05/188 by AgustaWestland to Haschke's Gordian Services SARL. This agreement was renewed for the next three years through more follow-on agreements, including one marked AG/ME/06/235 and sent by AgustaWestland.

AgustaWestland’s contract with IDS Infotech had promised a payment of 5% of the value of the AW-101 deal. The contract was signed on January 1, 2007 and said that AgustaWestland will utilise its engineering activity and consultancy if it secures the AW-101 order. It also said that AgustaWestland would avail the engineering, design and software services of IDS once the sale & purchase agreement is signed by AgustaWestland and the Govt of India. Payment records have shown that AgustaWestland made regular transfers to IDS Infotech between 2007 and 2011 through Tunisia, totalling over Euro 21 million, which is just under 5% of the total value of the AW-101 contract.

One contract (known as post-contract services agreement) worth Euro 6 million (paid in 22 installments of Euro 275,000 each), placed with Michel’s Global Services FZE by AgustaWestland, was meant for ensuring positive media coverage of the AW-101 deal. This agreement also stated that Michel was required to ‘advise and assist’ AgustaWestland in all aspects of performing the contract and provide it with details of changes in the laws pertaining to India’s MoD procurement procedures. Michel was also required to identify and inform AgustaWestland of any hostile press activity that may have impacted on the execution of the contract, in addition to assisting AgustaWestland in the development of risk mitigation strategies to minimise the impact of any hostile press activities, and also give routine feedback on Indian media activity. Such payments were indeed made after the AW-101 contract was signed. For instance, Euro 275,000 was paid to Michel’s company account 60601358922302 in Lloyds TSB Bank’s Dubai branch on May 5, 2010. In another transaction, the same amount was debited from AgustaWestland’s Barclays bank account number 52773044 to Michel’s Dubai account on August 3, 2011.

Plausible Inferences
Following the Italian court’s recent verdict, it can now be stated with certainty that A) there is no prima facie evidence of any kind of wrongdoing, such as engaging in bribery, international corruption or contract violation; and B) the case was always about ‘falsifying invoices’ in order to ensure compliance with contract implementation. Explained further, what this means is that as per the MoD’s Defence Procurement Procedures, if the contracted OEM cannot ensure full compliance with the agreed-upon quantum of direct industrial offsets, then the OEM is mandatorily required—as penalty—to surrender a quantum of funds amounting to 5% of contract value to the MoD. In fact, this is exactly what Fincantieri SPA of Italy did three years ago when it voluntarily paid back to the MoD 5% of the contract value of the Euro 159.32 million procurement contract for two fleet replenishment tankers that were ordered for the Indian Navy back in October 2008. Therefore, in all probability, what Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland did together was create the façade of trying to fulfill their mandatory direct industrial offset obligations in the hope of not being required to surrender the amount of 5% of contract value back to the MoD.

It is also now abundantly clear that AgustaWestland never had to solicit anyone’s help either within India or outside for securing the AW-101 contract. How come? Simply because the three-engined AW-101 was from Day-1 the only viable contender to satisfy an operational requirement whose prime prerequisite was the provision of the best degree of survivability. That’s precisely the reason why the AW-101 was selected in the previous decade by the US Marines and the US Secret Service for serving as the primary VVIP transportation helicopter for the US President. In fact, the IAF and the Special Protection Group had to do hardly any spadework in terms of evaluations and bidding processes, and whatever was eventually done by both was to merely ensure the façade of conducting a global, competitive bidding process. No wonder the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has to date registered hardly any progress in its investigations, despite it taking just days to file a First Information Report (FIR) in March 2013 against ACM (Ret’d) S P Tyagi, and 12 others, alleging cheating and criminal conspiracy, and subsequently interviewing ACM (Ret’d) Tyagi, former National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, former Special SPG Director B V Wanchoo, and former Intelligence Bureau Director, E S L Narasimhan.

But that still does not explain why the services of the three Tyagi brothers were enlisted by Haschke and Gerosa. The only plausible reason for this that their services were enlisted for lobbying on behalf of AgustaWestland with various potential civilian helicopters operators—a crucial point totally overlooked by both the ‘desi’ journalists as well as the CBI. For, unknown to many is the fact that the projected civilian helicopter market in India will be at least thrice the size of the country’s combined military helicopter market between now and 2020. Potential customers include the various state governments, private hospitals, and corporate charter companies specialising in servicing the private tourist charter market as well as providing offshore helicopter services to the oil-n-gas industry in India.

Presently, the market leader in all these sectors is US-based Bell Helicopters, which has sold more than 100 helicopters, inclusive of the Bell 407, Bell 412EP and Bell 430. Coming next is AgustaWestland with its already-sold A-109E Power and AW-139. Next comes Eurocopter with its Dauphin-2s, AS.355 Twinstar and EC-135, and lastly followed by Sikorsky with its S-76C and S-76C++ variants. Over the years, the AW-139 has emerged as the choice favourite for both various state governments as well as private air-charter companies like Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd, Heligo Charters Pvt Ltd and India Flysafe Aviation Ltd. The AW-139 is also the frontrunner for meeting the Indian Coast Guard Service’s requirement for14 shipborne medium-lift SAR helicopters, as well as for replacing Pawan Hans’ existing fleet of Dauphin 2s. And since neither state governments nor state-owned entities like Pawan Hans are subjected to stringent procurement norms of the type codified by the MoD, an intense ‘do-whatever-it-takes’ lobbying effort is always required in order to taste success. The CBI would therefore be well-advised to explore this particular angle, instead of groping in the dark with the AW-101 deal.


But way beyond all this, the greatest damage to India, her MoD and the IAF has been done by none other than the former Raksha Mantri, Arakkaparambil Kurian Antony. And here’s why. By unilaterally terminating the contract on January 1, 2014 after only three AW-101s had been delivered, Antony for all intents and purposes created a horrendous precedent by WRONGLY admitting, without any prima facie evidence on hand, that the MoD’s procurement procedures were deeply flawed, and that they had loopholes despite the most stringent, redundant and multi-tiered checks-and-balances having been put in place. Translated into layman’s terms, what this means is that each and every procurement decision either already taken or to be taken by the MoD can now be easily challenged and even reversed by anyone who is not a wellwisher of India. Needdless to say, Antony has caused incalculable damage to the IAF’s hard-won institutional reputation.


What Antony should have done was await the legal verdict from the Italian courts and based on the verdict’s pronouncements, he should have decided on the next step forward, i.e. if AgustaWestland and/or Finmeccanica were guilty of violating the MoD’s contractual norms and procedures, then by all means go full-speed ahead to seek financial compensation through liquidated damages from the OEM. What eventually happened was exactly the opposite, i.e. the MoD unilaterally encashed the bank guarantees worth about Rs.2,200 crore that had been provided by AgustaWestland to the State Bank of India, and followed it by terminating the AW-101 contract. Consequently, the nett loser in this sordid episode is once again the end-user, i.e. the IAF. Therefore, it is now more than obvious that when the UPA-2 coalition government decided to terminate the AW-101 contract, its decision was based purely on its own non-negotiable prospects for political survival, with the country’s supreme national interests becoming totally negotiable.

The Future
To be honest, it’s quite bleak for the IAF’s VVIP transportation aircraft fleet at this point in time. And that’s because the IAF now has no other choice but to go for a VVIP transportation variant of the Mi-17V-5 helicopter. In this helicopter, the main gearbox drives the hydraulic pumps, which supply hydraulic power for the flying controls. Though the Mi-17V-5’s hydraulic system has a main and standby channel and both of them have independent tanks, pumps, accumulators and pipelines, both the pipelines feed only a single booster, which in turn moves the control surfaces. Though there are a total of four boosters in the system, one critical weakness is that if there is a leakage in any of the four boosters, there is a possibility of the entire oil from both the main and the standby systems leaking out. The mandated emergency procedure for a total hydraulic failure is to have both pilots flying the Mi-17V-5 in unison to a landing. As per the Flight Manual of this helicopter, the aircrew is required to abandon the Mi-17V-5 in case of total hydraulic failure. In case they cannot, then they have to resort to flying by both pilots to land immediately. Therefore, the procedure given in the Mi-17V-5’s Flight Manual for total hydraulic failure does not inspire confidence in those helicopter pilots who are certified for VVIP transportation. All of them feel that this helicopter cannot be flown with a total hydraulic failure, and that this aircraft cannot even be taxied on ground with total hydraulic failure.

Consequently, the only available common-sensical and logical option now left on the table is to bite the bullet, restore the bank guarantee that’s already been encashed, and commence negotiations with AgustaWestland for both a revised delivery schedule for the remaining AW-101s and for restoring the already-delivered AW-101s back to flightworthy condition. To even contemplate doing anything else to replace the AW-101s will only result in fatal disasters in future—this being the writing on the wall and not just a mere prophecy.


TRISHUL: Blindly Muddling Through With Eyes Wide Open
Please have a read



@sancho @Dillinger @Koovie @COLDHEARTED AVIATOR @Sidak @kurup @Water Car Engineer [/USER] @500 @Penguin @jiki @Span @nair @Fulcrum15 @Omega007 @kbd-raaf @sandy_3126 @Capt.Popeye @KRAIT @arp2041 @Daedalus @Mike_Brando @acetophenol @jbgt90 @Joe Shearer @sudhir007 @OrionHunter [/USER] @vinod.kumar @Contrarian @patentneer @NSG_BlackCats @Roybot @levina @Sidak @BDforever @Kloitra @sudair rahi @GORKHALI @Neptune


One of the best articles I've read from PSG and right on the money, it literally makes my blood boil to think what has happened, between the Indian media and the great "saint" Antony the deal for great and most suitable helicopters is off the table and India has been shamed to the world community with untold damage to god knows how many other defence contracts. I've been saying for a long time just this and had been hopping against hope the AW-101 deal would somehow weather the storm but the piece of trash that is Antony saw that it didn't in some cheap attempt to maintain his "clean" image- no matter if that came at the cost of the IAF's.



Incidentally that last part now can NOT be done (resuming the deal) as Augusta Westland has sold off 2 of the AW-101s intended for the IAF to the Nigerian AF and are looking to do the same with the other few units it has.

 

[sancho]

One of the best articles I've read from PSG and right on the money

You got to be kidding me right? He is suggesting to stick to an investigation and verdict of a foreign country made under their laws, that wasn't even investigating the helicopter deal, but other things for their own reasons. That has nothing to do with our own investigations and a possible verdict that we might get. Nor can he explain why money was indeed paid to Indians, that at least have relations to an IAF official. The Italians won't investigate if the IAF official actually was involved or if there was a relation to the competition / the change of requirements (which I doubt for a long time since the time lines of him being in charge and the changes being issues does not seems to fit), that is something we have to do on our own. He even states:

Therefore, in all probability, what Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland did together was create the façade of trying to fulfill their mandatory direct industrial offset obligations in the hope of not being required to surrender the amount of 5% of contract value back to the MoD.

That alone would be against Indian interests and surely against some of our rules and laws don't you think? Which again no investigation in Italy, under Italian laws would tackle. So it's nuts to suggest to wait till the Italians get to a conclusion and even more to ignor that there were clear wrong doings in relation to this deal. Then he comes with an own conclusion:

But that still does not explain why the services of the three Tyagi brothers were enlisted by Haschke and Gerosa.
The only plausible reason for this that their services were enlisted for lobbying on behalf of AgustaWestland with various potential civilian helicopters operators

Which is as silly, why would AW hire an independent agent, that again hire other Indian agents to lobby for AW for civil helicopter operators? And the fact that these Indians are related to an high ranking officer in the IAF, which is related to an AW helicopter deal should be ignored?

 

[Neptune]

wtf man what's this frobe scandal about?

 

[Abingdonboy]

wtf man what's this frobe scandal about?

Frobe??

 

[Neptune]

Frobe??

It says that there's been a scandal at AW-101 deal of India??

 

[Daedalus]

This, at best sums up the approach taken by those ‘desi’ journalists who, until recently, had vociferously alleged that the deal to acquire 12 AW-101 VVIP transportation helicopters from UK-based AgustaWestland was a tainted one. And the reason these ‘desi’ nitwits went totally off course was that instead of concluding that 2 + 2 = 4, they ASSUMED—based only on circumstantial evidence—that 2 + 2 = 22. No wonder they are all now in collective shock after an Italian court decided that all charges of international corruption would be dropped against Finmeccanica (the Italy-based holding company of AgustaWestland), and Finmeccanica would only pay a “negligible fine” for falsifying invoices, but this was “not in any way an admission of any wrongdoing or liability” by Finmeccanica. What this means I will explain later, but let us now examine how the ‘desi’ journalists missed the woods for the trees by, first, misinterpreting facts, and second, by jumping to untenable conclusions.


The investigation into charges of international corruption involving Finmeccanica commenced in 2011 after an open succession war between Francesco Guarguanglini, who was then heading Finmeccanica, and his successor, Giuseppe Orsi, who in 2011 was Finmeccanica’s Chairman and CEO. In late 2012, when Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition government, which had as coalition partners parties such as the far-right Lega Nord (which was alleged to have received financial kickbacks), was replaced by one led by technocrat Mario Monti, this reportedly prompted Lorenzo Borgogni, a former top employee of Finmeccanica and an Orsi-baiter, to blow the whistle on the Rs 3,546 crore (Euro 556 million, or US$757million) AW-101 contract, which had been inked on February 8, 2010. Borgogni told prosecutors in a detailed statement that kickbacks were allegedly paid by AgustaWestland for securing the AW-101 contract through the use of middlemen and that the total amount of financial kickbacks came up to Euro 51 million (Rs.362 crore). Borgogni detailed how the money was paid through a network of middlemen and consultants like Guido Ralph Haschke, Carlo Gerosa and Christian Michel, with the main allegation being that at least Euro 10 million was funnelled back to Italy and paid to the Lega Nord political party in return for its support to Orsi’s bid to become Chairman and CEO of Finmeccanica. In his statement, Borgogni said that Finmeccanica had decided to divert Euro 21 million for commissions meant for Europe-based consultants, knowing how risky it was to hire Indian citizens as agents for securing Indian military procurement contracts.

Borgogni had alleged that the Euro 21 million was generated through inflated bills and bogus engineering contracts, with regular monthly tranches of payments being made between 2007 and 2011. These payments averaged to a Euro 55,0000 per month towards the end. Guido Haschke, on the other hand, had claimed in his confession that he received a kickback of Euro 20 million of which Euro 400,000 was paid off to the brothers Juli ‘Jolly’ Tyagi, Docsa Tyagi and Sandeep (Julie) Tyagi, who in turn allegedly transferred a certain amount of money, not yet quantified, to ACM S P Tyagi, CAS of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from 2004 to 2007. In addition, another Euro 11.6 million came through inflated bills and invoices that were in the guise of engineering contracts placed with IDS Infotech, a Tunisia based engineering consultancy. While Guido Ralph Haschke is the CEO and partner of GADIT SA of Lugano and Tunis-based GORDIAN SERVICES SARL, Carlo Gerosa is Haschke's partner in the above companies (as well as in Chandigarh-based Aeromatrix, an engineering and IT outsourcing company), and British citizen Christian Michel is the owner of London-based Global Service Trade Commerce, and of Dubai-based Global Service FZE. Allegedly, Finmeccanica first paid the sum of Euro 400,000 to Haschke and Gerosa, through a consultancy contract between AgustaWestland and Gordian Services SARL. Later, these two signed engineering contracts with companies IDS Infotech India and IDS Infotech Tunisia, allegedly to cover up the payments of money to pay unidentified Govt of India officials. Christian Michel allegedly received Euro 30 million for supporting the corruptive activities meant to bag the AW-101 order. The first kickbacks, however, were allegedly made as early as on December 6, 2005, with Haschke receiving Euro 100,000 through an India Services Agreement vide letter AG/ME/05/188 by AgustaWestland to Haschke's Gordian Services SARL. This agreement was renewed for the next three years through more follow-on agreements, including one marked AG/ME/06/235 and sent by AgustaWestland.

AgustaWestland’s contract with IDS Infotech had promised a payment of 5% of the value of the AW-101 deal. The contract was signed on January 1, 2007 and said that AgustaWestland will utilise its engineering activity and consultancy if it secures the AW-101 order. It also said that AgustaWestland would avail the engineering, design and software services of IDS once the sale & purchase agreement is signed by AgustaWestland and the Govt of India. Payment records have shown that AgustaWestland made regular transfers to IDS Infotech between 2007 and 2011 through Tunisia, totalling over Euro 21 million, which is just under 5% of the total value of the AW-101 contract.

One contract (known as post-contract services agreement) worth Euro 6 million (paid in 22 installments of Euro 275,000 each), placed with Michel’s Global Services FZE by AgustaWestland, was meant for ensuring positive media coverage of the AW-101 deal. This agreement also stated that Michel was required to ‘advise and assist’ AgustaWestland in all aspects of performing the contract and provide it with details of changes in the laws pertaining to India’s MoD procurement procedures. Michel was also required to identify and inform AgustaWestland of any hostile press activity that may have impacted on the execution of the contract, in addition to assisting AgustaWestland in the development of risk mitigation strategies to minimise the impact of any hostile press activities, and also give routine feedback on Indian media activity. Such payments were indeed made after the AW-101 contract was signed. For instance, Euro 275,000 was paid to Michel’s company account 60601358922302 in Lloyds TSB Bank’s Dubai branch on May 5, 2010. In another transaction, the same amount was debited from AgustaWestland’s Barclays bank account number 52773044 to Michel’s Dubai account on August 3, 2011.

Plausible Inferences
Following the Italian court’s recent verdict, it can now be stated with certainty that A) there is no prima facie evidence of any kind of wrongdoing, such as engaging in bribery, international corruption or contract violation; and B) the case was always about ‘falsifying invoices’ in order to ensure compliance with contract implementation. Explained further, what this means is that as per the MoD’s Defence Procurement Procedures, if the contracted OEM cannot ensure full compliance with the agreed-upon quantum of direct industrial offsets, then the OEM is mandatorily required—as penalty—to surrender a quantum of funds amounting to 5% of contract value to the MoD. In fact, this is exactly what Fincantieri SPA of Italy did three years ago when it voluntarily paid back to the MoD 5% of the contract value of the Euro 159.32 million procurement contract for two fleet replenishment tankers that were ordered for the Indian Navy back in October 2008. Therefore, in all probability, what Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland did together was create the façade of trying to fulfill their mandatory direct industrial offset obligations in the hope of not being required to surrender the amount of 5% of contract value back to the MoD.

It is also now abundantly clear that AgustaWestland never had to solicit anyone’s help either within India or outside for securing the AW-101 contract. How come? Simply because the three-engined AW-101 was from Day-1 the only viable contender to satisfy an operational requirement whose prime prerequisite was the provision of the best degree of survivability. That’s precisely the reason why the AW-101 was selected in the previous decade by the US Marines and the US Secret Service for serving as the primary VVIP transportation helicopter for the US President. In fact, the IAF and the Special Protection Group had to do hardly any spadework in terms of evaluations and bidding processes, and whatever was eventually done by both was to merely ensure the façade of conducting a global, competitive bidding process. No wonder the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has to date registered hardly any progress in its investigations, despite it taking just days to file a First Information Report (FIR) in March 2013 against ACM (Ret’d) S P Tyagi, and 12 others, alleging cheating and criminal conspiracy, and subsequently interviewing ACM (Ret’d) Tyagi, former National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, former Special SPG Director B V Wanchoo, and former Intelligence Bureau Director, E S L Narasimhan.

But that still does not explain why the services of the three Tyagi brothers were enlisted by Haschke and Gerosa. The only plausible reason for this that their services were enlisted for lobbying on behalf of AgustaWestland with various potential civilian helicopters operators—a crucial point totally overlooked by both the ‘desi’ journalists as well as the CBI. For, unknown to many is the fact that the projected civilian helicopter market in India will be at least thrice the size of the country’s combined military helicopter market between now and 2020. Potential customers include the various state governments, private hospitals, and corporate charter companies specialising in servicing the private tourist charter market as well as providing offshore helicopter services to the oil-n-gas industry in India.

Presently, the market leader in all these sectors is US-based Bell Helicopters, which has sold more than 100 helicopters, inclusive of the Bell 407, Bell 412EP and Bell 430. Coming next is AgustaWestland with its already-sold A-109E Power and AW-139. Next comes Eurocopter with its Dauphin-2s, AS.355 Twinstar and EC-135, and lastly followed by Sikorsky with its S-76C and S-76C++ variants. Over the years, the AW-139 has emerged as the choice favourite for both various state governments as well as private air-charter companies like Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd, Heligo Charters Pvt Ltd and India Flysafe Aviation Ltd. The AW-139 is also the frontrunner for meeting the Indian Coast Guard Service’s requirement for14 shipborne medium-lift SAR helicopters, as well as for replacing Pawan Hans’ existing fleet of Dauphin 2s. And since neither state governments nor state-owned entities like Pawan Hans are subjected to stringent procurement norms of the type codified by the MoD, an intense ‘do-whatever-it-takes’ lobbying effort is always required in order to taste success. The CBI would therefore be well-advised to explore this particular angle, instead of groping in the dark with the AW-101 deal.


But way beyond all this, the greatest damage to India, her MoD and the IAF has been done by none other than the former Raksha Mantri, Arakkaparambil Kurian Antony. And here’s why. By unilaterally terminating the contract on January 1, 2014 after only three AW-101s had been delivered, Antony for all intents and purposes created a horrendous precedent by WRONGLY admitting, without any prima facie evidence on hand, that the MoD’s procurement procedures were deeply flawed, and that they had loopholes despite the most stringent, redundant and multi-tiered checks-and-balances having been put in place. Translated into layman’s terms, what this means is that each and every procurement decision either already taken or to be taken by the MoD can now be easily challenged and even reversed by anyone who is not a wellwisher of India. Needdless to say, Antony has caused incalculable damage to the IAF’s hard-won institutional reputation.


What Antony should have done was await the legal verdict from the Italian courts and based on the verdict’s pronouncements, he should have decided on the next step forward, i.e. if AgustaWestland and/or Finmeccanica were guilty of violating the MoD’s contractual norms and procedures, then by all means go full-speed ahead to seek financial compensation through liquidated damages from the OEM. What eventually happened was exactly the opposite, i.e. the MoD unilaterally encashed the bank guarantees worth about Rs.2,200 crore that had been provided by AgustaWestland to the State Bank of India, and followed it by terminating the AW-101 contract. Consequently, the nett loser in this sordid episode is once again the end-user, i.e. the IAF. Therefore, it is now more than obvious that when the UPA-2 coalition government decided to terminate the AW-101 contract, its decision was based purely on its own non-negotiable prospects for political survival, with the country’s supreme national interests becoming totally negotiable.

The Future
To be honest, it’s quite bleak for the IAF’s VVIP transportation aircraft fleet at this point in time. And that’s because the IAF now has no other choice but to go for a VVIP transportation variant of the Mi-17V-5 helicopter. In this helicopter, the main gearbox drives the hydraulic pumps, which supply hydraulic power for the flying controls. Though the Mi-17V-5’s hydraulic system has a main and standby channel and both of them have independent tanks, pumps, accumulators and pipelines, both the pipelines feed only a single booster, which in turn moves the control surfaces. Though there are a total of four boosters in the system, one critical weakness is that if there is a leakage in any of the four boosters, there is a possibility of the entire oil from both the main and the standby systems leaking out. The mandated emergency procedure for a total hydraulic failure is to have both pilots flying the Mi-17V-5 in unison to a landing. As per the Flight Manual of this helicopter, the aircrew is required to abandon the Mi-17V-5 in case of total hydraulic failure. In case they cannot, then they have to resort to flying by both pilots to land immediately. Therefore, the procedure given in the Mi-17V-5’s Flight Manual for total hydraulic failure does not inspire confidence in those helicopter pilots who are certified for VVIP transportation. All of them feel that this helicopter cannot be flown with a total hydraulic failure, and that this aircraft cannot even be taxied on ground with total hydraulic failure.

Consequently, the only available common-sensical and logical option now left on the table is to bite the bullet, restore the bank guarantee that’s already been encashed, and commence negotiations with AgustaWestland for both a revised delivery schedule for the remaining AW-101s and for restoring the already-delivered AW-101s back to flightworthy condition. To even contemplate doing anything else to replace the AW-101s will only result in fatal disasters in future—this being the writing on the wall and not just a mere prophecy.


TRISHUL: Blindly Muddling Through With Eyes Wide Open
Please have a read



@sancho @Dillinger @Koovie @COLDHEARTED AVIATOR @Sidak @kurup @Water Car Engineer [/USER] @500 @Penguin @jiki @Span @nair @Fulcrum15 @Omega007 @kbd-raaf @sandy_3126 @Capt.Popeye @KRAIT @arp2041 @Daedalus @Mike_Brando @acetophenol @jbgt90 @Joe Shearer @sudhir007 @OrionHunter [/USER] @vinod.kumar @Contrarian @patentneer @NSG_BlackCats @Roybot @levina @Sidak @BDforever @Kloitra @sudair rahi @GORKHALI @Neptune


One of the best articles I've read from PSG and right on the money, it literally makes my blood boil to think what has happened, between the Indian media and the great "saint" Antony the deal for great and most suitable helicopters is off the table and India has been shamed to the world community with untold damage to god knows how many other defence contracts. I've been saying for a long time just this and had been hopping against hope the AW-101 deal would somehow weather the storm but the piece of trash that is Antony saw that it didn't in some cheap attempt to maintain his "clean" image- no matter if that came at the cost of the IAF's.



Incidentally that last part now can NOT be done (resuming the deal) as Augusta Westland has sold off 2 of the AW-101s intended for the IAF to the Nigerian AF and are looking to do the same with the other few units it has.

Next Part

Heading In The Right Direction.....At Last!

Matters have now progressed just as I had predicted (TRISHUL: Blindly Muddling Through With Eyes Wide Open). At last, the AgustaWestland AW-101 VVIP transportation helicopter procurement process is back on track! The terms, which have been cleared by the Attorney General, state that:

* All ongoing contracts will continue unhindered.

* All contracts related to spares will continue.

* Contracts with Russian manufacturers, where Finmeccanica is involved in the back-end, will continue.

* Finmeccanica will be allowed to participate in all tenders but if there are multiple options, Finmeccanica will not be considered regardless of the competitiveness of the offer.

* However, where Finmeccanica is the single vendor with no other firm providing options, the Govt of India is empowered to go ahead with the deal.

Looks like logical reasoning, sanity and common-sense are all staging a gradual comeback into India and the process of redeeming national honour and self-resilience has begun at long-last. My hearty congratulations to IAF HQ for doggedly persisting in trying to convince the Govt of India to objectively and dispassionately arrive at conclusions based on the merits of the case. For the past two years I too have been on a similar lonely crusade and I was perhaps the sole voice that took on the task of systematically exposing the sheer ignorance of those ‘desi’ journalists who were propounding all kinds of conceivable (and now-discredited) conspiracy theories about financial impropriety related to the AW-101 procurement process. Needless to say, I will doggedly continue with my efforts to expose the convulated illogical mumbo-jumbo of such ‘desi’ journalists who most definitely are not India’s wellwishers.

TRISHUL: Heading In The Right Direction.....At Last!

* Once new stocks of rotables & consumables arrive from AgustaWestland, the IAF will reactivate its now-suspended operational flying conversion training curriculum & by this October the 3 already-delivered AW-101s will be declared operationally available.

*If all goes as per plan, then the remaining 7 AW-101s will be delivered by next February in successive tranches.

 

[Abingdonboy]

It says that there's been a scandal at AW-101 deal of India??

Indeed there were some allegations against this deal that had led the previous govt of India to initiate cancellation proceedings but the new GoI has stopped that and the AW-101s will be used/delivered.

Next Part

Heading In The Right Direction.....At Last!

Matters have now progressed just as I had predicted (TRISHUL: Blindly Muddling Through With Eyes Wide Open). At last, the AgustaWestland AW-101 VVIP transportation helicopter procurement process is back on track! The terms, which have been cleared by the Attorney General, state that:

* All ongoing contracts will continue unhindered.

* All contracts related to spares will continue.

* Contracts with Russian manufacturers, where Finmeccanica is involved in the back-end, will continue.

* Finmeccanica will be allowed to participate in all tenders but if there are multiple options, Finmeccanica will not be considered regardless of the competitiveness of the offer.

* However, where Finmeccanica is the single vendor with no other firm providing options, the Govt of India is empowered to go ahead with the deal.

Looks like logical reasoning, sanity and common-sense are all staging a gradual comeback into India and the process of redeeming national honour and self-resilience has begun at long-last. My hearty congratulations to IAF HQ for doggedly persisting in trying to convince the Govt of India to objectively and dispassionately arrive at conclusions based on the merits of the case. For the past two years I too have been on a similar lonely crusade and I was perhaps the sole voice that took on the task of systematically exposing the sheer ignorance of those ‘desi’ journalists who were propounding all kinds of conceivable (and now-discredited) conspiracy theories about financial impropriety related to the AW-101 procurement process. Needless to say, I will doggedly continue with my efforts to expose the convulated illogical mumbo-jumbo of such ‘desi’ journalists who most definitely are not India’s wellwishers.

TRISHUL: Heading In The Right Direction.....At Last!

* Once new stocks of rotables & consumables arrive from AgustaWestland, the IAF will reactivate its now-suspended operational flying conversion training curriculum & by this October the 3 already-delivered AW-101s will be declared operationally available.

*If all goes as per plan, then the remaining 7 AW-101s will be delivered by next February in successive tranches.

Indeed saw that news- great stuff!

 

[Capt.Popeye]

@Abingdonboy;
Quoting that "pamphlet-hound" aka Prasun Sengupta does not in any way buttress any argument that the AW-101 is the best choice for that Helo task. Nor does it wipe away that (rather indelible) stain that the "bribery scandals" associated with Finnmeccanica has plastered on this aircraft.
Therefore I am unable to buy into the arguments that you may be seeking to sell here.

One: there is undoubtedly a scandal of bribery and malfeasance surrounding the Company. The "settlement" by an Italian Court means little......... its just a 'settlement', the TRUTH has not been unearthed; its been simply buried as 'settlements' are INTENDED to do!
So only some Moron will get taken in by what PSG says.

About the aircraft contract itself; in the Indian context.......the whole process has been beset by 'somersaults' through the decision-making process. That itself is sufficient to start the process of raising the 'red-flags'. And anybody who is familiar with Corporate "kick-backs" and their distribution/dispersal will have their "sense of inquiry" thoroughly ignited by the process that was followed in involving IDS Infotech apart from the other devious stratagems employed.
Alas; even that will now get buried by the 'settlement' arrived at in Italy, but which impinges on India as well.

Then the Helo: its not god's gift to aviation or the IAF. It is a reasonably good aircraft, apart from others like Sikorsky, Bell-Textron or Eurocopter.
India and Pawan Hans in particular will rue a particular Helo deal from Westland (as it was called then) the Westland 40 which was bought by Rajiv Gandhi's govt of that time due to the blandishments of UK (or was that also Bribery?). They rapidly became unserviceable and eventually got disposed off as JUNK.
While the Dauphins bought by Pawan Hans at the same time still fly. I know about that, since I got to see both Helos at close-quarters in the 1990s.

As for P. Segupta.............he is just another "Bag of Wind".
I still have not forgotten his "fairy-tales" about how the INS Kolkata and her sister-ships will reload missiles at sea!!!

 

[Mike_Brando]

@Abingdonboy;
Quoting that "pamphlet-hound" aka Prasun Sengupta does not in any way buttress any argument that the AW-101 is the best choice for that Helo task. Nor does it wipe away that (rather indelible) stain that the "bribery scandals" associated with Finnmeccanica has plastered on this aircraft.
Therefore I am unable to buy into the arguments that you may be seeking to sell here.

One: there is undoubtedly a scandal of bribery and malfeasance surrounding the Company. The "settlement" by an Italian Court means little......... its just a 'settlement', the TRUTH has not been unearthed; its been simply buried as 'settlements' are INTENDED to do!
So only some Moron will get taken in by what PSG says.

About the aircraft contract itself; in the Indian context.......the whole process has been beset by 'somersaults' through the decision-making process. That itself is sufficient to start the process of raising the 'red-flags'. And anybody who is familiar with Corporate "kick-backs" and their distribution/dispersal will have their "sense of inquiry" thoroughly ignited by the process that was followed in involving IDS Infotech apart from the other devious stratagems employed.
Alas; even that will now get buried by the 'settlement' arrived at in Italy, but which impinges on India as well.

Then the Helo: its not god's gift to aviation or the IAF. It is a reasonably good aircraft, apart from others like Sikorsky, Bell-Textron or Eurocopter.
India and Pawan Hans in particular will rue a particular Helo deal from Westland (as it was called then) the Westland 40 which was bought by Rajiv Gandhi's govt of that time due to the blandishments of UK (or was that also Bribery?). They rapidly became unserviceable and eventually got disposed off as JUNK.
While the Dauphins bought by Pawan Hans at the same time still fly. I know about that, since I got to see both Helos at close-quarters in the 1990s.

As for P. Segupta.............he is just another "Bag of Wind".
I still have not forgotten his "fairy-tales" about how the INS Kolkata and her sister-ships will reload missiles at sea!!!

Sir,a little question for you,where does the IAF keep the 3 AW-101 that were delivered to them??I am asking this because i think i saw an AW-101 flying over Central Kolkata yesterday(i am pretty sure about it as it flew very low)

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Sir,a little question for you,where does the IAF keep the 3 AW-101 that were delivered to them??I am asking this because i think i saw an AW-101 flying over Central Kolkata yesterday(i am pretty sure about it as it flew very low)

I have no idea about that, but aircraft of the IAF's HQ Communications Squadron are based at Palam; so it stands to reason that the 3 Helos will also be based there.
About seeing them in the air over Kolkata, I am a little sceptical since the imbroglio between the MoD/IAF and Finnmeccanica/AW is not sorted out completely yet, so will the IAF unhesitatingly be able to use them then?

 

[Abingdonboy]

Sir,a little question for you,where does the IAF keep the 3 AW-101 that were delivered to them??I am asking this because i think i saw an AW-101 flying over Central Kolkata yesterday(i am pretty sure about it as it flew very low)

Until recently the IAF's 3 AW-101s had been grounded by the IAF due to the previous Govt's moves to cancel the deal however the IAF will now soon be reactivating them and will be receiving the remaining 9 airframes shortly front the UK (most have been manufactured and are simply sat there in Yeovil).

I do doubt you saw one of these (IAF) birds in Kolkata the other day though.

 

[Mike_Brando]

I have no idea about that, but aircraft of the IAF's HQ Communications Squadron are based at Palam; so it stands to reason that the 3 Helos will also be based there.
About seeing them in the air over Kolkata, I am a little sceptical since the imbroglio between the MoD/IAF and Finnmeccanica/AW is not sorted out completely yet, so will the IAF unhesitatingly be able to use them then?

Sir i am quite sure that the chopper i saw yesterday was an AW-101 as it had the distinctive longish fuselage plus it was flying pretty low maybe a couple of hundred feet from the ground.I have seen the new MI-17V5 choppers taking sorties over Kolkata sky and i am sure that i can spot the differences between them if they fly within my visual range.Plus it's just not me,a friend of mine who is also a defense enthusiast and a member of a reputed Indian forum also witnessed the same and he has got considerable knowledge on helis apart from me and he also thinks that it was an AW-101.Now i don't know why it was flying over the Kolkata sky when the Mod has cancelled the acquisition and grounded the 3 choppers currently under the IAF service

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Sir i am quite sure that the chopper i saw yesterday was an AW-101 as it had the distinctive longish fuselage plus it was flying pretty low maybe a couple of hundred feet from the ground.I have seen the new MI-17V5 choppers taking sorties over Kolkata sky and i am sure that i can spot the differences between them if they fly within my visual range.Plus it's just not me,a friend of mine who is also a defense enthusiast and a member of a reputed Indian forum also witnessed the same and he has got considerable knowledge on helis apart from me and he also thinks that it was an AW-101.Now i don't know why it was flying over the Kolkata sky when the Mod has cancelled the acquisition and grounded the 3 choppers currently under the IAF service

As for me; I am rather sceptical of the possibility of it being a AW-101. I have also explained why.

 

[Daedalus]

@Abingdonboy : The MoD has released a detailed directive on how it will proceed with cases like Finmeccanica. Didn't want to create a new thread as this was already running, but a great and very important news all in all. This will finally clear the air.
Really appreciating the way the new gov is taking decisions so fast, not at all like saint, who used to lumber along for quite a while.

Govt nails Finmeccanica, protects current contracts

Three days ago, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley promised a new policy that would punish dishonest vendor companies, without blocking Indian acquisitions and the flow of spares. On Tuesday, the ministry of defence (MoD) issued a directive on how it would deal with group companies of Italian defence giant, Finmeccanica, whose chief executive, Giuseppe Orsi, was arrested in Italy last year on charges of bribing Indian officials to facilitate the sale of VIP helicopters.

The Finmeccanica group companies covered under this policy are marine specialist, Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquel (WASS); radar and communications specialist Selex Electronics Systems (ES); aerospace giant, Alenia Aeromacchi; armaments major, Otomelara; and AgustaWestland itself.

While the MoD's directive on the Finmeccanica group does not constitute policy, it suggests a more flexible approach than the rigid blacklisting and banning that the previous defence minister, A K Antony, followed. The new approach attempts to ensure that ongoing contracts and acquisitions are minimally affected or delayed.

The directive prescribes six differentiated MoD responses, depending upon the stage that a procurement contract is at.

First, where a Finmeccanica company is executing a signed contract, it should be proceeded with. This will ensure that work continues on the radar systems that Selex ES is fitting on the indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.

Second, where a contract has been fully executed, but spares and upgrades are required regularly, that can continue. This will ensure the continued supply of equipment like the 76-millimetre naval gun, which Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is building under licence from Otomelara.

Third, where the vendor has been declared as L-1 (cheapest bidder) after tendering, "all such procurement/acquisition cases shall be put on hold until further orders".

This is the most far-reaching decision the MoD has taken, given that WASS has been declared the L-1 bidder in the tender for 98 Black Shark torpedoes for India's six Scorpene submarines being built in Mumbai. Atlas Elektronik, a German company, had hotly contested the decision. Now, the Seahake torpedo, offered by Atlas, emerges as a frontrunner in the $300-million contract.

Fourth, where the tender process is under way, but no L-1 has yet been declared, Finmeccanica companies will be eliminated from consideration, provided there are alternatives. This relates to tenders like the procurement of multi-role helicopters (MRH) for the navy, where two companies are in contention - US company, Sikorsky; and European consortium, NHIndustries, which is part-owned by AgustaWestland. If NHIndustries is eliminated, Sikorsky emerges as the single vendor - a situation potentially fraught with other difficulties.

Fifth, Finmeccanica companies are to be eliminated from all acquisitions where tendering is yet to commence, provided there are valid alternatives.
Govt nails Finmeccanica, protects current contracts | Business Standard News

 

[Capt.Popeye]

@Abingdonboy : The MoD has released a detailed directive on how it will proceed with cases like Finmeccanica. Didn't want to create a new thread as this was already running, but a great and very important news all in all. This will finally clear the air.
Really appreciating the way the new gov is taking decisions so fast, not at all like saint, who used to lumber along for quite a while.

Govt nails Finmeccanica, protects current contracts

Three days ago, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley promised a new policy that would punish dishonest vendor companies, without blocking Indian acquisitions and the flow of spares. On Tuesday, the ministry of defence (MoD) issued a directive on how it would deal with group companies of Italian defence giant, Finmeccanica, whose chief executive, Giuseppe Orsi, was arrested in Italy last year on charges of bribing Indian officials to facilitate the sale of VIP helicopters.

The Finmeccanica group companies covered under this policy are marine specialist, Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquel (WASS); radar and communications specialist Selex Electronics Systems (ES); aerospace giant, Alenia Aeromacchi; armaments major, Otomelara; and AgustaWestland itself.

While the MoD's directive on the Finmeccanica group does not constitute policy, it suggests a more flexible approach than the rigid blacklisting and banning that the previous defence minister, A K Antony, followed. The new approach attempts to ensure that ongoing contracts and acquisitions are minimally affected or delayed.

The directive prescribes six differentiated MoD responses, depending upon the stage that a procurement contract is at.

First, where a Finmeccanica company is executing a signed contract, it should be proceeded with. This will ensure that work continues on the radar systems that Selex ES is fitting on the indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.

Second, where a contract has been fully executed, but spares and upgrades are required regularly, that can continue. This will ensure the continued supply of equipment like the 76-millimetre naval gun, which Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is building under licence from Otomelara.

Third, where the vendor has been declared as L-1 (cheapest bidder) after tendering, "all such procurement/acquisition cases shall be put on hold until further orders".

This is the most far-reaching decision the MoD has taken, given that WASS has been declared the L-1 bidder in the tender for 98 Black Shark torpedoes for India's six Scorpene submarines being built in Mumbai. Atlas Elektronik, a German company, had hotly contested the decision. Now, the Seahake torpedo, offered by Atlas, emerges as a frontrunner in the $300-million contract.

Fourth, where the tender process is under way, but no L-1 has yet been declared, Finmeccanica companies will be eliminated from consideration, provided there are alternatives. This relates to tenders like the procurement of multi-role helicopters (MRH) for the navy, where two companies are in contention - US company, Sikorsky; and European consortium, NHIndustries, which is part-owned by AgustaWestland. If NHIndustries is eliminated, Sikorsky emerges as the single vendor - a situation potentially fraught with other difficulties.

Fifth, Finmeccanica companies are to be eliminated from all acquisitions where tendering is yet to commence, provided there are valid alternatives.
Govt nails Finmeccanica, protects current contracts | Business Standard News

While the Finnmeccanica "Settlement" in an Italian Court effectively buries all the corruption/illegal acts presumably forever; MoD's directive is a pragmatic way forward.
Finnmeccanica must have to pay the price for having 'fixed' the AW-101 contract; let it be junked....even for eternity if required. The funds paid out have been secured already by various means, so if the Helos have to be returned; so be it. Most of all; it is crystal clear that there are viable alternatives to the AW Helos, in any case.
Most of all,this L-1 criterion has been an undying curse on procurement processes, and has singularly contaminated many in the past. Even that requires a hard re-look.

But most of all; is the unfortunate circumstance that some of the Indian players in the AW-101 skim-scam will now be able to escape retribution thanks to Finnmeccanica's manueverings.

@Abingdonboy : The MoD has released a detailed directive on how it will proceed with cases like Finmeccanica. Didn't want to create a new thread as this was already running, but a great and very important news all in all. This will finally clear the air.
Really appreciating the way the new gov is taking decisions so fast, not at all like saint, who used to lumber along for quite a while.

Govt nails Finmeccanica, protects current contracts

Three days ago, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley promised a new policy that would punish dishonest vendor companies, without blocking Indian acquisitions and the flow of spares. On Tuesday, the ministry of defence (MoD) issued a directive on how it would deal with group companies of Italian defence giant, Finmeccanica, whose chief executive, Giuseppe Orsi, was arrested in Italy last year on charges of bribing Indian officials to facilitate the sale of VIP helicopters.

The Finmeccanica group companies covered under this policy are marine specialist, Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquel (WASS); radar and communications specialist Selex Electronics Systems (ES); aerospace giant, Alenia Aeromacchi; armaments major, Otomelara; and AgustaWestland itself.

While the MoD's directive on the Finmeccanica group does not constitute policy, it suggests a more flexible approach than the rigid blacklisting and banning that the previous defence minister, A K Antony, followed. The new approach attempts to ensure that ongoing contracts and acquisitions are minimally affected or delayed.

The directive prescribes six differentiated MoD responses, depending upon the stage that a procurement contract is at.

First, where a Finmeccanica company is executing a signed contract, it should be proceeded with. This will ensure that work continues on the radar systems that Selex ES is fitting on the indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.

Second, where a contract has been fully executed, but spares and upgrades are required regularly, that can continue. This will ensure the continued supply of equipment like the 76-millimetre naval gun, which Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is building under licence from Otomelara.

Third, where the vendor has been declared as L-1 (cheapest bidder) after tendering, "all such procurement/acquisition cases shall be put on hold until further orders".

This is the most far-reaching decision the MoD has taken, given that WASS has been declared the L-1 bidder in the tender for 98 Black Shark torpedoes for India's six Scorpene submarines being built in Mumbai. Atlas Elektronik, a German company, had hotly contested the decision. Now, the Seahake torpedo, offered by Atlas, emerges as a frontrunner in the $300-million contract.

Fourth, where the tender process is under way, but no L-1 has yet been declared, Finmeccanica companies will be eliminated from consideration, provided there are alternatives. This relates to tenders like the procurement of multi-role helicopters (MRH) for the navy, where two companies are in contention - US company, Sikorsky; and European consortium, NHIndustries, which is part-owned by AgustaWestland. If NHIndustries is eliminated, Sikorsky emerges as the single vendor - a situation potentially fraught with other difficulties.

Fifth, Finmeccanica companies are to be eliminated from all acquisitions where tendering is yet to commence, provided there are valid alternatives.
Govt nails Finmeccanica, protects current contracts | Business Standard News

While the Finnmeccanica "Settlement" in an Italian Court effectively buries all the corruption/illegal acts presumably forever; MoD's directive is a pragmatic way forward.
Finnmeccanica must have to pay the price for having 'fixed' the AW-101 contract; let it be junked....even for eternity if required. The funds paid out have been secured already by various means, so if the Helos have to be returned; so be it. Most of all; it is crystal clear that there are viable alternatives to the AW Helos, in any case.
Most of all,this L-1 criterion has been an undying curse on procurement processes, and has singularly contaminated many in the past. Even that requires a hard re-look.

But most of all; is the unfortunate circumstance that some of the Indian players in the AW-101 skim-scam will now be able to escape retribution thanks to Finnmeccanica's manueverings.